Inbox: 네번째 층

New movies for me

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Hidden Floor (aka: Forbidden Floor/Fourth Floor) is the second of the Four Horror Tales project that I've seen, alongside the frustrating Dark Forest of Death. Again, I received this one as a freebie and, after seeing Dark Forest of Death, I had very low expectations for Hidden Floor, which turned out to its benefit, as the film actually works just fine from start to finish. It tells its story without major plot holes and manages to throw in some cheap scares and ghastly imagery on its way, but it's as simple a ghost story as you can manage and while it benefits from not having any major problems with the story, it also lacks distinctiveness as well as anything beyond the genre workings of a ghost story, which leaves it merely an adequate and average ghost film. But, I suppose in the world of horror films, adequate is actually an impressive thing to pull off.

Basically, a single mother, architect Chae Minyoung (Kim Suhhyoung) and her daughter Juhee (Kim Yoojung) move into a new officetel (a Korean style studio that can be worked or lived in) to the fifth floor. Like several buildings in Korea and China, this building lacks a fourth floor, as the SinoKorean character for four resembles the same one for "death". Anyway, as they move in, some rather creepy sounds and sights start appearing as well as a string of mysterious deaths and finally all this starts affecting the behavior and health of young Juhee.

In some ways, this is almost an homage to project creator An Byungki's horror hit Phone, especially as it involves a seemingly and actually possessed child, but thematically, it's a much simpler affair and while it deals ever so lightly with the cost of development on human lives and relationships, as seen through the tension that Minyoung's architecture job has on her relationship with Juhee as well as how the mystery of the ghost on the theoretically non-existent fourth floor fits into the story, the majority of the film really just follows the mystery of the ghost(s) that kills off a number of people in the apartment and Minyoung's struggle with that, her daughter and her job. On the plus side, since it's a rather uncomplicated story, there's not much that goes wrong with the story and the little absences in explanation are easily handwaved as unnecessary, given the supernatural element of the story. For not once breaking my suspension of disbelief because of some uncharacteristically stupid behavior, implausible backstory, or inane story twists, Hidden Floor was surprisingly easy to watch from start to finish. It might not have the interesting thematic exploration like some of the Whispering Corridors films nor have clever twists and psychological meditations like A Tale of Two Sisters, but like its inspiration, Phone, it manages to pull off a serviceable horror film with a tiny bit of mystery involved and in a genre full of frustratingly intolerable films, that is impressive, if not commendable.

Rookie writer-director Kwon Ilsoon does manage to put some stylistic touches on his films, especially as the mystery rolls along, but even then, there's really nothing we see in Hidden Floor that we haven't seen before. On the plus side, it isn't riddled with distracting or overly flashy attempts at distinguishing itself and keeps the focus on the story. Granted, the director goes for more than a few cheap scares and the ghost itself doesn't quite have the freakout factor, either because we've seen this ghost several dozen times already or perhaps because the director doesn't quite know how to handle shooting it, preferring to clip together short, difficult to distinguish cuts. In terms of cinematography, like Dark Forest of Death, Hidden Floor is dark and murky and while it might be the poor DVD transfer from Hong Kong's Winson Entertainment, it was often too dark to really distinguish what I was supposed to be seeing at times. As far as the acting goes, everyone contributed fairly well (although the druggie neighbor was probably played too broadly) and the film definitely benefits from the presence of a surprisingly capable child actor, but the film isn't really an actor's showcase. Still, the drama between Minyoung and Juhee is believable, which again, helps the film retain its audience through its course. Finally, although sound is important in the film, the sound field is perhaps a touch overused and feels a little cheap when you're constantly prepared for a shock by sound effects.

If you're looking for a low-concept horror film that goes from start to finish without having any seriously exasperating moments of unbelief, Hidden Floor will do. Hidden Floor doesn't impress by what it does right, but by what it doesn't do wrong. It's logically consistent where it matters, has a few scares and grotesque imagery and includes a slight story about a relationship between mother and daughter as well as a mystery that revolves around a ghost, which, yes, has a reason for its grudge. It's got an indie feel in the production and direction and at times, it might be a little rough, especially in its lighting choices, but there's nothing too distracting there either. And for all that, it stands surprisingly above much of the genre. But there's nothing compelling about Hidden Floor and so it's not a film I can say *should* be seen. However, if find yourself drawn to horror films and continue to be disappointed by the implausible moments in the films, this is one that might not impress you, but at least it won't frustrate you. And that's worth... something. 6/10.

Links:

• Additional Reviews: Koreanfilm.org
• Available at Amazon

Progress Report: 신입사원, Episodes 7-9

Reporting on series as I watch them

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It seems like something resembling character development is really starting for the main trio at this point, especially rival Bongsam as we get more into his backstory and personal conflict between his desire to "move up" and his remaining interest in Miok as well as for Miok, who actually has career and personal life movement in these episodes. While the issues with the main plotline of how Ho got into LK Corporation are still very slowly developing as more people find out the truth, it's still pretty slow progress although I think the turning point on all this is nigh and I hope so, because the story's been pretty slow going.

On the other hand, I think I'm coming to understand Super Rookie's vibe and why there aren't intense cliffhangers--it's really more of an episodic series that isn't trying to urgently tell a tight, compact overarching story, even though there is (ostensibly) a larger story arc in the series. It's really just trying to provide some kind of screen companionship to people who are in similar places as its various characters as few of the young people are drawn as especially evil, although Hyunah is close--but she's also a chaebol and consequently a typical villain (although I'm holding out hope that the show does make her more complex too). Still, with such slow pacing and a total of twenty episodes, it's not always easy to be interested in watching the next episode, especially with the plodding character development of our protagonist, Ho, and that aside from his naive eagerness to please, he doesn't have much going for him yet.

But, we're not even halfway in and the ninth episode ended with some interesting developments, especially with Miok, and a little mystery, so I'm hoping that pays off in the second half of the series.

Links:

• Set index
• Series website

Inbox: 방자전

New movies for me

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The Tale of Chunhyang is a nationally renowned classic tale of one woman's fidelity to her secret love and has been told many times in cinematic form. However, being such a well known tale has also resulted in a number of alternate takes on the story and that's where The Servant (or: The Tale of Bangja) comes in. Turning the story on its head and making the protagonist the servant of the original male love interest, the film plays with both the traditional story's interpretation and adds in touches of humor and a more than a pinch of sex with a lot of style to make for an interesting revision of the classic tale.

In this version of the tale, Bangja (Kim Joohyuk), servant to the aristocrat Mongryong (Ryu Seungbum), who both become smitten with Chunhyang (Jo Yuhjung) the moment she shows up in front of them. From there it's a quiet battle between the two for her affections, with Mongryong playing a power game, wielding his aristocratic might before the peasant class Chunhyang and Bangja taking some lessons in seduction from the lecherous Ma (Oh Dalsoo). Chunhyang finds herself torn between going for the seductive hunk of Bangja and the marrying up potential of the clever Mongryong, but quickly sleeping with them both. The story follows the rest of the tale as Mongryong is sent to study for the civil service exam and Bangja is left, but at no point does the competition for Chunhyang stop as things comes to a head leading up to Mongryong's return.

The story itself is couched in a narration by Bangja, now a gangster, to an aristocratic writer, which is itself an interesting mechanism given that the story is traditionally told via pansori, a Korean song-based storytelling form and might itself be a mild allusion to director Im Kwontaek's Chunhyang. Nevertheless, the new take is full of twists to the original story, having Chunhyang be much less chaste and much more willing a gold-digger, but I like the inherent conflict between the three leads and that Chunhyang really does face a considerable conflict of interest with both men. I also like the texture added to Bangja's character in not being so idealistic and "good" that he's willing to take lessons in seduction technique from the rake, Ma, whose interactions with Bangja serve as one of the sources of comedy in the film, another coming from the competition between the two boys as well as the traditional villain of the story, the new local magistrate. The third act becomes more serious, but doesn't lose all levity until the conclusion, which somehow manages to keep the film warm, despite going to a darker place and all this complexity and multi-genre texture results in a rather interesting film.

Taking after other sexy Korean period pieces like Untold Scandal or director Kim Daewoo's own previous film, Forbidden Quest, the film features several scenes of intense lovemaking, although not so much or so lurid as it turns the whole film into softcore pornography. Kim mostly keeps the film stylistically simple in his direction, but he manages to draw out some wonderfully understated comedic beats and the actors do well to oblige, leaving some rather grin inducing moments. The main leads both capture their inner conflict believably and keep the film captivating. Of course, this is a modern fusion tale, so the film doesn't really worry about historical accuracy, with the characters speaking in modern plain dialect. And this approach adds considerable benefit, especially when it comes to the art, costume and production design. The modern fusion takes on Korean traditional costumes are gorgeous and the sets and production elements all feel rich, from the dark wooden room that Bangja and Ma share to the beautiful blue fabric of the scrolls that the eunuchs carry. This is a beautifully photographed film and manages to put in some lovely modern takes on traditional music too.

The final result is a surprisingly enjoyable film, one that blends comedy, drama, past and present together into a tale that subverts the traditional tale of fidelity to a more modern examination of the choices we make in love. It's not perfect as the conclusion is a bit unsatisfying and the story seems almost driven by the original narrative's event, rather than finding its own forward motion, but it's still quite clever, very sexy, and a feast for the eyes and ears when ti comes to the art of the film. As such, I can easily recommend it to those interested in modern re-examinations of period pieces or perhaps anyone who likes sexy tales of conflicted lovers. 8/10.

Links:

• Additional Reviews: Hanguk Yeonghwa, Hangul Celluloid, Koreanfilm.org, Modern Korean Cinema, Rainy Day
• Available at YesAsia (Blu Ray) / (DVD)

Progress Report: 신입사원, Episodes 4-6

Reporting on series as I watch them

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The next trio of episodes don't do much to drift into whatever the main story of Super Rookie is going to be, rather, the series slowly follows the exploits of Ho as he proves himself very lucky in his training, compared to his peers. The situations seem a touch contrived, but they were set up well, from his association with the martial arts guys as well as his ajumma fanclub. The love quadrilateral sees the expected development, but I still haven't seen anything particularly compelling about any of the characters, including the lead, and the fact that he's getting into the company by sheer luck isn't particularly convincing either--it would be better if he was using some kind of good sense, but right now, even lucky loser Ho doesn't really seem too convincing, just skating forward on Eric's strong charisma.

Also, I don't know if it's a plus or minus, but in addition to the slower pacing of the show, the show doesn't really have any strong "hook" moments to build a cliffhanger around, so it's more of a soft lead-in to the next episode. It's nice in the sense that you never feel like this drama is absolutely urgent to watch, but at the same time, it makes me wonder what the stakes are to keep me watching it. And in absence of anything more than mildly developed intercharacter conflict that drives the drama in the story and no clear goal for our characters, I wonder what would keep audiences watching it, especially considering the weaker direction and production values. It was relatively popular though, so I guess I'll have to keep watching to find out what made it a hit.

Links:

• Set index
• Series website

Inbox: Pinocchio

New movies for me

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I have to admit that Disney's classic feature films haven't worn the passage of time well with me. The "princess" films in particular suffered from a lack of character development and conflict (that is the say: the crux of drama) and perhaps I've gone beyond just appreciating film for merely the spectacle of visual magic, which is still a valid means of enjoying film for most. Still, because of my disappointment with these classics, I went into watching Pinocchio with some amount of trepidation, but I was relieved to find that Pinocchio actually has a dynamic character that actually has an arc (yes, a real story) to go with the brilliant visuals, making the second Disney film the strongest of the early Disney films I've seen yet.

Based on the 19th Century story by Italian writer Carlo Callodi, Pinocchio is the story about a wooden puppet, carved by Geppetto, who comes to life with the aid of a wish granting fairy. Utterly naive and eager to please, Pinocchio is granted a conscience in our narrator, Jiminy Cricket, who is tasked with keeping Pinocchio on the straight and narrow. However, as Pinocchio sets off in the real world to go to school, his innocent nature ends up getting him into trouble when he encounters the local hoodlum Honest John, resulting in quite the adventure to finally get back home to his much beloved father, Geppetto.

Pinocchio's narrative still suffers from great simplicity as Pinocchio is not a character that ever struggles with his decisions, what with his conscience being embodied by Jiminy Cricket, and so he's all impulses, led by whatever's in front of him. But for a character so seemingly innocent, it seems a little strange that he would lie, resulting in the iconic growing nose sequence, so there's some issues with consistent characterization. Furthermore, I found the ending to be a little too pat, given that Pinocchio did not fulfill the requirements laid down by the fairy in order to become a real boy, although his behavior was heroic. As such, there are some noticeable flaws with the story as presented. On the other hand, it is Pinocchio's decisions that lead him into adventure and, yes, regret and the disembodiment of his conscience in Jiminy does serve to make a point about listening to one's conscience before making decisions. This means that Pinocchio is much more dynamic and protagonist active, rather than the passive protagonists of the less engaging Disney princess films.

The art, on the other hand, is still quite remarkable. Fluid, expressive and creative--watch the crazy montage on Pleasure Island, followed by the devastating aftermath and eerie quiet and it's hard not to see the strength in it. I'm not much of a fan of the rather stereotypical depiction of Gypsies in the puppeteer Stromboli , but much of the rest of the film is quite interesting, especially the devilish villain that even scares Honest John. The uncredited voice actors do adequate jobs, considering the acting styles present when the film was released and the main song, "I've Got No Strings", remains surprisingly catchy. Most impressive is the innovative planar animation work on Pinocchio, which uses a fantastic system of multiple planar levels of animation cells in photography, resulting in multiple "layers" of the picture moving at different rates and directions, resulting in a dynamic illusory multi-dimensional image.

Pinocchio is, in many ways, as groundbreaking a film in animation as its Disney predecessor, especially in terms of animation art and technique and is blessed with having a much more dynamic story than its predecessor and actual character progression, even if it is troubled by some inconsistency in characterization and a lack of conflict in decisions, due to the ostensible lack of a conscience on part of the protagonist and a bit too happy of an ending that doesn't wrap up the matter raised at the start of the film. Still, despite its problems, Pinocchio stayed quite watchable thanks to its beautiful artwork and wild adventure and that might be more than enough for most audiences. 7/10.

Links:

• Available at Amazon (Blu Ray) / (DVD)

Seen: A Widow of No Importance, September 21, 2011 at East West Players, Los Angeles

Reporting on the shows I watch

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I don't see a lot of shows, so I've been pretty lucky that most of the ones that I've seen have been pretty good and A Widow of No Importance adds to the list. It also happens to be the first show I've seen produced by the well reputed East West Players, a bastion of Asian American theater. With an accessible story, given the Mumbai setting, good performances and a complementary production, I think that A Widow of No Importance is a real crowd-pleaser and definitely worth the tickets if you're looking for an entertaining comedic show.

Set within the wealthy upper class elite of Mumbai, devout widow Deepa Kirplani (Lina Patel) spends her days shut in at home, praying to Krishna, tending to the duties of a widow, and secretly reading trashy romance novels, her only remaining life goal to wed off her headstrong modern daughter, Tara (Puja Mohindra), her only regular visitors being her socialite friend and arranged marriage conspirator Lalitha (Anjali Bhimani) and her son's recently divorced friend, Vinod (Sunil Malhotra), who she feeds in her son's absence. Then, Vinod encourages Deepa to pursue the dreams of her youth and later confesses a long held crush on Deepa, awakening in her long unfulfilled desires and leading her to reevaluate everything in her life.

I did find it difficult to place the setting as the particularities of being in Mumbai were not readily apparent and I found myself accidentally placing the story in London. Still, since ethnic enclaves tend to replicate the practices of the source community, I suppose that's why I was reasonably confused. No one is going to give A Widow of No Importance awards for subtlety, as the comedy is devoted to outrageous (but believable) characters and goofy setups and the characters largely follow their archetypes, like the idealistic dreamer in Tara ("I want to see stars!"). Still, the broad writing does grant the play an amount of generous conviviality, making it accessible to a greater audience, and the mid-life crisis and atypical romance angles manage to drift the story away from strict conventionality inside the romance genre. It is a little surprising how dark of places the play goes, considering its overall lighter vibe with its suicide moments as well as Vinod's almost creepy longstanding crush on Deepa. But those are small moments of incongruity in an otherwise amiable two hour show.

Patel holds the show together well as the conflicted widow, capturing both the pushy mother and yearning (ex-)housewife well. Bhimani pairs well with her as the wilder side of their contrasted duo and probably captures the most laughs with her character's antics. Mohindra and Malhotra do adequate jobs given their characters' simple natures, probably having their best moment when alone together in a bookstore and have more personal conflict to deal with. Finally, Parvesh Cheena handles multiple minor roles throughout the play, adding a bit of goofiness with strong physical comedy. The set design is clean, but clever and the actors and director make good use of the space given them as well as props and costumes. The sound design was a little confusing at first as it fires from behind the audience, but without recognition from onstage, but eventually I got used to it.

A Widow of No Importance wins over its audience primarily on the account of its fun, accessible comedic moments and its venturing into a less conventional romance setup, which presents lots of interesting conflict to watch. While it might be a bit broad for high-minded snobs and the incongruity of the darker elements of the play might leave some doubt with some viewers, I think most show-goers will be won over by its charming cast, outrageous characters and, most of all, its believably comedic take on finding life and love after raising children. A Widow of No Importance is the kind of show that you can take your non-theater going friends to and have a good time, but still appreciate it for its merits as a story about a woman rediscovering herself. 7/10.

Links:

• Play website

Progress Report: 신입사원, Episodes 1-3

Reporting on series as I watch them

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One thing I was reminded of when I started watching Super Rookie was that Korean miniseries have such tempered pacing compared to American series. While the series is about an underachiever who manages to get a prestigious job at a major multinational corporation because of a series of application and testing errors, and then his time at the job, by the end of the third episode, he is only now just getting the job.

Instead of getting right into it, we spend the first three episodes setting up the situation for our main character, Kang Ho (Eric Moon), who, at 30, has yet to get a job and loafs around, reading comic books and martial arts books with his buddy Sungtae (Jung Jin). Both of them, driven by their poverty stricken circumstance to apply for work at LK Corporation, a fictional company that is a major multinational player. Already working there as one of their valued "investments" is Bongsam (Oh Jiho), a high school acquaintance of Ho's, who dumps his girlfriend Miok (Han Gain), a clerk at LK for a wealthy secretary at LK, Hyunah (Lee Soyeon).

We also meet Ho's family, a pair of women that own a bar next door to Miok, all of whom play as comic relief, although Ho's family does play a role in driving him to pursue the LK job, even if it's a clear longshot. Finally, we watch as he is shocked to find that he passes each round of the application process and as the classic Korean love quadrilateral builds between the main characters. There is a touch of coincidence and contrivance to it all, but the series mostly plays everything, except for Miok and Bomsang's story, with a pretty light hand and while the comedy isn't particularly laugh out loud funny, the light touch keeps the drama moving along as a decent clip. It's nothing exceptional right now, but certainly watchable.

Links:

• Set index
• Series website

Inbox:Replay: The Incredibles

Movies I've recently received

Revisiting past movies

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I've been a fan of Brad Bird ever since I watched the wonderful animated film The Iron Giant, but after that film tanked in the box office, I wondered if I'd see him helm another picture. 2004 was the year that would mark his return to the directorial chair, now teamed up with the animation talent at Pixar for their first superhero film, The Incredibles. And when I watched it, it was a wonder, capturing surprisingly mature themes in a fun, kid-friendly package. Watching it again many years later, however, has taken away a bit of the shine, especially as I noticed the plot holes and mixed messages being sent by the film, but even with some minor cracks in its visage, the Incredibles remains a wonderful superhero fueled ride.

Set in a time period resembling the mid-twentieth century America, we are introduced to a world of superheroes, including Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) and his sweetheart Elastigirl (Holly Hunter). However, the fallout of an unwanted heroic act results in the banning of superhero activity, causing the recently married superhero couple, along with all the other superheroes, to go into hiding. Now in their mid-life, living as the Parrs, Bob and Helen, Bob holds down a day job at an insurance company to support his family, which has expanded to include shy invisible daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell) and snotty speedster son Dash (Spencer Fox). But Bob finds the simple life stifling and longs for the glory days of heroic acts, settling for sneaking out with his fellow ex-hero Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) for small time escapades when he gets a mysterious request that needs superhero attention and pays better than the job he doesn't want. This results in a high stakes plot involving a character from his past and his family and well as a city in jeopardy.

There is a lot of fun in the Incredibles and I really like that it approaches a mature topic like mid-life crisis in an accessible way, also capturing the theme of family and being the best you can be, but the story is a bit muddled in what it wants to say, for example, having a moment that shines a light on the value of life, when the protagonist superheroes are involved is the many many deaths of the various mooks that the supervillain employs. Also, logically, it doesn't make sense that all the superheroes would go into hiding suddenly leading to an absence of supervillains. It's ignored in the film, but the question is raised from the beginning because we see the supervillain, Bomb Voyage. If the superheroes were gone, doesn't that mean that the supervillains were able to be checked by the regular authorities? Then why are the superheroes again needed? And, if not, then did the supervillains lose meaning without the superheroes. That just didn't make sense for me. Aside from those problems, however, the Incredibles is a lot of fun and although its divided focus results in a bit of a fragmented narrative, it still manages to get through its story relatively intact. It's just not as coherent as I remember it being on first watch.

Visually, the Incredibles is every bit a Pixar film. It looks gorgeous, sounds gorgeous and is well performed by its cast and animators. I like the comedy beats and the many references to superheroes and comic books piled into the movie and the character designs are appropriately styled (at the cost of originality). I especially like how the film evokes its temporal setting tonally (while mixing in a lot of high technology).

So, some reflection has left the Incredibles seeming a little less incredible than on original viewing, but the pacing and fun of the film manage to keep it more than merely engaging and the mature (and sometimes dark) material of the story is kept surprisingly accessible. The Incredibles is the kind of film that will appeal to adults (for touching upon their issues) and kids (for all the fun superhero antics) alike and remains an enjoyable time at the movies. 8/10.

Links:

• Feature website
• Available at Amazon (Blu Ray) / (DVD) and iTunes

Progress Report: 장마

Working my way through sets and serials

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The most recent film available in the Yoo Hyeon Mok Collection, Rainy Days was released in 1979, itself a film set near the end of the Korean War. A much more visually sedate film than The Guests of the Last Train, its greater focus on character and story results in a strong meditation on the embitterment of loss and the possibility for reconciliation.

Told slightly out of chronological order, we start with a strong impressionistic visual of an elderly woman (Hwang Jungsoon) pulling out her tooth before cutting to realize that it was a dream, or, in her mind, a premonition. You see, as the fighting for the Korean peninsula continues, the former Seoulite, along with her single daughter, Gilja (Joo Haekyung) was pushed down to the southernmost region of Korea by the encroaching North, coming to stay with her eldest daughter (Sunwoo Yongryuh) and the family of her husband, Soongoo (Kim Sukhoon). Her only son, Giljoon (Kang Sukwoo), had left to join the South Korean forces in repelling the North, having pushed up the front back to the thirty eighth parallel, but she fears that he is lost. This turns out to be the case and while the remaining women of the family grieve their loss, the maternal grandmother tries to reassure herself that it's okay because she knew it was coming. However, in her grief, she curses the remaining Northern partisans who are hiding out in the mountains nearby, which immediately sets her against her paternal counterpart (Kim Shinjae) as their second son, Soonchul (Lee Daegeun), had joined the Communists and were those in the mountains.

While the film is much too complex and complete a story to be called an allegory, it still functions in similar ways, with each family representing the respective South and North, tied to each other by blood, but torn apart by conflicting ideologies and then by death. While I found both the grandmothers frustratingly real in their incessant and insufferable nagging, as well as their high degree of superstition, it's ultimately through these two characters that we see the story, the protagonist handing off from the maternal grandmother to the paternal one halfway through the film. Even as it conflicts with my own worldview, I ultimately found the way that superstition is used in the film fascinating, as it becomes a shared means by which the grandmothers are able to relate to each other and find reconciliation and I like that the film leaves the "reality" of the superstition unresolved, choosing instead to focus on the relationships. I also just like how all the characters and their relationships are the focus of the film and the character development is well grounded and rewarding, even as the characters might be understandably frustrating at times. The climax and resolution of the film fantastically close the film, resolving the superstitious moment at the beginning of the film as well as the conflict that came up due to how the sons of the two families ended up on different sides of the ideology.

Even though Yoo's direction might not be as fanciful as his more expressionistic works, I still found Rainy Days to be excellently directed, with great attention to subtle framing and mis-en-scene, in order to capture the characters and the space around them, as well as finding visual elements to reflect the relationships between the characters, and on a greater scale, between the North and the South. The acting likewise follows the times and generally goes for the more natural approach favored in the current era of filmmaking, with the exception of the child actors' voices, as they were clearly dubbed by adults.

The resulting film is quietly powerful, convincing because of its focus on characters, conflicts and development, but aided by strong direction and performances. I love its careful use of setting and relationships to build a simultaneous story about the North and the South and even the use of superstition as a means of communicating both the characters inner selves as well as their mediated relationships with each other. A superb film about people and their conflicts with each other, as well as about two nations and their conflict, and the hope for reconciliation between the people and the nations. It stands with The Aimless Bullet as one of Yoo Hyeon Mok's best. 10/10.

Links:

• Set index
• Additional Reviews: Koreanfilm.org

Inbox: 7급 공무원

Movies I've recently received

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My Girlfriend Is an Agent (aka Secret Couple) is a bit of a surprise film from director Shin Taera, whose previous film was the Japanese adaptation thriller Black House. However, the screenwriter, Jeon Sungil returns to familiar territory from his previous year's caper film, Once Upon a Time. And fortunately, the pairing of these two along with amicable performances from the cast and decent production work results in a modestly entertaining film, taking the core premise of Mr. & Mrs. Smith and spinning it into a more comedy oriented film.

The film begins on the end of the relationship between secret agent Ahn Sooji (Kim Haneul) and her goofy boyfriend Lee Jaejoon (Kang Jihwan), who, tired of being lied to by Sooji and not knowing her top secret job, breaks up with her as he leaves the country. Three years later, he returns as Sooji and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) are in an operation to prevent a Korean scientist from selling a potentially genocidal biological weapon to a foreign entity. Unknown to Sooji, however, is that Jaejoon is now also an NIS agent, a still-goofy rookie on a covert team tracking the Russians that are seeking to purchase the weapon. As they encounter each other with alarming frequency due to their shared job interests, the two of them find themselves conflicting with each other both professionally and personally, as they find each other in embarrassing or scandalous situations as parts of their respective covers.

And those setups for misunderstandings leading up to misunderstandings of greater scope are some of the strongest moments of the film, taking the Three's Company ironies and building them into a large comedy of errors that results in escalating conflict between the two theoretically allied secret agency groups. Combined with that Korean-styled comedy of inappropriateness, I actually found this element of the film quite entertaining, even if broad and unsubtle. That said, the actual relationship drama, while it's well grounded in the misunderstandings and lies told, doesn't seem entirely believable in how it develops, especially given that Jaejoon is the one who left, it's strange that he's the first to also try to reconcile. The actual "thriller" plot is rather silly and, at times, unnecessarily complicated (you'll see what I mean when a certain secret identity is revealed) and while I get that this is a comedy, the stakes never become believable. It is nice that a Korean film manages to avoid the usual turn into melodrama in the final act, but without good stakes, the excitement in the final act also dissipates, taking along the dramatic tension in the relationship as well.

The whole affair is delivered with good and fun and while I've seen greater degrees of production quality in Korean cinema, it's all quite nice with the slight exception of the cheapness of some of the end set pieces. Despite the helicopters and destruction near the end, I can't shake that the feeling that the production did shoot a bit on the cheap when it could or perhaps the cinematography was a bit too romantic comedy and not enough action spy thriller. Kim Haneul and Kang Jihwan don't have great chemistry, but they do capture their respective roles well, especially when independent of each other and while the supporting characters are rather minor, the respective actors fill their one dimensions well. The actors playing Russian agents, on the other hand, seem to overact a touch (even for a silly romantic comedy spy thriller) and I can't really comment on the quality of the spoken Russian.

In the end, this means that the film is fun and, if watched as a comedy of errors, entertaining its in genre. However, the story just barely manages to hold itself together and while the comedic escalation is great, there's too much neglect of the actual secret agent storyline, which could have been better utilized to build the inter-character conflict between Sooji and Jaejoon. Also, the film seems a little underwhelming in terms of the direction and the overall production; while I get that it's in its core a romantic comedy, I feel like that vibe carries over to the secret agent parts and creates a dissonance that could take some viewers out of their suspension of disbelief. Still, I feel that My Girlfriend Is an Agent/Secret Couple is modestly successful at what it aims to do and loved the comedy of errors aspect, so it should be an amusing way to pass a couple hours. I just feel that everything could have been tighter and more inventive. 6/10.

Links:

• Additional Reviews: Far East Films
• Available at MrKwang and YesAsia

Progress Report: 막차로 온 손님들

Working my way through sets and serials.

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Director Yoo Hyeon Mok's The Guests of the Last Train is a rather bewildering film. A color film from the late 1960's, Guests features some startling visual direction from Yoo while at the same time providing a forced, frequently inaccessible, at times incomprehensible and incoherent story, resulting in a fascinating, but horribly frustrating watch.

The film follows three friends, the first, Dongmin (Lee Soonjae), a bitter, cynical man with terminal lung cancer, who encounters Boyoung (Moon Hee), disoriented and wandering out outside, so he gives her a taxi ride and then reluctantly opens up his home to her when he finds that she's without a home. Dongmin's doctor is his longtime friend, the idealistic Kyungsuk (Sung Hoon), whose mental patient, Sejung (Nam Jungim), is a wealthy widow heiress that has become smitten with him. The two meet their mutual friend, Choonghyun (Kim Sungok), who has returned to Korea after making a fortune in Japan only to find that his wife has left him to become an actress, driving him into a downward spiral.

I think the biggest problem with Guests of the Last Train is that it lacks a meaningful coherence to its overall three part story and this might in part be due to the fact that the film really doesn't spend enough time developing any of the three stories well enough to deliver on them. There is fortunately some character development (or degeneration, in the case of Choonghyun) with Dongmin and Boyoung and their story ends up being the most compelling of the lot, although it loses its way as the three stories collide with each other. I did find some interesting elements to Kyungsuk and Choonghyun's stories as well, but they don't manage to really provide believably developed conflict and all of the characters sometimes do things that aren't properly grounded in the story, resulting in their choices seeming random. And the climaxes to the stories, one telegraphed well, don't really provide any sort of conclusion to the stories, but merely seem to just happen without any sort of nihilistic or existentialist undertone to justify it. This results in a rather inconclusive and incoherent story that often had me confused about the reason why I was watching what was being shown me.

On the other hand, Yoo has such an immense visual presence in this film. From the lengthy opening following Boyoung's wandering, to a cut to flipping calendar in Boyoung's mind, to a cut to a bathtub in a critical moment for Choonghyun, Yoo has an amazing capacity to pick his visuals (including use of color and lighting) for maximum psychological exploration of his characters, and much of the film provides a bevy of memorable moments, also for the characters as they deal with their tormented situations. And the actors work well to find their characters' breakdowns, like Nam's Sejung as she breaks down in front of Kyungsuk from the endless calls she gets from in-laws who obviously are seeking her fortune. Likewise, the sound in the film also has a kind of arresting, even if it's a bit blunt at times, working like the visual choices to capture the mindset of the characters well. However, the film does often get confusing as moments of fantasy aren't demarcated well, leading to narrative confusion, especially during a critical moment in Dongmin and Boyoung's developing relationship, and sometimes the editing (or scripting) puts scenes in a confusing order.

Ultimately, I don't think Yoo's excellent visual and aural capacity for capturing the state of his characters resolves a chaotic and inconclusive story. Guests of the Last Train is rather arresting, especially in its more potent scenes, which easily stuck in my mind in their power, but in between those scenes, I was left quite frustrated because the story seemed aimless and, without grounding the events that occurred and decisions the characters made, random, hence bewildering. Guests is a film that does well in the individual moments but doesn't manage to shape those moments into a satisfying larger picture. I still recommend it to cinephiles with an interest in creative visual presentation and those with a deep interest in Korean film history for those successful elements, but I think most viewers will find that this is a chaotic train they need not board. 5/10.

Links:

• Set index
• Additional Reviews: Koreanfilm.org

Inbox: 옥희의 영화

Reviewing what I recently received.

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Oki's Movie is yet another a entry into prolific writer-director Hong Sangsoo filmography and while it largely stays within the boundaries of Hong's oeuvre, there are a couple differences that set it apart and while I don't think it's as consistently as successful as Hong's better films, it does have some elements that are memorable enough to prevent it from being just another Hong film.

The film is broken into four parts, but with shared characters. In the first part, we meet Jingu (Lee Sungyu), a married film instructor who like most Hongian males is rather ineffectual and frequently drunken. We see him go about his day, but after hearing a rumor about his respected Professor Song (Moon Sunggeun) and getting drunk, he grills his professor on it and then proceeds to a film festival Q&A where he himself gets grilled, a student alleging that he had an affair with another student that ruined his life. The second part follows a younger Jingu's delusional and dogged pursuit of Oki (Jung Yoomi), who previously had an affair with Professor Song. The third segment now follows Professor Song, as he finds his teaching job pointless when his students don't show up after a heavy snowstorm, except for Oki and Jingu, and they proceed to have a rather silly Q&A session where the idealistic young students ask broad philosophical questions and Song spits out brief pat answers, leaving a deep impression on both. Of course, this leads to a relationship between Song and Oki. The final part takes Oki's point of view as she compares two walks she takes on a mountain trail with both Song and Jingu two years apart from each other.

Of these four segments, the first one works thanks to its observational comedy of awkwardness as we watch Jingu make an ass of himself in public and then be forced to answer similarly awkward questions. I felt the second and the third bits were a little flat, feeling like an extended setup for the final part, although Jingu's self-delusion is mildly amusing and Hong's cynical eye towards human behavior is no less sharp--it's just that in the context of Hong's films, we've seen all this before and better done. The final part however is quite interesting because it takes the female point of view, which Hong has not previously done. Framed as Oki's film within the film, Oki's drawing of parallels and comparisons between her two lovers does give some interesting brain fodder, like the repeated films of different perspectives of Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors. Plus, Hong doesn't spare Oki, giving her room to manipulate and lie, and so the perspective and the construct work. Still, because of a lengthy setup without too strong a payoff and the uncertainty of how the four segments are connected and ought to be absorbed, I found Oki's film a little more distancing than Hong's more accessible films.

Aside from structure, Hong isn't really doing anything new here, but does continue to draw respectable performances from his repeat actors. One element that I did find amusing is Hong's use of the famous passage in "Pomp and Circumstance, March No. 1", which is used to rather comedic effect in the film. However, I felt like many scenes in the film didn't really contribute to the overall story and statement despite being memorable in for the awkward pathos drawn by the characters that is Hong's trademark.

Still, thanks to a speedy runtime and the breakdown of the segments, I thought that Oki's Movie managed to stay quite viewable and the more comedic moments of the first segment as well as the interesting take on a female protagonist in the fourth segment help buoy the more meandering middle. Not bad, and I think the bookending segments might better stand alone, but Oki's whole Movie still will be interesting to Hong fans. Others might want to go with his more consistent films. 7/10.

Links:

• Additional Reviews: Kimchi Popcorn, Modern Korean Cinema
• Available at YesAsia

Seen: X-Men: First Class

Reporting on what I see.

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After the travesty that called itself X-Men: The Last Stand, I thought the current incarnation of the X-Men franchise was buried only to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine crawl into theaters and get panned as well. That, I thought, would be the end of this incarnation of the X-Men franchise, but to my surprise, this past year, yet another X-Men movie joined the franchise: X-Men: First Class. And by all accounts, it wasn't supposedly bad. And, while I missed it during its initial run, I got a chance to catch it recently and have to agree, it's not bad. Perhaps even the best of the franchise.

Set in the early adulthood of Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), who would become Magneto, and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), as Lehnsherr is on a roaring rampage of revenge against Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), a Nazi collaborator who killed his mother. As they discover each other and a world of super-powered mutant, the world is thrown into a crisis as Shaw, who now leads a mutant cabal called the Hellfire Club, uses their powers to manipulate the events leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. For personal and altruistic reasons, Lehnsherr and Xavier develop a friendship as they work together, putting a team of mutants together to prevent an international disaster.

I loved the ties the film made to actual history as well as the period setting and I also appreciated the greater emphasis on character development given in this film to Erik and, to a lesser extent, Charles. I still think the character development wasn't entirely earned over the course of the film as few of the characters really made decisions in conflict, but almost as a matter of course, draining the drama of the film. Also, there is a giant plot hole in the film in having Sebastian Shaw be both the man that killed Lehnsherr's mother at the top of the film (and be "old") as well as be the same super-mutant antagonist of the film. It seems too pat and convenient, which is something that happens a lot in the film. Also, Xavier hardly develops as a character but suddenly goes from playboy to wise without earning it. Still, there is some meaningful tension about being true to yourself with the characters of Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), who would become Mystique, and Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult), who would go on to become Beast, so the film isn't entirely automatic.

Visually, I really like how this movie in particular pulled back from much of the modern visual silliness that engulfed the production design and also really embraced a picture of the 1960's in its costumes and design. Matthew Vaughn, who previously directed another superhero film, does a pretty good job of balancing the silly with the serious in the film although the film slows down a little too much leading up to the finale, and draws some good performances from the cast. Although Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) is a rather shallow plot driver/eye candy for the film and alongside many of the other minor characters aside from the aforementioned, aren't given much character to work with, Fassbender and McAvoy do impart their rather railroaded characters with mostly believable humanity resulting in their story, especially Lehnsherr's, stealing the show.

But despite the many drawbacks in the film's plotting and story, it's still rather refreshing to see a period superhero film and one that actually focuses on story, even if it feels like its on rails. The 1960's setting gives the film a lot of fun factor to work with visually and the Cold War setting also imparts a bit of gravity to the movie. If only this film were an actual reboot of the series instead of acknowledging the awful previous two films, it would be a lovely start to a franchise. But, even as it is, it's still a fun ride and a welcome change of pace for what was a diving franchise. 7/10.

Links:

• Feature website
• Available at Amazon (Blu Ray) / (DVD) / (Instant) and iTunes

Inbox: 싱글즈

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

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I discovered the Korean film Singles via the music video for Loveholic's "놀러와" but originally dismissed watching the film because the music video made it look like a typical Korean romantic comedy. However, in time, I noticed that the body of director Kwon Chilin's work has tended towards approaching modern relationship issues from outside the typical setups. Furthermore, the two female leads, Um Junghwa and Jang Jinyoung, have both appeared in a Korean film that I respected (Marriage is a Crazy Thing and Sorum). Seeing a US release of Singles at a decent price, I picked it up and gave it a shot.

A growing demographic in Korea, this film spotlights the titular older singles, men and women who have reached or are close to their thirties and have not yet married. In this case, we watch as twenty nine year old Nanan (Jang Jinyoung) finds herself being transferred from her career track job in fashion after suffering sexual harassment from her superior to work as an Assistant Manager at Chili's and then being dumped by her longtime boyfriend. Her only consolation comes from her two good friends, Dongmi (Um Junghwa) and Jungjoon (Lee Bumsoo), who also happen to have been long time roommates. Nanan, suddenly thrust into the world of singledom and forcibly separated from her career deals with a minor existential crisis as a gentleman, Soohun (Kim Joohyuk) comes calling. Meanwhile, the slightly older Dongmi also struggles in her career but continues to enjoy the carefree romantic life of a single, which itself takes an awkward turn when she finds herself in bed with Jungjoon.

I think the film does a relatively decent job of fairly realistically looking at the life of modern singles. There are no overwrought romantic declarations nor fanciful high concept plotlines involving romantic interest and career paths colliding and the main struggles the characters have are the decisions they have to make in whether or not they want to transition from their single-ness to another track in life. And while it's not quite a celebration of the experience of being single, it is in some ways a celebration of the friendships that form the core relationships of single people. I do think that the more straightforward courtship and career drama of our main protagonist Nanan takes up a little too much screentime considering the direction of the story and I would have liked to see greater conflict and story focus on Nanan's friendship with Dongmi as well as Dongmi's own story as there's much that's teased at, but we don't effectively see her own conflict and such a shifting of focus might not have resulted in as breezy of a film, but I think it would have helped strengthen the character drama and journey.

Visually, Singles is a bit of a strange hybrid as well. While it resists many of the slicker tendencies in the art, costume and production, it still incorporates the text and graphics layer that many Korean films of the early 2000's tended towards. While the production is competent, the cinematography and art design results in the film feeling a bit rougher, which runs just a little counter to the cuteness of the text and graphics layer. Likewise, the casting of the male leads does seen to run against the standard of typical romantic comedies and both Lee and Kim provide more everyman foils to the much more traditionally attractive leads of Jang and Uhm, who both perform admirably in their roles, with Jang especially exuding a strong degree of charisma despite a rather low key role.

I have to say that while the lower key, more realistic approach in Singles was kind of refreshing in face of the relentless high concept romantic comedies, I do think a stronger focus on core drama in the story and a slightly more organized stylistic approach in the production and directing would have really helped strengthen the overall film. However, I think the end film is still fairly engaging, even if not quite in the same attention grabbing way as successful high concept relationship films, in a breezy low key way and is a film that a think many singles can particularly relate to. 7/10.

Note: The presentation of the film via YA Entertainment's US release is a mixed bag. They kindly provide a small pamphlet with information about the characters as well as some cultural information for elements in Singles that might not be obvious to non-Koreans, which is a plus, but the encoding of the movies has some very distracting scanlines everywhere, making it seem like the encoding was taken from an interlaced video master, resulting in a cheaper looking presentation.

Links:

• Additional Reviews: Koreanfilm.org
• Available at Amazon and YesAsia

Progress Report: 김약국의 딸들

Progress Report provides ongoing impressions of serials or sets I view them.

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The Daughter's of Kim's Pharmacy is quite an interesting film from director Yoo Hyeon Mok. Like the other two films of his that I've seen, this is a melodrama centered around the lives of those living in the then contemporary Republic of Korea. Daughters has a particularly interesting element, grounding the story in both the present, but looking at the familial past inside the story to derive an explanation for what's happening, but also looking at it outside as a commentary on what has and has not changed in Korea's industrial transformation as well as the shift from Joseon to the new republic. But at its core, it's still a straight melodrama about the troubles of a family and while in some ways, the story feels a little like it's on rails, there's still an interesting examination of the times and their effect on a family.

The story revolves around the titular daughters of a fishing village named Tongyoung, with a prologue set in the Joseon era where a curse on the family's women is introduced as the lady of the house commits suicide after being unfairly accused of adultery. Now in modern Korea, that pharmaceutical family's sole heir is older and has only four daughters to his name. Yongbin, the second daughter, a modern, educated Christian woman, returns from Seoul to Tongyoung to visit her family and encounters it as it begins to fall apart. Her elder sister, Yongsook is a widow and the third sister, Yongran, is fiercely rebellious and unchaste, a point of contention for the whole family. Her father, having sold off the family's long held pharmacy business, is running a lagging fishing business. As the two troublesome sisters behaviors mount in troubles, especially as Yongran is caught in an affair with the family farmhand, Handol, we see the family make a number of decisions in order to save face or provide for the daughters per traditional means that lead to serious consequences.

While it seemed a little incongruous at first because of the multi-part prologue in front of the film, I actually found it to be a very interesting element for grounding the film in a time and place and giving some food for thought as to the nature of the family's deterioration. Daughters don't entirely avoid some levels of melodramatic cliche and Yongran's story in particular cedes to it the most, but I also really liked that through the different daughters, we see the different effects of the hardships on the family and how their own temperaments, dispositions and decisions effect themselves as well as the family as a whole. I do think that some measure of dramatic choice wasn't dwelt upon enough and so at times the film felt a little distant from the emotional element and Yongbin who serves as our protagonist seems a little underdeveloped, as well as the titular Kim as it does feel like there needs to be some root cause for the breakdown in the family beyond the "curse" at the start of the film, but that part is never entirely clear.

As usual, Yoo is very effective at handling the direction of the film and while some of the moments do seem overplayed, especially a rather tragic moment in Yongran's story, he largely sells the film are dynamic compositions and helping to keep his actors in the right moments, of course, appropriate to style of the times. The actors, accordingly don't go too deeply into ham territory (excepting a couple moments), but play surprisingly restrained for a Korean melodrama of this era, although part of that might just be a hallmark of Yoo's directorial style as well. I also like the film's dedication to capturing the actual city of Tongyoung as well as the local dialect (although I don't know how accurate it was), leaving me fairly impressed by the time the credits rolled.

I don't know if I can rank this in the same category as Yoo's powerful Aimless Bullet, but Daughter's of Kim's Pharmacy has a rather novel-like feel to it (which makes sense as it's an adaptation of a novel) and I largely works in capturing the woes of this "cursed" family as it breaks apart. I do wish that there was better story developed around why everything is happening as it is, which would give decisions a little more meaning than just having characters simply be a certain way, but Daughters manages to mostly keep the drama working even lacking some of that part of the story. And finally, the film gave me a lot to think about in the end thanks to the prologue. Again, I wish the story were more complete, but at the same time, that would increase the runtime, so I have to say, in final evaluation that The Daughters of Kim's Pharmacy is a rather interesting film in many ways, with the main complaint being taking on more story than would probably reasonably fit into a feature film's runtime and seeming a little underdeveloped as a result. 7/10.

Links:

• Set index

Inbox: Fantasia/Fantasia 2000

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

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Disney's Fantasia is a rather atypical kind of feature film, being a hybrid of a set of classical music performances with Disney's interpretive animated visuals. It's not exactly a surprising result, as even by its release in 1940, Disney has already had lots of experience essentially making animated vignettes to music, but the scope and the scale of the production results in an almost unique cinematic and aural experience.

In 1999, Fantasia was granted a sibling in Fantasia 2000, which was born of the original concept of Fantasia as being a constantly evolving work. Having never achieved that regular change envisioned for it, Fantasia 2000 finally materializes the first iteration of the film, keeping some parts and adding wholly new animated segments and, when I saw it, I found it to be a modestly satisfying experience. Having since been almost a decade since I've last seen 2000 and even longer since I'd seen the original Fantasia, I thought it would good to pick up the duo at the wonderful price that I found it and revisit the pair in my adulthood.

The pair of films comes packaged as per the Disney standard, complete with slipcase, both films in a single case with an extra hinge and containing both Blu Rays and DVDs. It is nice that they come together at a single price, but I think it would have been nice to release the two separately as well for those only interested in one of the films. 7/10.

Disc List:

• Fantasia (1940)
• Fantasia 2000 (1999)

Links:

• Available at Amazon (Blu Ray) / (DVD)

Progress Report: 그대와 영원히

Progress Report provides ongoing impressions of serials or sets I view them.

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Forever with You is director Yoo Hyeonmok's fourth film and the oldest film of his in the collection of his films that the Korean Film Archive released. Having thoroughly appreciated the only film of his I've seen, Aimless Bullet, I think my expectations might have been too high for this film. The film, a crime and romance melodrama, while featuring strong visuals and direction, suffers from undeveloped characters, story cliches, and lack of focus.

We first meet Gwangpil (Lee Ryong) as a prisoner. He recounts to his cynical fellow prisoner his memories of his childhood sweetheart, Aeran (Do Kumbong), as well as the life of crime that led him into prison. Now, he's awaiting release after a decade of good behavior and he's upbeat, bolstered by regular letters and clothes from Aeran. However, upon release, he is met instead by one of his fellow thieves, turned priest, Dalsoo (Choi Bong) and discovers that life outside the prison walls is not what he was expecting. Running into Aeran as well as his fellow thief-turned-gang boss Sangmoon (Choi Myungsoo), Gwangpil struggles to find his place in the world that moved on without him when he went to prison.

I think the largest problem with Forever with You is the protagonist, Gwangpil. He's groomed during his time in prison to stay rather naive thanks to the letters and his earnest personality. However, as he confronts the reality of life outside of his carefully constructed reality inside prison, I don't feel like there's a palpable sense of conflict for him or any of the other characters in the story, rather, it all just seems to move forward autonomously with characters being instilled with the necessary emotions as contrivances. I do like that the priest is there to offer an alternative path for Gwangpil and I understand Gwangpil's continuing affection for Aeran, but one of the contrivances around Aeran as well as the general evil evilness of Sangmoon doesn't resulting in a very convincing overall conflict and I especially don't see reasonable justification for Gwangpil to be drawn back to a life of crime. At least I found the somewhat ambiguous ending to be interesting.

Whereas the story sinks, I still find the direction of Forever with You quite impressive. From the long opening shot watching children play outside, which then tracks with a crane to inside prison walls, it's clear that Yoo has a clear sense of what he wants to convey visually in the film and his controlled use of camera motion is one of his strengths, as well as his direction of his actors, who perform relatively naturally, considering the tendency to "act" during this age of cinema, especially in Korean melodrama, so winding back the performances manages to keep them in line with the more natural visual style of the film. There is also a pointed (even if unsubtle) use of music, even if the score isn't especially strong, with the presence of the then-contemporary song "Que Sera Sera".

Forever with You does point towards Yoo's strengths as a director, but I found the narrative overall unconvincing and, despite more restraint than usual for a melodrama of this period, it still feels like the plot is pushing the characters and story forward unnaturally and Gwangpil, in particular, but Aeran as well, don't seem developed well enough to justify their struggles as well as their decision-making. Perhaps if the earlier prison narrative was reduced and the film spent more time with Gwangpil struggling to acclimate himself to the reality outside of his hope-box of prison as well as adding a believable conflict with Dalsoo, might have brought the necessary depth to the character to make him seem interesting. However, in the end, I found Forever with You to be more of an exercise for Yoo in genre filmmaking, which might highlight his talents, but I'm unconvinced that his talents were enough to elevate this film beyond its norm. 5/10.

Links:

• Set index
• Additional Reviews: KoreanCinema.org

Inbox: 커피프린스 1호점

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

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I came across 1st Shop of Coffee Prince by its Tearliner directed, Pastel Music sponsored soundtrack. Having purchased the soundtrack and having found it a lovely slice of indie pop, I filed away the drama as an afterthought in my mind. However, when it came time to find another drama to send to my sister and mother, the memory of the drama bubbled up in my mind. Now, knowing that my sister and mother enjoyed lead actress Yoon Eunhye's previous drama, Palace, and having seen a lot of buzz in drama-watching communities as Coffee Prince being one of the best of 2008, I thought this would be a pretty safe bet for them.

The response from my sister was positive, although not enthusiastic, but I think that meant that it was a good gamble overall as some of the dramas that she's merely liked, I've ended up loving and some of the ones that she loved, I only liked. All the same, the cross dressing story of a tomboy in financial straights getting paid to pretend to be the gay lover of a wealthy heir so that he can casually get out of dates arranged by his family is definitely an interesting starting point. The MBC America version comes on seven discs (seventeen episodes and one disc with bonus material) in a large gatefold plus the special features disc in a separate sleeve. It's a pretty straightforward presentation in terms of the physical media and not too many frills on the episodes, but it is encoded for both Region 1 and 4 so it can travel up and down the Americas, also bearing English, Japanese and Spanish subtitles. I'm hoping that I can enjoy it as much as I enjoy its soundtrack.

Disc List:

• Disc 1: Episodes 1-3
• Disc 2: Episodes 4-6
• Disc 3: Episodes 7-9
• Disc 4: Episodes 10-12
• Disc 5: Episodes 13-15
• Disc 6: Episodes 16-17
• Disc 7: Special Features

Links:

• Series review
• Series website
• Watch for free at Crunchyroll and DramaFever
• Available at Amazon and YesAsia