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Geon-chook-hak-gae-ron (2012)
Korea does it again
I have loved Korean films since like forever. Im not a Korean so I rely on English subtitles to watch Korean movies, usually this is frustrating since it takes a long time for the subtitles to be available, but for this film it took only 3 days! compared to for example Nameless gangster which was released around April but still no subs! This proves how popular architecture 101 must be... and it deserves that attention.
Today way too many films are too cliché and over-exaggerated, there are few films which you can see the reflection of yourself in it, not even a tiny bit. I am not saying that this film is portraying my life but I think few people can deny that you cant relate with any of the characters. How many people haven't once during the course of their life been Seung-min? Having liked someone that greatly but lacking the courage to say it? How may are just like Seo-yeon? Regretting, wanting to go back in time and change everything..
The actors all did a great job, Han Ga In is out of this world pretty and Lee Je-Hoon seems to be a really promising actor together with Suzy. The reason I did not give the film a 10 is because the ending, which, to say the least, could have been much better, and I'm not talking about the outcome but rather the way to end it. However this is still a very very good movie and if you have never seen a Korean film before I advice you to give it a try as it Im sure after watching this movie, Korean films will stick by you forever, just like me who after that rainy day i decided to give the film Brotherhood of war a go never looked back.
Noruwei no mori (2010)
The film is for those who read the book...
I loved Haruki Murakami's book Norwegian Wood. It is one of my favorite books of all times and I still read through different parts of the book then and then. So I was very hyped up for the film. The amazing trailer made me even more excited.
After finishing watching the film (I even fast forwarded some parts!) I was very disappointed. However I did not regret using my time watching this film. OK, I will make a very strange statement here regarding why: The book is like the notes for a song on an instrument. This film is like the accompany for that song. I personally believe that only through both reading and watching Norwegian Wood can you get the full experience.
One of the biggest problems with the film is that all the characters were too shallow. There was no one who developed through the film. I think that the director was too keen on taking in everything he could from the book to the movie that he forgot there are actually people who haven't read the book before watching the movie. Some of the actions of the main characters were done in a way that wasn't explained in the film but was explained in book. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND EVERYONE TO READ THE BOOK BEFORE SEEING THIS MOVIE. The character Naoko was played by someone way too old, and she sort of shattered the picture I had of her from the book. However Watanabe and Midori turned out quite good. I believe it was a waste to put in time on explaining Kizuki or the part with Midoris dad etc. Instead the director should have focused on something. He should have taken quality over quantity. I actually think this film is meant to be viewed by people who read the book.
The positive part in the film is not the story or anything similar which you expect to like in a film. The best part for me is finally getting to see how the room Watanabe lived in looked like. If Nagasawa was hot or not, how good did Reiko sang Norwegian Wood and when seeing "her" smile while talking on the phone at the very end of the film made the two hours worth it.....
(My rating was based on the story of the film)
Baekyahaeng: Hayan eodoom sokeul geolda (2009)
It could have been so good...
There are certain directors who can make a simple love story between a girl and a boy so fascinating, so romantic, so heart touching that you feel that this can not be just a film. Yet at the same time there are also directors who manage to screw up a script/story which is already so good and so exciting. The director of the film White Night is a mixture of those two personalities.
The great part of this film is the love story between the two main actor/actress. I was really sucked into their relationship and it was quite a few times which I was forced to remind myself that this is only a film, its not real. The relationship between them is very ordinary for a film, you can see many examples from other romantic films but this director really managed to make it very thrilling and moving.
However the same can not be said about the film in general. The writer of this film is a genius, I could see how great this story would have been had it been a stand alone book, Im sure it would have been a bestseller. For some odd reason the director of this film screwed it up. First is the pacing, at the beginning everything was going so fast. Random people turned up and disappeared, names got cast around and it was hard to hang on to to the plot and know who was who. I am not a native Korean so to remember the names of people have always proved a huge challenge in Korean films, however this one is even more difficult since for the first hour or so everything was so fast, and the many flashbacks made everything ... confusing. The last part of the film was very slow, nothing much happened and when I finally knew the names and the plot I really wanted action, something unexpected to happen but I never got any. The ending was very sad and boring. The woman who have been so warm for the whole movie suddenly turned cold, very cold, with no obvious reason.
I would advice the director of this film to make a pure romantic film next time, not some mystery thriller. Winter Night was a mediocre film which should be watched by people who seek a great love story and not a mystery/thriller film. The person who is the murder is obvious already in the first few minutes....