`Club Butterfly` explores sexual malaise

``Club Butterfly`` focuses on the once taboo theme of spouse swapping.

A two-paycheck couple in their 30s named Hyok (Kim Young-Ho) and Kyong (Anita) are tired of their work, monotonous daily routines and above all each other.

Frustrated at their mutual inability to satisfy their sexual desires, the two are surprised when they both receive e-mail invitations to join a swapping club. Both initially find the idea distasteful, but they slowly change their minds as their loveless marriage wears on.

They hear that their friends, Wu (Yun Dong-Hwan) and Suk (Kim Hyon-Hee), restored their sexual vitality through swapping and subsequently begin to warm to the notion of indulging their forbidden desires. Far from condemning spouse swapping as nothing more than a way for participants to pursue carnal adventures, the movie is bold enough to depict the practice as a reasonable option for couples seeking to reinvigorate their sex lives. It argues that swapping is neither a crime nor has the social and economic dangers that accompany extramarital affairs.

Unfortunately, the film doesn`t take the time to explore the many alternatives. Before they take the plunge into the world of swapping, the efforts of Hyok and Kyong to solve their problems are limited to taking a weekend trip together. The wife is portrayed as an overly dependent woman whose sexual desire disappears after she is raped by a younger co-worker.

The movie also fails to convey a sense of the dangers of swapping. This despite a brilliant performance from model-turned-actress Kim Sun-Young, who makes her film debut here under the screen name of Anita. The film opens Saturday and is restricted to those 18 years of age or older.

Kwon Chae-Hyun confetti@donga.com