Two of my favourite Korean films are The Man from Nowhere and Love Me Not. Interesting choices considering I am usually a romantic comedy girl, but these two grabbed me; particularly Love Me Not.
The Man from Nowhere is an action starring top actor and heartthrob, Won Bin, and was a great success in the Korean Boxoffice. Won Bin stars as an ex-secret service agents turned pawn shop owner after his wife and unborn child were killed by criminals who were after him. He becomes reclusive and his only hold on reality is through a unique bond between himself and a neglected child in his building. When the child and her mother are abducted by a drug dealing/child trafficking/organ harvesting organisation and the mother later found dead in the boot of his car with her organs removed, Won Bin tries to save the little girl. [Spoiler Alert] Utterly predictable, he goes up against the criminal organisation leaving a trail of dead bodies behind. The police are chasing him and the crime bosses. Heartbreaking scenes of children forced to become drug runners on the promise of freedom, passing out from the chemicals while making drugs while the adults all wear gas masks, and their excitement when they are told they are being reunited with their parents only to see them in the morgue in the next scene. It's horrible to think that this actually does go on in some places around the world. Anyway, Won Bin brings down the crime organisation and the film ends with a paternal scene between him and the girl where they are surrounded by police waiting to take him to prison and he is given a last moment with her during which he buys her stationary; a reference to earlier in the film where it's mentioned that this is what all the fathers do for their children. Sad movie but really good. A must see.
Love Me Not, on the other hand, is a dark drama about the development of a man's character, and although starring two relatively popular stars including the Korean's little sister Moon Geun-Young, it was a flop. This is the story of Julian (Kim Joo-Hyuk), a playboy who lures women with his charm only to steal from them or convince them to give him all their money. He is threatened by loansharks: pay back his debt in one month or he will be killed. One of his friends who was estranged from his family dies and Julian visits the family pretending to be the returning heir to the family fortune. However, complications arise when he realises that there is a daughter in the family; supposedly his sister. She is blind so he thinks he can deceive her into believing that he is her brother. She secretly knows that he is Julian, a man who her real brother admired and wrote about to her before his death, but she pretends he really is her brother. She falls for him and he starts to feel guilty about his deception and falls for her. It's a weird love, not really convincing as a romantic love, more of a soulmate love that transforms him. [Spoiler Alert] She needs an operation to save her life and he needs to make the decision as to whether he should use the money to pay back the loan sharks, flee or support her. He decides to pay for her operation, leave her a note that she is not meant to read until after the operation and flee the country. Of course, she reads it prior to the operation, thinking she may die on the operation table and never know his true feelings. This gives the loan sharks time to capture her and ring Julian, who is about to get on a plane, and threaten her life if he does not return. He goes to a club to save her and dies from a stab wound while she is cradling him in her arms, unseeing, while the loan shark stands next to her. You can tell by the plot why it was a flop at the box office but it was actually a really great film and I recommend you give it a try. I love the changes in Julian.
Next: Haunters with Kang Dong Won and while I am in a Won Bin mood; Taegukgi.
Any suggestions?
No comments:
Post a Comment