Harmony / <하모니> 2010

Directed by: Kang Dae-gyoo / 강대규
Release date: January 2010

Jung-hae gives birth to a baby boy, Min-woo, while serving ten years in prison for killing her abusive husband. She raises her son for the first year and a half allowed by law before having to give him up for adoption. Her cellmates include a couple odd women, a dignified music professor, and eventually the new-con-on-the-block with a big chip on her shoulder. Jung-hae sets out to organize her fellow convicts into a choir, enlisting the help of her cellmates. If she is successful, she is promised a reunion with her son.

A contrived, sloppy tearjerker … but engaging nonetheless. Contrived, in that the group of women assembled to make a choir first create a cacophony that no group of human beings on earth would likely make, all so that they can “improve” during the film into a great bunch of singers. Hey, they could have just been bad and improved, this was over the top. Sloppy, watch the mouths of the singers, they NEVER are in sync with the lyrics anytime in the film. Maybe the director thought it wouldn’t be noticeable but it was and could have easily been prevented. Tearjerker as the sweet little old lady convict gets executed. Still, we got caught up in the story and ran overtime, something we rarely do, but no one noticed. My take: C

One big happy cellblock family: the four cellmates and the baby first

meet the new girl (Park Joon-myeong, Jeong Soo-yeong,

Nah Moon-hee, Kim Yoon-jin, and Lee Tae-kyeong).

My Dear Desperado / <내 깡패 같은 애인> 2010

Directed by: Kim Kwang-shik / 김광식
Release date: May 2010

Sae-jin is a country girl, innocent and optimistic. She has come to Seoul to start her new job, only to find the company gone bankrupt and herself unemployed. Her new basement digs are pretty shabby … and then it turns out her next-door neighbor is a gangster! Actually, Dong-chul is an over-the-hill gangster down on his luck but, as it turns out, with a heart of gold. The two strike up a somewhat uneasy but eventually sustaining friendship while she struggles and finds success and he struggles and finds, well, whatever it is that over-the-hill gangsters end up finding to do.

An odd film, the director didn’t seem to know just what he was going for. The gangster parts were brutal, the comedy parts were funny but not that funny, and the melodrama parts, such as Sae-jin waiting in vain in the first snow of the year for her lover to show up, didn’t seem to fit the rest. There was some odd camera work as well that had me wondering what the cinematographer was trying to say. My take: D

Sae-jin (Jeong Yu-mi) takes her cleaned-up neighbor,

the gangster Dong-chul (Park Joong-hoon),

home to meet her dad and pretend to be her fiancé.

Just Friends? <친구 사이?> 2009

Directed by: Jim-Jho Kwang-soo / 김조광수
Release date: December 2009

Seok-i (Lee Je-hoon) goes to meet his lover, Min-soo (Yeon Woo-jin), at the military camp in the country where Min-soo is completing his army service. This reunion for the gay lovers turns suddenly awkward when Min-soo’s mother (Lee Seon-joo) arrives to visit him, too.

An interesting short, nicely paced, well-acted, and engaging. The film poses some intriguing questions about the problems that can ensue when gays come out of the closet. The song and dance numbers were a lot of fun, too. My take: CCC

Strangers on a bus (Lee Je-hoon and Lee Chae-eun) show each
other the gifts they are taking to their “lovers” both of whom will
turn out to be men doing their army service at the same camp.

Quick / <퀵> 2011

Directed by: Jo Beom-goo / 조범구
Release date: July 2011

Former motorcycle gang member, Ki-su, now works for a quick-delivery service on his motorbike. Delivering a girl-group singer, Ah-rom, to her next performance, she puts on his helmet which turns out to be rigged to explode. She and he must deliver a series of packages in order to keep the bomb from going off.

The film starts off with speeding motorcycles, and some screaming and fighting going on among the riders. Then some policemen screaming. Then there is some speeding around Seoul on a motorcycle, then a concert with a lot of screaming and fighting which follows the girl-group members out to their van where it continues. The next scene has a speeding motorcycle and screaming and fighting both! I’m afraid that that is where we bailed. My take: DDD

Scene with screaming and fighting (in the van)

and a speeding motorcycle.

Green Days: the Dinosaur and I / <소중한 날의 꿈> 2011

Directed by: Ahn Jae-hoon and Han Hye-jin / 안재훈과 한혜진
Release date: June 2011
Better translation of the title: Dreams from a Precious Day.

It is the 1970s and Yi-rang is a high-school student in a country town. Her dream is to become an Olympic athlete but she fakes a collapse during a race rather than lose the race. Her new best friend will be the quirky and precocious classmate Soo-mi who comes from the big city of Seoul. Yi-rang will also experiment with a first love with classmate Chul-su who dreams of becoming an astronaut. They all plan, ponder, and dream of who they will be when they grow up. 

 

I love this film! A thoughtful and sumptuous, yet gentle, animated depiction of growing up in a small town in the 1970s, rich with detail of small town life and high school days from that era, with an awesome musical score as well.

My take: CCC

The dream: a friendly little dinosaur frisks around Yi-rang's legs.
The days and years go by and the dinosaur will grow up
and go where Yi-rang can't follow.

Revolver Gangster’s Gang / <육혈포 강도단> 2010

Directed by: Kang Hyo-jin / 강효진

Release date: March 2010

Three elderly widows dream of visiting Hawaii and work to save up the funds, sometimes by nefarious means. They get the money and take it to the bank, only to get stuck in the middle of a bank robbery, have their money stolen, and get stonewalled by stingy bank officials who won’t make up their loss. In desperation, they themselves begin training to rob the bank to get their money back. Their adventures are hair-raising, including a hostage-taking situation and a high-speed chase. On the way, they strike a blow for “gray power” but will they make it to Hawaii?

I loved this film! The suspense of how the three would get out of each pickle they get themselves into kept me on the edge of my chair and the humor had me falling out of it. My take: CCC

A toast, for a day well-spent earning money

bringing the three friends a little closer to their goal
(Kim Soo-mi, Nah Moon-hee, and Kim Hye-ok).

Suicide Forecast / <수상한 고객들> 2011

Directed by: Jo Jin-mo / 조진모

Release date: April 2011

Mr. Bae is a rising star among insurance salesmen until he falls under suspicion of having helped one of his clients to commit suicide. Thinking back over some of his more questionable insurance sales, Bae hunts down these old customers to make sure that they don’t commit suicide, which could ruin his career.

Apparently the film is trying to say something about current social problems—such as social alienation and unethical business practices—but makes heavy going of it and while it is supposed to be a comedy, the film is not humorous either. We bailed half-way through. Furthermore, it was one of the most unappealing characterizations for one of my favorite actors, Ryoo Seung-beom (류승범). My take: DD