This review may contain spoilers
Beautiful in every aspect
So it was early 2020, the pandemic had just hit hard and I was confined at home, when due to so much extra time on my hands at home and good advice from a Korean friend, this movie was actually the first Korean thing I ever watched.
At that time I was bored to death by all Western production who had long given up good story telling and exchanged it for crudeness, every absurder sex stunts stuff and political messaging on end. It had been years, many years, since I last saw anything remotely good, let alone something that really touched my heart or managed the rather impossible (compared to others) - and made me cry.
I started watching this movie without any expectations and boy was I in for a surprise.
The main story is set in 1991, with a group of teenagers, and particularly the beautiful love story between Beom-sil and Soo-ok. It's told in retrospective and it's a tragic story of two young innocent people who, due to unfortunate circumstances, in the end, can not be together.
I do not want to spoiler this story, but what I can say is that apart from me being glued to my screen for th full length of the movie, this story hit me hard, and I was, to my own surprise, crying my eyes out for the last half hour of the movie and even after I couldn't stop crying. I think I never experienced that before and - although I have watched many touching K-drama stories meanwhile - also never after that movie.
It is beautifully shot, set on a Korean island in the 90s, and the main characters played by Kim So-Hyun and Doh Kyung-soo are portrayed so touching and realistic, I was in positive shock back then, as I just hadn't seen anything that authentic in many years.
If you like beautiful but tragic love stories, watch this, but be prepared it's a real tear jerker. Six years later now and I still haven't forgotten this movie and like to watch it from time to time.
Oh, and on a side note: for all those saying Doh Kyung-soo can't act? I disagree after having seen him in this movie.
At that time I was bored to death by all Western production who had long given up good story telling and exchanged it for crudeness, every absurder sex stunts stuff and political messaging on end. It had been years, many years, since I last saw anything remotely good, let alone something that really touched my heart or managed the rather impossible (compared to others) - and made me cry.
I started watching this movie without any expectations and boy was I in for a surprise.
The main story is set in 1991, with a group of teenagers, and particularly the beautiful love story between Beom-sil and Soo-ok. It's told in retrospective and it's a tragic story of two young innocent people who, due to unfortunate circumstances, in the end, can not be together.
I do not want to spoiler this story, but what I can say is that apart from me being glued to my screen for th full length of the movie, this story hit me hard, and I was, to my own surprise, crying my eyes out for the last half hour of the movie and even after I couldn't stop crying. I think I never experienced that before and - although I have watched many touching K-drama stories meanwhile - also never after that movie.
It is beautifully shot, set on a Korean island in the 90s, and the main characters played by Kim So-Hyun and Doh Kyung-soo are portrayed so touching and realistic, I was in positive shock back then, as I just hadn't seen anything that authentic in many years.
If you like beautiful but tragic love stories, watch this, but be prepared it's a real tear jerker. Six years later now and I still haven't forgotten this movie and like to watch it from time to time.
Oh, and on a side note: for all those saying Doh Kyung-soo can't act? I disagree after having seen him in this movie.
Was this review helpful to you?

1

