SeoulFire

Here I am sitting in front of the computer, listening to some strange, beautiful concoction of Duffy, Coldplay, and She & Him. All great albums. If you haven’t listened to either of them or haven’t heard of them at all……. my heart cries for you. Anyway. This set up could only mean one marvelous thing: It’s time for another issue of OF THE ASIAN PERSUASION!!!!! Shumu er!! (That’s number two in Mandarin. FYI….I am trying to learn Mandarin Chinese because…..I have too much time on my hands obviously.)

Alright I’m switching it up a little bit this time around. I’ve actually been watching Korean films for the past couple of weeks and I gotta tell you this is the most unstable relationship I’ve held with any set of films before in my entire life. They build you up, they knock you down, they offer some glimmer of hope, then they throw it on the ground and stomp on it to leave you with some bittersweet ending you just have to accept whether you like it or not!!!! But I keep coming back. Like a fool. 

If you ever get a chance, watch as many as you can and you will see what I’m talking about. It is the true meaning of an emotional rollercoaster. They start out with a charming story with charming characters and just for a second that inner romantic you try so desperately to hide comes rushing out like a tidal wave and then…….. One of those charming characters is terminally ill or promised to someone else or dies in a tragic accident. Then to add insult to injury the story never really picks up from that point. You more than likely will get some bittersweet ending that has a tendency to be………beautiful, actually. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it!!!!!!

So it looks like I’ve got 4 Korean and 1 Hong Kong movie. This should be interesting.

1.   My Sassy Girl (2001): This is the most charming, abusive couple ever seen on film. And I loved every minute of it. It’s pretty huge overseas already and everyone involved has made a name for themselves with this one film. And of course Hollywood has remade it. Just this year actually. But let me just say I watched it before they made it here and I have consciously made the decision not to see it. I urge you to do the same. There’s a certain magic with the original that to see other actors play these characters in a totally different setting would just be tragic. The director, Kwak Jae-yong, has a John Hughes aspect to his films. Probably every film student has seen this film and every studio replicates it in some kind of way. While the film’s not Oscar winning it’s crowd pleasing which is just as good in my opinion since it’s so hard to do. For Kwak Jae-yong, My Sassy Girl is what Thriller was for Michael Jackson. But, hey, that’s not bad at all.

2.   The Classic (2003): THIS MOVIE MADE ME CRY!!! YES ME!!! Yet another Kwak Jae-yong. If you haven’t noticed I’m officially a fan of this man. I can’t really describe this one. You just have to watch it. Yes it is an emotional rollercoaster but it’s totally worth it. There is an actor by the name of Jo Seung-woo who was one of the lead actors in the film…..Amazing. If anything he made me cry the most. Bastard.

3.   Windstruck (2004): Yes another one by the Korean John Hughes as I have deemed him. This was really cool though if you watched his films in order. Which is imperative. If you don’t watch them in order you WILL miss some pretty great stuff. An extra bonus is that the same girl that starred in My Sassy Girl starred in this one. Extra extra bonus is the other lead actor Jang Hyuk who is hilarious in his own right. But the bonus of all bonuses is at the end. But you have to watch these in order. That’s very important

4.   Please Teach Me English (2003): This features the actor Jang Hyuk also and its even better just for that. It’s thoroughly charming, engaging, and mostly original. Hey give it a break it is a romantic comedy. I’m not even gonna try to explain why this movie pretty much rocks. Sure it’s kinda sappy and unrealistic but isn’t that what we pay for sometimes. I think it’s anyone’s right as a human being to get sucked up in a sappy love story. We all deserve it sometimes.

5.   CJ7 (2008): Ok firstly Stephen Chow RULES! That should be the first thing said when anyone mentions anything that Stephen Chow is involved with. I was already a lifetime fan but he just keeps reinforcing my faith in his ability and my obvious reasons to love him. This is a family film but its so inventive and original that to call it corny would just be a crime. And anyone who does call it that should have all his bodyparts removed, put in a meat grinder, and fed to blood thirsty dogs. Sorry. I watched Election 2 (Hong Kong movie) not too long ago and its kinda sticking with me. And the little girl’s performance was inspired. Like Dakota Fanning inspired. And yes that’s a girl playing the little boy’s role. Brilliant.