Naesaengae gajang areumdawun iljuil (2005)

Director:

Kyu-Dong Min

Writer:

Kyu-Dong Min (writer)

Release Date:

7 October 2005 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Cast

Jeong-hwa Eom	...	Hur Yu-jung
Ji-won Ha	...	Cameo
Jeong-min Hwang	...	Na Do-chul
Kyeong-ho Jeong	...	Yu Jung-hun
Ho-jin Jeon
Yi-da Jeon
Hie-bong Jo	...	Cameo
Hyeon Ju	...	Mr. Kwak
Su-ro Kim	...	Park Sung-won
Tae-hyeon Kim
Yun-seok Kim
Se-yeong Lee	...	Cameo
Chang Jung Lim	...	Kim Chang-hoo
Mi-hee Oh
Jin-woo Park
Seung-su Ryu
Jin-wook Seo
Yeong-hie Seo
Hyeon Woo	...	Cameo
Jin-seo Yun	...	Lim Soo-kyung

Also Known As:

My Lovely Week (International: English title)

Runtime:

South Korea:129 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Naksan Park, Dongsoong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Company:

Doosaboo Films

Movie Connections:

References When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

Not a great deal of originality, but well put together -

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Since the inspired "Palwolui Christmas" (Christmas in August) (1998) and the clever "Yeopyijeogin geunyeo" (My sassy girl) (2001), Korean romances have taken a downhill plunge towards being sometimes contrived, sometimes formulaic, sometimes sappy, sometime outright silly, and sometimes all of the above. (In fact, "Palwohui Christmas" has so much depth that it's unfair to call it merely a romance).

Thankfully, there are still the odd ones that bring some freshness. Interestingly, two of them feature Eom Jeong-hwa, probably the closest Korean actress that gets to Cate Blanchett (in terms of versatility, that is). One of these movies is "Love is a crazy thing" (2002) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315930/usercomments-2. The other is this one.

"Naesaengae gajang areumdawun iljuil", or "All for love", has been described as a Korean "Love actually", and for good reasons. In the currently rather popular "hyperlink movie" manner, half a dozen stories are interconnected, similar to what you see in "Crash". At the center is an odd couple of a divorced, sophisticated woman with a medical profession and a he-man type policeman, stumbling into romance unlooked for. Surrounding them is a variety of characters and situations: a gay executive, his 9-yaer-old son and an attractive, young male nanny; a young couple deeply in love but plagued by poverty; a 7-year-old girl struggling with cancer and her irresponsible father, a has-been basketball superstar; a relatively elder movie director and his unspoken affection for a woman tenant, an owner of a coffee shop but dreaming to be a star; a teenage girl torn between religious and romantic passion and her pop idol, both in sick bed. It isn't really important how all these stories are linked together, in one way or another, cleverly or otherwise. The important thing is you are unlikely to get bored, with so many things going on.

There is liberal use of Hollywood references, from the immortal faked orgasm scene in "When Harry met Sally" to beautiful "Moon River" in "Breakfast in Tiffany's". These direct references are neither out-of-place nor illogical, as Hollywood does form a part of the collective memory of people everywhere around the world, whether you like it or not.

The cast is generally competent and the two leads Eom Jeong-hwa and Hwang Jeong-min do have good chemistry. Although I have given up on the banal Korean romances in general, this is one that deserves recommending.