Korean Title: 삼진그룹 영어 터익반
English Title: Samjin Company English/TOEIC Class
Running Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Release Date: October 21, 2020
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Workplace
Language(s): Korean, English

Cast: Go Ah Sung (Life On Mars), Esom (Because This Is My First Life), Park Hye Soo (Introverted Boss)
Directed by: Lee Jong Pil
Written by: Lee Jong Pil

Samjin Company English Class is a drama-comedy film set in the year 1995 about three aspiring career women, Lee Ja Young (Go Ah Sung), Jung Yoo Na (Esom) and Shim Bo Ram (Park Hye Soo) who participate in and score at least 600 points at the Samjin Group of Companies’ TOEIC for an opportunity to get promoted.

The film was written and directed by Lee Jong Pil and was released on October 21, 2020. It is nominated under five (5) categories at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards taking place on May 13, 2021, including:

• Best Film

• Best Director - Lee Jong Pil

• Best Screenplay - Lee Jong Pil

• Best Actress - Park Hye Soo as Shim Bo Ram

• Best Supporting Actress - Esom as Jung Yoo Na

Story

Set in 1995, Lee Ja Young (Go Ah Sung), Jung Yoo Na (Esom) and Shim Bo Ram (Park Hye Soo) are entry-level employees with very distinct-but-unnoticed abilities at one of the biggest conglomerate companies in South Korea, Samjin, led by Korean-American, Billy Park (David Lee McInnis). Although fortunate to be working at such a prestigious company, the three ladies work blue-collar jobs, mostly supporting men and assisting them with their work like making their coffees in the morning. Each of them aspire to be promoted to higher positions in the company some day.

While taking advantage of the global attention South Korea is receiving, Samjin is a company that strives to identify themselves as a global brand. As such, the standards for getting hired at the company are among the highest in the country. In order to hold or even be considered for any “real” job at Samjin, you need to be able to speak English and prove it by scoring a minimum of 600 points on the TOEIC exam. The Samjin girls take the challenge on by participating in the TOEIC classes offered by the company at the side of their desks along with other women who wish to have a shot at getting promoted.

While accompanying one of her male coworkers to a rural visit, Ja Young discovers that there has been a toxic chemical leak from the Samjin Electronics factory. The chemical, Phenol, is being used by Samjin to create circuit boards and the leakage into the river has not only killed all the fish in the area, but is also causing skin diseases and other illnesses for the village people.

Ja Young urges her coworker to report the incident to management. Samjin obliges and hires a group of scientists to conduct toxicity testing on the river water and they find that there was indeed a Phenol leak into the water. Although the concentration level was higher than expected, the report states that the phenol levels are still well within the human-safe threshold. As a result, Ja Young and her coworker are tasked by Samjin to return to the village to share the results with the residents and reassure them that the water remains safe for them to consume. Samjin also offered compensation to the village people as a result of the toxic scare and Ja Young’s accountability was to receive their written acknowledgement of the compensation.

During her rounds, Ja Young notices some of the village people are experiencing skin problems and immediately suspects that there must be an anomaly with the figures on the report - she reluctantly continues on with obtaining everyone’s signatures. Ja Young shares her experience with her coworkers, Yoo Na and Bo Ram and it also sparks their curiosity. Bo Ram, a math genius asks questions regarding the approximate size and depth of the river and piping to calculate the actual phenol concentration in the river. Based on her calculations, she rules out that the safe rating of “3” on the report might be incorrect or rigged.

Ja Young reaches out to the phone number provided on the report to ask additional questions about the validity of the figures. On the first try, they learn that the phone number provided on the report is of an establishment outside of Korea and requires to be communicated with in English. With the help of their TOEIC teacher, they call a second time and find that the phone number does not actually belong to a laboratory but instead, belongs to a corn farm in California.

Ja Young and her classmates investigate the illegal activities behind the Samjin Electronics factory in order to get to the bottom of it and restore justice for the village people who are being inconvenienced by the effects of the phenol leak.

The Verdict

Overall Rating: 5/10

Being set in 1995, this is a time when women were still struggling to gain footing in the corporate world. The film talks a lot about the prejudice that women experience in the workplace in comparison to their male counterparts by showing that women are just as ambitious as men but have to work exponentially more than they do.

In the beginning of the movie, Yu Na implies that aspiring to be promoted into a senior role in Samjin is useless because even if a woman got promoted in her early years, once she got married and got pregnant, she would just get sent away. The movie also depicted that women were simply regarded as individuals that exist support of men and never as their own selves (ie. making their coffee, cleaning up after their mess, printing their documents, etc.) - which I think many women can relate to, whether it’s in the workplace or not.

Samjin Company English Class is a fun movie with a motivational twist. Right off the bat, it’s obvious with letting the audiences know that the main message of the movie is not to confine oneself inside a box defined by other people. It’s all about knowing yourself, the value you add to the table, seizing the day and spreading your wings. It lives off the idea that good things come to those who don’t give up.

The film was really good at depicting issues women face in society realistically but I’m afraid I can’t say the same about the resolution to them - both at work and to the issues pertaining to the girls’ self esteems. It unfortunately got carried away with its motivational angle by showing overly cheesy and happily-ever-after endings for the Samjin girls which I feel took a lot away from how real-to-life it was from the beginning.