Love Bakery

Adding to the popular South Korean music video programs, modern Korean films have finally come to cable TV's I-Channel/International Channel/AZNTV Channel.

The first half of LOVE BAKERY is brimming with humor and charm. The pacing is fine. The story is fun and not too predictable. The acting is excellent, and everything is captured with superior photographic flair. However, come the second half there is just a little too much plot getting in the way of the movie.

LOVE BAKERY works best when the comedy is light and sprinkled with slapstick. It is weakest when it tries to be spicy. There is much male nudity at a public bath scene in an appeal to comedy. But to be clear, the movie has zero female nakedness.

"Love Factory" is an outstanding film. Normally I stay away from romantic comedies, but this one moved at a pace that made it much more enjoyable than the Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant crap that is typically released in the U.S. It really drags the viewer through an impressive range of emotion. One minute you think it's the funniest thing out there and the next it seems a bit depressing. Ultimately it resolves as a somewhat uplifting film. Much of it's charm evolves from what seems like understated slapstick, similar to what was typical in the television show "Ally McBeal," except in this film it was actually funny and timed well. It may also appeal to those who enjoy the television show "King of the Hill," as the protagonist's love of baking rivals Hank Hill's love for propane and propane accessories. It's an excellent and comical film about ordinary people.

South Korea is a country which is - quite rightly - gaining an ever increasing respect from those who appreciate good cinema for it's top quality output. Love Bakery is a film which in my opinion proves that, even the less well known Korean films are well worth seeking out. Briefly the story centers on Noh-myung, a baker and his wife Jung-hee. He starts to notice that she's sighing a lot, guessing that she is missing something in life, he tries to cheer her up – but fails. One day, a new customer Mu-suk walks into the shop.

Mu-suk brings a spring back into her life; Mu-suk though is married to a battleaxe of a woman - Hae-sook who beats him up (Rather hilariously actually). Noh-myung believes that his bread is the "dog's danglies", he is jealous of his wife's visitor, and believes that he is a better man than him (Or maybe he just has to try to convince himself of this).

I liked this movie, there's a real sense of the absurd throughout – that someone can be so passionate about bread (And you thought Star Trek fans were single minded!) There are some thoughtful moments, along with many plain silly scenes (The one where Mu-suk enters the bakery in Noh-myung's dream as a "terminator" and proceeds to pelt Noh-myung with loaves for example). I don't want to give too much away, I'll summarise by saying if you're in the mood for a lightweight but good film, you could do a lot worse than Love Bakery.

One of my favorite movies is Tampopo, and this has to be right up there with it. Only this movie is about cakes instead of noodles. Anyway, I love the beautiful scenes in the movie, the powerful acting and the beautiful Korean actresses. They are so hot, they make me lust after them. It has a scene set around Christmas, one of my best seasons and favorite time of the year that actually showed snow, so that was spectacular. My only regret is that I didn't catch it in 2000 when it came out. It's too bad there isn't a movie theater in SF,CA that'll setup special nights for different themes like a food movie night,etc. and show a bunch of finely selected flicks that have to do with food. Maybe, the Four Star theater might do it if it survives it's May 05 contract.