Sad Movie (2005)
"Saedeu mubi" (original title)

Several couples struggle with their relationships

Director:

Jong-kwan Kwon

Writer:

Jong-kwan Kwon

Stars:

Woo-sung Jung, Su-jeong Lim, Tae-hyun Cha

Cast

Credited cast:
Woo-sung Jung	...	Lee Jin-wu
Su-jeong Lim	...	Ahn Su-jeong (as Soo Jung Lim)
Tae-hyun Cha	...	Jung Ha-suk
Jung-ah Yum	...	Yeom Ju-young (as Jung Ah Yeom)
Min-a Shin	...	Ahn Su-eun
Tae-yeong Son	...	Choi Suk-hyun
Ki-woo Lee	...	Sang-gyu
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jong-ryol Choi
Geun-ah Im
Yeo Jin-gu	...	Park Hui-chan
Seung-cheol Kim	...	Yun-bok
Won-suk Kim
Hyeon-kyeong Lim

Storyline

When Lee Jin-woo rescued Su-eun from a fire they both defied the odds in surviving. He fell in love with her older sister, Soo-jeong Lim, who now desires the brave fireman to propose marriage thinking that this will make him less fearless in facing the flames and lessen her greatest fear. He wishes to do so, but his romantic streak causes him to seek the proper moment. Su-eun works as a "character" in an amusement park. Her face was scared in the fire, and in addition she is a deaf mute. Feeling free to be more forward when in costume behind a large "Raggedy-Ann" head, she approaches a handsome artist who frequents the park to paint. He starts to come infatuated with her, despite never having seen her face or heard her voice. She starts to fall in love with him. Choi Suk-hyun informs her boyfriend, Jung Ha-seok, that she wishes to break up for he is still unemployed after 3 years and she cannot face a future of poverty. He vows to get a job to reverse her feelings, and when a stranger...

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Plot Keywords:

love | park | fire | deaf mute | break up | 

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Taglines:

Separation is another face of love

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [South Korea]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean Korean Sign Language

Release Date:

21 October 2005 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Sad Movie

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$50,600 (Hong Kong) (17 February 2006)

Gross:

$299,779 (Hong Kong) (17 February 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Myung Film Company Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: A Season for Love

It's been some time since I've watched a movie with a relative huge ensemble cast (think the last was Crash), and little did I expect this Korean romance movie to boost the same too, with fine acting, good comedy and lots of love demonstrated in various ways.

There are 4 separate stories in this film, and it's difficult for me to judge which of them is superior than the other. Each looked into its niche area, and have ample screen time to develop its story, though the characters do get intertwined in one another's story with little conscious interaction.

The first concerns a firefighter and his girlfriend, who works in a TV station as a news translator for the mute. She's waiting for him to propose, focused on the rationale that given his dangerous job, she likes the idea of him having to think of her, to hesitate for a while before jumping into danger. He, on the other hand, is waiting for that perfect opportunity, setting and all, before popping the question. Initially I thought that this was the most stable of the relationships, until they hit a brick wall in their communications, and as usual, misunderstanding ensues.

Breaking down of communications also happen between the firefighter and his soon-to-be sister-in-law, but that provided some of the best comedic situations in the movie. She's mute, and had her life saved by him (but he fell for the sister, so don't ask). She works as a Snow White doll in a theme park, and gets infatuated with a painter who frequents the same park. However, she's slightly disfigured on her face, and hides behind the Snow White caricature all the time. I found this to be something that I could relate to, being shy, yet bold when hiding behind a mask. Given by the audience's reaction, this piece probably is the most popular with its identifiable theme of infatuation, and the cutesy way in which it got played out.

The third story is about a mother-son relationship. The mother, being a career woman, hardly gets to interact with her child, and the son misses his mother badly. Until an illness confines her to the hospital bed, and they start to bond as mother-son would, given plenty of communication opportunities. However, as the story unfolds, it's also the most predictable of the lot. It's touching, but not as touching as the mother-son relationship in the Japanese movie Be With You last year.

The last story, and perhaps the saddest of all, is between a boy and a girl who've broken up. The girl's stuck in a dead end job and yearns to be rescued by an economically stable guy, but the guy's she's in love with (or used to be) is perpetually stuck in unemployment. When they broke up, the circumstances under which it was told to him, brought him an entrepreneurial opportunity. He tries to woo back his love, and I felt that the ending for this segment was the best in the way it developed, with the fine cinematography of reflection and rain.

The soundtrack is kept simple, with the theme song played over and over again in various situations. But somehow it's strange, that the same song, when played, seemed able to evoke the different emotions the situation wants from you. And that I'd tip my hat off to.

Halfway through, I thought that it would make a nice Valentine's movie, with its bountiful picturesque and heartwarming moments. But by its ending, even though events played out is typical of a weepy, I'd still recommend it for this season of love, for the plain message of not taking a significant other, a loved one, for granted. Tell them "I Love You", now.