Gyeong-ah’s Daughter (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Her daughter is in trouble…

Posted on June 18, 2022 by kaist455

I often braced myself while watching South Korean film “Gyeong-ah’s Daughter”, a somber but undeniably powerful drama about one certain serious social gender issue in our digital era. As observing how its two different main characters respectively struggle with the sudden devastating damages inflicted upon their life, the movie is hard and difficult to watch at times, but we keep watching it nonetheless because it handles its story and characters with considerable care and restraint at least, and it surely earns its little melodramatic tears around the end of the story.

At first, we are introduced to a plain middle-aged widow named Gyeong-ah (Kim Jung-young) and her adult daughter Yeon-soo (Ha Yoon-kyung), and we observe their respective daily lives. Gyeong-ah works as a caregiver for some senile old man in her neighborhood located in Inchon, and Yeon-soo lives in Seoul while working as a schoolteacher, but they do not correspond that much with each other on the whole. Although Gyeong-ah calls her daughter from time to time, Yeon-soo does not want to talk much about how her life has been going, and a certain little problem in her private life is surely the last thing to tell her busybody mother.

Unfortunately, that problem turns out to be more serious than she thought at first. Yeon-soo recently broke up with some lad, and she has no regret over this, but, alas, this dude still thinks that he can get her back. When he suddenly appears right behind her, she is naturally nervous, and their following conversation only reminds her more of why she decided to leave him. Quite concerned about whatever he might do to her, she subsequently decides to go to her mother’s residence instead of her residence, but she still does not tell anything to her mother while hoping that he will simply give up in the end.

However, the situation only becomes quite worse for Yeon-soo not long after that. Out of spite, her ex-boyfriend sends their sex video file to a number of persons including Yeon-soo’s best female friend, who instantly notifies to Yeon-soo about that. Needless to say, this sex video file will soon be spread around here and there on the Internet, and Yeon-soo’s life begins to crumble as she becomes more scared and devastated day by day. She eventually comes to quit her job, and then she retreats from everyone around her while trying to find any possible way to recover from this devastating blow to her life.

Gyeong-ah could help her daughter, but she is so shocked to see that sex video file that she only comes to hurt her daughter’s feelings more. Nonetheless, she tries to find her daughter when Yeon-soo is gone from her without any word, and that makes her more regrettable about her rather cruel words hurled at Yeon-soo at that time.

As alternating between the bumpy emotional struggles of its two main characters, the movie gives us a series of painful moments without resorting to cheap sentimentality. While she manages to find a way to start her life again in addition to doing some damage control, Yeon-soo cannot help but reminded of the persistence presence of that sex video file somewhere on the Internet, and she feels more regret and guilt because the video was actually shot under her thoughtless consent. She is willing to take her case to the court, but then she comes to hesitate when her sympathetic lawyer tells her that she can agree on the settlement outside the court for avoiding more troubles to come.

Meanwhile, Gyeong-ah comes to reflect on her life more as trying to cope with her complicated feelings on her daughter’s ongoing plight. As she admits later in the story, she was not that happy due to her lousy husband throughout their married life, and she comes to see how Yeon-soo was important to her during that difficult time as she stood by her mother as a caring daughter. Coming to realize that she should have stood by Yeon-soo from the very beginning, Gyeong-ah begins to try as much as she can for Yeon-soo, and her small but significant efforts eventually make her connect more with Yeon-soo.

The last act accordingly becomes rather melodramatic, but the movie steadily maintains its calm attitude as before. I particularly appreciate small but precious moments of solidarity from several female supporting characters around Gyeong-ah and Yeon-soo. While Yeon-soo’s best friend and one of Yeon-soo’s colleagues are quite willing to provide help and support, two female lawyer characters in the story show more understanding and compassion than expected, and Gyeong-ah’s old friend also turns out to be much caring than we thought at first. In case of a subplot involved with Yeon-soo and one certain young girl in the story, it becomes unexpectedly poignant when Yeon-soo comes to connect more with this young girl, and we sense a sort of healing process inside Yeon-soo as she opens herself more to this young girl.

Under the thoughtful direction of director/writer Kim Jung-eun, who made a feature film debut here after making two short films, the two leading actresses quietly hold our attention with their respective solid performances. While Kim Jung-young ably holds the ground, Ha Yoon-kyung deftly handles her character’s difficult emotional journey along the story, and they are also supported well by several good cast members including Lee Chae-kyung and Park Hye-jin.

Overall, “Gyeong-ah’s Daughter” is another impressive South Korean female drama film of this year, and it surely reminds me again of why many South Korean female filmmakers like Kim Jung-eun are important for South Korean cinema. Considering the blatant social backlash against feminism in the South Korean society at present, we really need to support and listen to their stories more than before, and I sincerely hope that the movie will be regarded as the shining starting point for Kim’s filmmaking career.

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After I came out

Posted on June 16, 2022 by kaist455

Around 6 years ago, I came out of my closet just because I felt that enough was enough. I endured more than 10 matchmaking attempts made by my mother, and those meetings with young women only reminded me again and again of how much I am disinterested in girls. I am not just drawn to masculinity; I sexually desire and crave for it, and I should have known that sooner, considering that my eyes were often drawn to the photographs of beefy bodybuilders even during my childhood years. When I saw a certain little moment of sexual awakening involved with Jean-Claude Van Damme in Oscar-nominated animation documentary film “Flee” (2021), I said to myself with amusement: “Oh, I know that feeling.”

The immediate consequences of exposing my homosexuality to others around me were pretty mixed to say the least. In case of many of my online friends and acquaintances, I got much more support and congratulation than expected, and I felt good about that. In case of my co-workers, they accepted me without much problem. In case of my parents, they were quite angry and disappointed as hurting me a lot with all those painful accusations tinged with bias and prejudice, which I still cannot forgive or forget at all.

And I still remember how angry, depressed, and devastated I was during that hurtful time. Suddenly, I felt like having no one around me to support and love, and I even considered suicide as struggling with all those emotional upheavals between me and my parents. To make matters worse, my younger brother did not provide any emotional support at all, and that made us more estranged to each other, though we had not cared that much about each other for years since I went to university.

Anyway, I survived this traumatic moment, and I have tried to move on during next several years. After concluding that I had no future in academic research, I decided to work in a small but solid biotechnology company founded by my graduate school advisor, and I felt a bit happier because I could be more separated from my parents in Jeonju. Although I still had to visit them every two weeks, I was glad to start a little private life of my own in Daejeon, and I could have much more freedom in exploring my sexual desire and preference.

Actually, I already had a sort of boyfriend before moving to Daejeon in June 2017. He was a graduate student from Guatemala, and I am still grateful to him for giving me the first gay sex since I had with a distant cousin of mine in 1997. I was pretty nervous during our first meeting, but everything went well in his little residence once we got relaxed a bit, and that was the beginning of our long relationship. During next several years, he often came to Daejeon whenever he had time, and I felt good and happy as spending time with him.

However, there came a point where our relationship became less intimate and exciting after he eventually graduated. After working in Jeonju for a while, he moved to Busan for his new teaching job, and, mainly because he is frequently busy with his work, he did not come to Daejeon that often. While he was willing to pursue his professional career in South Korea, I came to have doubts on whether I could be more serious about our relationship, and that was one of several reasons why I came to distance myself from him bit by bit. We are still friendly to each other as sending texts and photographs to each other from time to time, but we are more like friends instead of lovers these days.

Meanwhile, I kept searching for any dude around me via Grindr and several other online gay dating applications. As a matter of fact, I met more than 40 guys, and I had sex with most of them just because I wanted to clarify my sexual preference. After my so-called research, I concluded that I am usually drawn to big manly dudes, and I also found that anal sex was a cumbersome business I prefer to avoid as much as possible. In fact, after several attempts of being top or bottom, I sort of came to appreciate the physical flexibility of gay porn actors. I have no idea on how they actually prepare, but all those acts of theirs look pretty effortless as far as I can see.

Anyway, many of guys with whom I had sex usually disappointed me. No, sex was usually okay or good, but I could not go further than that as failing to connect with most of them. As an awkward guy who was not only diagnosed to be on autism spectrum but also turned to have a depression problem, I am not so good at approaching to others, and I even had a couple of pretty bad experiences. In case of one of them, this dude stole my laptop after we had sex in my residence, and the only consolation was that I had actually been considering buying the new one sooner or later. In case of the other dude, he tried to cling onto me even though I made it clear to him that we were totally finished, and he still sends me texts at times although I simply ignore and delete them without much care.

In last year, it looked like I finally came to have a serious relationship with some other guy, but, alas, I only found myself more frustrated and disappointed. I was actually willing to let him more into my life, but he frequently disrupted my daily routines involved with movies and books just because he wanted to have more of me, and he also looked increasingly creepy and annoying to me as days went by. Besides, my sexual experience with him was rather unpleasant, and he even attempted to have a half-forced sex with me when I was tired and drowsy during one afternoon.

Yes, I should have thrown him out sooner, but it was not easy for me at all. I actually attempted to leave him in last December, but I accepted his emotional plea later. Although he often made me feel like a bad person, I thought I had a fair share of faults, so I decided to try again with him, but we only ended up having a breakup several months later. I made it clear to him that I did not like him enough to tolerate him, and that was the end of our relationship.

After that point, I felt lonelier and more miserable than before, though I did not regret at all about leaving him. I subsequently met several other guys, but they all came to me for nothing more than sex. At least, one South African guy seems to really like me, but we remain to be mere friends meeting for sex and fun, and the same thing can be said about a young Botswanan guy, from whom I did not expect much from the beginning because he will leave South Korea around the end of this year once his school semester is over.

In the meantime, my parents still hope that I will change my mind someday. My mother often suggested that I should meet a woman recommended by her matchmaker, and I simply responded to her with detached disinterest while also trying to suppress my growing annoyance and exasperation. You see, they are still in denial while disregarding who I am, and they still do not apologize to me for how much they hurt my feelings at that time. Sure, they did feel hurt to learn that I am a gay, but I cannot be changed at all, and they should have accepted that earlier.

At least, my younger brother will finally get married around the end of this year, so my parents are certainly delighted, but they still want to see me marrying any good woman sooner or later. When my mother told me that my father lashed out at her less frequently than before thanks to my younger brother’s upcoming marriage, I was reminded again of how much he has emotionally abused her during last several years just because both I and my younger brother remained unmarried. According to my mother, he often blamed her for raising her two kids in ‘wrong’ ways, and that certainly made me resent my father more than that. I respect and appreciate him for how much he worked for supporting his family, but now he looks like a pitiful and cruel old man who hurts others around him just because things do not go as well as he wants.

Anyway, I feel mostly right about myself and my life and career. To my little surprise, I have stayed in the company for more than 5 years, and I have worked a lot in addition to spending lots of time on books and movies. In addition, I already told my co-workers about my sexual identity, so they do not ask me about when I will marry, and I am comfortable with that. So far, I think I can continue to work here for 10 years at least, and I will move to a bigger residence in 2024, though I should receive some financial support from my parents while maintaining our relationship on the surface without talking much about my sexual identity.

As the possibility of being alone and lonely for the rest of my life grows day by day, my parents are still pressuring me toward a heterosexual marriage even at present, but I will stick to my sexual integrity nonetheless. I may be bound to permanent bachelorship, but I promise to myself that I will not bend myself to my parents’ will no matter what will happen to me during next several decades. Now my mind goes back to the very last shot of William Wyler’s “The Heirless” (1949) – how resolute its heroine played by Olivia de Havilland looks in that memorable shot. She will be probably alone for the rest of her life, but she is not afraid at all as being in the full control of her life at last, and I can only hope that, in addition to loving and knowing myself more, I will be able to take care of myself well just like her even without any chance for real relationship in the future.

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Hustle (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): A low-key sports drama starring Adam Sandler (No Kidding)

Posted on June 13, 2022 by kaist455

As many of you know, Adam Sandler is actually a good actor who can be quite serious and compelling whenever he gets a chance for that. In Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch Drunk Love” (2002), he got the first opportunity for fully demonstrating the edgy sides of his usual comic persona, so it is a shame that he has not explored this potentially rich area of his acting talented that much as appearing in a bunch of disposable comedy films such as, yes, “Jack and Jill” (2011).

Nevertheless, as recently shown in the Safdie brother’s “Uncut Gems” (2019), Sandler has lost none of his acting talent yet, and his latest Netflix film “Hustle” confirms that again to us. In contrast to his previous Netflix films which are pretty ludicrous to say the least, the movie is much more serious as your average sports drama, and, to my little surprise, Sandler humbly holds the ground via as dialing down his comic intensity as required.

Sandler plays Stanley Sugerman, who was once a promising basketball player but, after one very unfortunate incident, has worked as an international scout for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in US. As shown from the opening scene, Sugerman often travels to here and there in Europe for finding basketball players good enough for recruitment, and we get some amusement as he wearily checks on a number of various candidates one by one.

Because of his busy work outside US, Sugerman cannot be around his wife Teresa (Queen Latifah) and their adolescent daughter Alex (Jordan Hull) that often, but both Teresa and Alex have accepted his frequent absence while fully supporting how he earns their living day by day. In case of his workplace, he is always trusted by Rex Merrick (Robert Duvall, who is still reliable although he had the 91st birthday several months ago), the owner of the 76ers, and a brief private moment between him and Sugerman conveys to us many years of trust and respect between them.

However, Merrick suddenly dies not long after promoting Sugerman to a new assistant coach of the 76ers, and his position is soon filled by his cocky son Vince (Ben Foster, who is rather under-utilized despite his usual intense presence). Because Vance has no respect for Sugerman’s wisdom and experience at all, Sugerman soon finding himself back in his good old scout business as demanded by Vince, and he certainly feels miserable as musing on whether he should accept a certain good offer from a good friend of his.

And then there comes an unexpected chance for him. When he is in Spain for checking on several local candidates, Sugerman happens to spot a tall young man doing some basketball hustle outside, and he instinctively senses the considerable potential from this lad. Although their first encounter is not exactly pleasant, it does not take much time for Sugarman to get the attention of this lad. As an economically struggling young single dad, Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangómez) is quite willing to reach to an opportunity for earning much more money for his mother and his little daughter, and he soon goes to Philadelphia along with Sugarman.

Of course, Sugerman and Cruz come to face a number of obstacles in front of them as soon as they arrive in Philadelphia. While Vince is not so pleased about Sugerman not following his decision on Cruz, Cruz turns out to have a little problem behind his back, and, above all, his road to NBA draft turns out to be much more challenging mainly due to some other basketball player eager to crush him on the field by any means necessary.

What follows next is a series of training sequences where Sugerman pushes Cruz harder for their big moment to come, and director Jeremiah Zagar, who previously drew my attention for his debut film “We the Animals” (2018), and his editors Tom Costain, Brian Robinson, and Keiko Deguchi skillfully handle these conventional moments with enough energy and intensity. In addition, they also bring considerable verisimilitude to several key basketball play scenes in the film, and it surely helps that Juancho Hernangómez is actually a NBA basketball player in real life.

Sandler’s seasoned professional acting and Hernangómez’s earnest non-professional performance make an effectively contrasting duo throughout the film, and they are also surrounded by a number of recognizable real-life figures popping up around here and there (I am sure some of you know more about them than me). Although she seems to be limited by her rather thankless supporting role, Queen Latifah brings more to her part than expected, and Jordan Hull holds her own small place well between Sandler and Latifah.

On the whole, “Hustle” mostly stays in its genre conventions, but Zagar and his cast and crew members did a commendable job of bringing enough realism and spirit into the familiar narrative of the film, and the result is one of the better films in Sandler’s filmography. Although his work here in this movie is not something as electrifying as his utterly uncompromising performance in “Uncut Gems”, I enjoyed how his humble performance diligently carries the film without overshadowing his fellow cast members, and that is certainly worthwhile to observe and appreciate.

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The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): Before his big match

Posted on June 11, 2022 by kaist455

Finnish film “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki”, which was belatedly released in South Korean theaters on this Thursday, is a modest drama film revolving around one real-life professional boxer who attempted on the World Boxing Association featherweight championship on one day of August 1962. While it actually focuses more on mood and character instead of that big match, the movie still engages us via its earnest storytelling coupled with lightweight charm, and it certainly earns its somber but solid feel-good ending.

After the brief opening showing its hero going to somewhere by train, the movie quickly establishes the romantic relationship between Olli Mäki (Jarkko Lahti) and his girlfriend Raija Jänkä (Oona Airola). When he comes to Raija’s house for attending the wedding of a family member of hers along with her and several other family members, we can instantly sense how much they are close to each other, and they come to consider being more serious about their relationship as attending that wedding together.

However, there is a very important thing in Olli’s life right now. While he works as a baker in his hometown, he has also been a promising new boxer in the country, and his coach Elis Ask (Eero Milonoff) already arranged a big international match which will be the definite highlight of Olli’s professional boxing career in one way or another. His opponent is none other than the current World Boxing Association featherweight champion, so Olli has already been getting lots of attention from not only his wealthy local sponsors but also the local media.

Besides losing enough weight for the upcoming match, Olli must focus a lot on honing his boxing skills more, but he cannot help but feel uncomfortable as being frequently on spotlight along with Elis. While attending a number of evening social events for those sponsors of his, he also must get accustomed to his training process shot by a documentary filmmaker, and the only consolation comes from Raija’s constant presence around him.

However, Olli finds himself more distracted because of his growing love toward Raija. When he participates in a press conference along with Elis, his eyes cannot help but attracted to Raija, who happens to be right behind a bunch of reporters asking him one question after another. During his training time, he becomes more aware of her presence, and it does not take much time for both Elis and Raija to realize what is going on inside Olli’s mind, which is helplessly in love to say the least.

The mood of the movie becomes a little more serious when Raija decides to do what is the best for her dear boyfriend, but the screenplay by Juho Kuosmanen and his co-writer Mikko Myllylahti steadily maintains its lightweight approach as lightly rolling from one small character moment to another. I was particularly amused by Olli’s rather drastic measure for losing more weight before the day of the match, and I also enjoyed an episodic scene where Elis goes to a meeting of those wealthy sponsors along with his children and Olli for getting more money as soon as possible.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Olli follows what his heart wants in the end, and the movie does not surprise you much in case of the eventual match between him and his opponent, but it surprises you as deftly balancing its hero between Elis and Raija. While she is surely glad to see Olli again, Raija is also well aware of how important the match is for him regardless of its result. While he is certainly annoyed when Olli does not follow his plan, Elis comes to respect Olli’s personal feelings, and they agree upon an alternative as confirming their strong friendship to each other.

I will let you appreciate how the movie pulls off its humble but touching finale, so I will focus more on the good chemistry between Jarkko Lahti and Oona Airola, who instantly click with each other right from their first scene in the film. Lahti, who actually began the preparation for his role even before the production of the film just because Kuosmanen told him that he might play the leading role, looks convincing during his character’s several training scenes in the film, and his likable performance makes us care about his character more along the story. In case of Airola, she is effortlessly charming as letting us discern what Olli sees from her character, and she and Lahti are also supported well by Eero Milonoff, who brings some life and personality to what could have been a thankless supporting role.

On the whole, “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki”, which won the Prize Un Certain Regard when it was shown at the Certain Regard section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival (It was also selected as Finland’s submission to Best International Film Oscar in that year, by the way,) may require some patience due to its low-key mood and storytelling, but it is worthwhile to watch for the amiable performances from its main cast members as well as its several admirable aspects including the black and white cinematography by Jani-Petteri Passi. As I told you already, this is a lot milder than “Rocky” (1976) or “Raging Bull” (1980), but I assure you that it will win your heart in the end, and, considering its original Finnish title (“Hymyilevä mies” means “Smiling Man”), you may end up smiling at its very last shot.

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Sister J (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): As he and others endure for more than 10 years

Posted on June 11, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean documentary film “Sister J” gives a dry but sensitive glimpse into the longtime struggle of one ordinary man who fought along with his colleagues for more than 10 years. As shown in the documentary, they really tried hard to get their justice despite many moments of desperation and frustration, and the documentary is often poignant as closely observing how they struggled to endure one day after another via solidarity and some occasional moments of joy.

At first, the documentary simply introduces its plain but unforgettable hero. His name is Lee Jae-choon, and he worked at a guitar factory for around 30 years, but he and many other workers were suddenly laid off in 2007 by their employer without any compensation, and that was the beginning of their fight which turned out to be much longer than expected. No matter how much they protested outside, they were callously ignored by their employer, and their following court trials only led to more frustration and exasperation for them as those judges kept siding with the employer.

Nonetheless, Lee, who is affectionately called “Sister Jae-choon” by director Lee Soo-jung at times, and his fellow strikers continue to fight even after their appeal is rejected by the supreme court. They often sleep in their tent on a street, and we become more aware of the growing desperation among them. There is still some possibility for their reinstatement, but the employer is still adamant about not listening to them at all, and they all have lots of doubt on whether they can actually win in the end.

As he goes through one hard day after another, Lee causally reveals more of himself in front of the camera. As he frankly admits to us via his written words shown during the opening scene, he was just a petty employee who was timid and introverted during all those years at the factory, but the ongoing struggle made him much more active and courageous than before. Although he surely looks mild and unremarkable on the surface, he has been actually one of the leading members in his group, and he is also willing to express more of his thoughts and feelings to others via various activities including an amateur theater production, where he plays Ophelia of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”.

The mood becomes a bit more cheerful as the documentary observes him preparing to play Ophelia in front of a small group of audiences. While he and his fellow main cast members are understandably amateurish, they all do their best for making their humble production work, and Lee certainly has some fun as earnestly playing his female character.

We later seem him participating in another theater production which is rather abstract but quite straightforward about what he and his colleagues are going through. Although we just look at him from his behind as he stands in the aisle and then delivers one simple line toward the stage, the dramatic effect from that is palpable to us as we reflect more on how the legal system denied any justice for them during all those years.

Things get more desperate for Lee and his colleagues in the late 2010s, but the documentary, which is mostly shot in black and white film of 1.33:1 ratio, steadily maintains its calm attitude as before. At one point, we see Lee entering a small apartment where he has lived with his two daughters, but the daughters happen to be absent, and Lee tells us how much he has been conflicted between his ongoing fight and his daughters’ welfare. As he frankly admits to us, his daughters have suffered a lot due to his frequent absence, and that makes him have more doubt on whether it is really right to continue what he and his colleagues have been doing for more than 10 years.

Not long after that, it seems that there finally comes a possible moment of breakthrough for them, though they remain against the wall as usual. Lee and several colleagues of his come to confront their employer at last, and they surely have lots of things to say, but they are constantly blocked by one of those company guys working under the employer, who remains silent without saying anything at all until he comes to have a little private meeting with Lee and other protesters in his office.

Regardless of whatever happened in the room, Lee and his colleagues continue to fight. For bringing more public awareness on their ongoing struggle, they hold a big public demonstration to show more of their will and determination, and then Lee and several colleagues of his begin a hunger strike. Again, the situation looks pretty hopeless, but Lee and his colleagues are determined to go all the way, and we later see them getting some public support from Buddhist monks praying outside their tent.

I will not go into details into what follows next, but I can tell you instead that I admire how the documentary delivers a moment of little poignancy with thoughtful restraint. Things are not changed much for Lee even after he and his colleagues finally came to achieve their goal, but he feels much better than before, and we come to sense that he will keep going as he always did for no less than 4464 days.

Overall, “Sister J” requires some patience from you due to its rather dry approach, but it will gradually engage you once you accept how it is about its main subject. To be frank with you, I wish the documentary gave more background information, but, after watching it, I wanted to know more about what Lee and his colleagues went through, and I guess I will have to do some homework after writing this review.

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Unboxing Girl (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): The trouble with her crummy boss

Posted on June 10, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Unboxing Girl” is often difficult to watch in many of its absurdly exasperating moments. Mainly revolving around its heroine’s very unlucky office romance, the movie has a lot to show and tell about sexism and gender inequality, and it made me wince more as I came to reflect more on what many working women in the South Korean society have to endure everyday even at present.

At first, the movie succinctly establishes its heroin’s busy daily life. Although she has been stuck in the same position for many years in some designing company, Yeong-jin (Lee Tae-kyoung) keeps trying hard for getting things done nonetheless, and one brief scene at a factory shows us how much she is dedicated to her work. She wants to confirm on the production process one more time just in case, and, despite the opposition from the annoyed foreman, she soon checks the process alone by herself.

However, Yeong-jin does not receive much appreciation at her workplace. For example, her superior simply disregards her design for a new product without care or attention, and he does not even consider her promotion. In her department, she is not particularly close to several other employees, and the only consolation in her daily life comes from her best friend Ha-na (Lee Bom), who has worked as a part-time teacher since quitting her designing career some years ago.

Anyway, there comes a change into Yeong-jin’s life via Joon-seol (Lee Han-ju), a young man who is recently employed as the new manager of her department. As everyone quickly notices on his very first day, Joon-seol is not particularly smart or competent, and we soon come to gather than he got employed just because of his affluent and influential family background. After meeting him, Yeong-jin becomes more frustrated because she should have been the manager instead considering all those good efforts and results from her, but her following protest is casually ignored by her superior.

As a result, Yeong-jin has no choice but to assist Joon-seol along with her colleagues as expected, and the movie gives us a series of small comic moments while Joon-seol frequently bumbles day by day. Yeong-jin’s colleagues have already expected him to quit his job sooner or later, and Yeong-jin cannot help but feel a bit sorry about him even though she still resents him for taking what should have been hers. When they meet each other outside their workplace, Yeong-jin gives Joon-seol a few tips, and then, what do you know, they come to spend more time together.

Now this looks like a typical setup for office romance, but the screenplay by director/writer Kim Soo-jung focuses more on the glaring gender inequality between its two main characters. When Joon-seol unwisely tries to do the proposal for a new product, Yeong-jin comes to help him a lot just because of her growing attraction to him, but, not so surprisingly, he gets all the credits from the following success without showing any appreciation to her.

Yeong-jin naturally becomes quite angry about this, but, to her exasperation, there is no one to help around her. Again, her direct superior does not listen to whatever she says, and it also turns out that the company is not so interested in handing ethical problems like hers. Yeong-jin tries to be more patient with Joon-seol instead, but, not so surprisingly, there eventually comes a point where she cannot tolerate his growing insolence anymore.

At least, Yeong-jin can still get some comfort and consolation from her best friend, and the mood becomes a bit more relaxed when they happen to have a little vacation at one point. When they arrive at some rural area, they meet a middle-aged woman who has worked as a taxi driver after quitting her office job, and Yeong-jin comes to reflect more on the current status of her life and career as listening to this old lady’s life story.

However, the movie does not soften its edgy sides at all as its heroine faces more frustration and exasperation, while being held together well by the strong lead performance from Lee Tae-kyung. Although Yeong-jin is not particularly amiable, Lee ably imbues her character with enough life and personality, and we certainly root for her character a lot when she becomes a little more active about her life and career around the end of the story.

In case of several main cast members of the film, they deftly support or complement her. While Lee Bom is also solid as Yeong-jin’s best friend, Seo Kab-sook simply steals the show during her brief appearance, and Lee Han-ju is effective as bringing some human complexity to his increasingly unlikable character. Like the movie itself, he does not make any excuse on his character at all as focusing on many realistic details of his character, and his good performance will make many female audiences cringe for understandable reasons (FULL DISCLOSURE: As an office manager who often simply occupies his position all day long, I saw a bit of myself from Joon-seol, and I felt ashamed to say the least).

Overall, “Unboxing Girl” delivers sharp points on its main subjects well thanks to its biting comic moments, and Kim, who previously made a feature film debut with “A Blue Mouthed Face” (2015), shows here that she is another interesting South Korean female director to watch. While amused a lot during my viewing, I became more conscious of its painfully relevant issues during my viewing, and that is surely an achievement.

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Broker (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Bringing Up Baby

Posted on June 9, 2022 by kaist455

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film “Broker” is an interesting trial to admire. Like his previous film “The Truth” (2019), the movie attempts to transplant his own style and storytelling to a country outside Japan, and it is mildly engaging to observe how the movie does not lose any of his distinctively humane touch in its foreign background, though it is not one of his best works despite the good efforts from Kore-eda and his cast members.

Set in South Korea, the movie opens with a young woman named So-young (Lee Ji-eun) coming to a local church with her little baby at one night. The church has a facility taking care of abandoned babies, and she simply puts her baby into the baby box installed outside the church, but she does not know that she is actually being watched by two people inside the church: Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) and Sang-hyeon (Song Gang-ho). On the surface, Dong-soo is a mere part-time employee who happens to be monitoring the baby box alone at this night, but he is actually an accomplice of Sang-hyeon, who takes away those babies put into the baby box and then sells them on the adoption black market.

At first, everything goes well for Sang-hyeon and Dong-soo as they subsequently bring their latest baby to an old launderette belonging to Sang-hyeon. Sang-hyeon is going to take care of the baby for a while before he and Dong-soo eventually find a good buyer willing to pay them around 10 million won at least (It is about $8,000, by the way), and Dong-soo will hide the existence of the baby from others in the church.

Unfortunately, there soon comes a little problem for them. After changing her mind, So-young comes to the church again for retrieving her baby, and Sang-hyeon and Dong-soo try to handle this unexpected trouble as quickly as possible. When they tell her what they are going to do, So-young initially opposes to them, but she is eventually persuaded once they promise her a significant portion of what they will get in exchange of her baby, and that is the beginning of the rather uneasy alliance between her and them.

As these three main characters later prepare for taking the baby to their buyer, we also get to know more of what is happening around them without their knowledge. Right from the very beginning, they have been all watched by two female police detectives, and these two female police detectives are patiently waiting for a moment when they can arrest Sang-hyeon and his two accomplices with sufficient evidence. While Soo-jin (Bae Doona), the older one of this duo, regards Sang-hyeon and his two accomplices with bitter contempt, Soo-jin’s younger partner shows some compassion in contrast, and we sense the growing tension between them as they continue their stakeout.

However, the movie rolls its story and characters a lot more leisurely than expected. While it gradually turns out that the circumstance surrounding the main characters in the story is much more serious than it seemed at first, Kore-eda’s screenplay simply takes its time as they slowly move from one spot to another, and we get to know more about them bit by bit. It goes without saying that Sang-hyeon and Dong-soo are criminals, but they are also fairly decent persons at least, and they and So-young gradually look like a sort of family along with her baby as they continue to take care of her baby as much as they can.

When they later drop by a little rural orphanage where Dong-soo grew up, the movie seems to be stalling a bit, but then it is enlivened by the following small moments among them and several other characters including one plucky orphan boy. Like many of Kore-eda’s works, the movie is filled with soothing ambience as the camera frequently looks at beach, and we gladly go along with that as coming to care more about its main characters, who are flawed indeed but palpably human nonetheless.

The movie becomes a bit more tense during its last act, but its overall tranquil mood is steadily maintained even as it eventually heads toward the expected finale, and Kore-eda also did a goob job of drawing excellent performances from his South Korean cast members. While Song Kang-ho received the Best Actor award when the movie was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in last month (The movie also received the Ecumenical Jury Award, by the way), the other main cast members including Gang Don-won, who incidentally appeared along with Song before in “Secret Reunion” (2010), Lee Ji-eun, Lee Joo-young, and Bae Doona, who already collaborated with Kore-eda in “Air Doll” (2009), are equally wonderful in their respective roles, and I also enjoyed the brief appearances of several notable South Korean performers Song Sae-byeok, Kim Sae-byuk, and Park Hae-joon. In case of child actor Im Seung-soo, his disarmingly unadulterated acting in the film reminds me again that not many filmmakers can surpass Kore-eda in handling child performers, and I am happy to report to you that this special skill of his is not impeded at all by the language barrier between him and Im.

On the whole, “Broker” does not reach to the level of Kore-eda’s recent better works such as “Like Father, Like Son” (2013) and “Shoplifters” (2018), but it does not disappoint me at least as exploring his usual main themes to generate a number gentle human moments to be appreciated. I must point out that he seems to be autopilot here from time to time, but, folks, Kore-eda on autopilot is still better than many of movies I watched during this year, and I will not grumble for now.

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Missing Yoon (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Imitation of Life

Posted on June 9, 2022 by kaist455

Here is a little South Korean film which somehow made me care much more than expected. I must confess that I initially observed its two different main characters with mere pity and annoyance, but “Missing Yoon” gradually let me understand and empathize with them as they frequently pulled and pushed each other along the story, and then it surprised me more with an unexpected touching moment you have to see for yourself.

At the beginning, we are introduced to Soon-yi (Oh Min-ae), a middle-aged woman who has worked as a veteran imitation singer of legendary real-life South Korean singer Yoon Si-nae. As “Yeon Si-nae”, Soon-yi is about to do the opening act for Yoon’s farewell concert, and she is certainly excited about finally meeting the singer she has passionately imitated for many years, but, alas, Yoon is suddenly disappeared right before her concert to everyone’s bafflement.

In case of Soon-yi’s daughter Ha-da (Lee Joo-young), Yoon’s disappearance does not matter that much to her at first, but then she sees an golden opportunity from her mother. As your average YouTuber, Ha-da is willing to draw more viewers by any means necessary, and, once her mother happens to attract lots of attention from those online viewers out there, she soon begins to show more of her mother to them without her mother’s consent.

Meanwhile, Yoon is still missing during next several days, so, after doing some soul-searching, Soon-yi decides that she should search for Yoon for herself. Although she was not particularly close to Yoon, she knows about some connection between Yoon and several prominent imitation singers of hers, and this connection may help her locating Yoon’s whereabouts at present. When she subsequently comes to learn of her mother’s decision, Ha-da is naturally more excited, and she soon accompanies her mother while not still telling her mother anything about what she has been doing behind her back.

As Soon-yi and her daughter bounce from one point to another during their bumpy journey, the movie gives us a loving glimpse into the small world of imitation singers. At a small training academy for imitation singers, Ha-da regards those imitation singers without much care, but then she finds herself swept into their enthusiastic party time, and what follows next is both amusing and touching. Yes, many of them lack originality from the beginning, but they simply follow their passion without any shame or hesitation, and I am sure that they can sing a lot better than me (Compared to me, Pierce Brosnan in “Momma Mia!” (2008) will look like an accomplished professional singer, by the way).

Soon-yi and Ha-da later get associated with Joon-ok (Roh Jae-won), a male imitation singer who has worked as “Woon Sin-ae”. As he later comes to accompany Soon-yi and Ha-da, Joon-ok becomes a sort of buffer between Soon-yi and Ha-da, but Soon-yi and her daughter still clash with each other at times, and their conflict becomes more intense when Soon-yi belatedly discovers what her daughter is doing behind her back.

Around that narrative point, both Soon-yi and Ha-da come to reflect more on not only themselves but also their messy mother-daughter relationship, and the screenplay by director/writer Kim Jin-hwa accordingly shifts itself on a more introspective mode. While Soon-yi comes to question whether it was worthwhile to throw herself into her little career for many years, Ha-da comes to confront how superficial her online activity has been. While both of them have desperately wanted attention and recognition from others, they have not gotten much satisfaction as only getting disappointed again and again, and their rocky journey prompts them to ask themselves on what is really the most important in the real life behind their imitation of life.

Soon-yi and Ha-da are not exactly likable characters, and I still prefer to stay away from them as much as possible, but they are engaging to observe nonetheless thanks to the strong acting from Lee Joo-young and Oh Min-ae. Besides ably complementing each other throughout the film, Lee and Oh frequently energize the screen as embodying their characters’ complex human aspects, and that is the main reason why it is moving to see how their characters makes a little but significant forward step together in the end.

Around Lee and Oh, Kim assembles several colorful performers, each of whom has each own moment to shine. Although his supporting role seems rather thankless at first, Roh Jae-won holds his small place well between Lee and Oh, and he is especially good when his character diligently performs at a nearly empty night club as a last-minute replacement. As another imitation singer character in the story, Kim Jae-hwa has a little funny moment as her character tries to perform a bit in front of her few audiences, and I also appreciate how the movie skillfully incorporates a brief but crucial guest appearance into the finale.

In conclusion, “Missing Yoon” is alternatively funny and poignant thanks to its solid mix of comedy and drama, and Kim, who previously made several acclaimed short films, makes a commendable feature debut here on the whole. You can see what you will get right from the beginning, but the movie surely earns all the emotions during its finale, and it is certainly one of the better South Korean films of this year.

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Fire Island (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Pride and Prejudice on a gay village

Posted on June 7, 2022 by kaist455

“Fire Island” initially made me feel awkward for good reasons. Here is a little but funny and exuberant gay romance comedy film which is also quite frank and proud about the irrepressible homosexuality of many of its main characters, and, as your average nerdy gay dude, I will not deny that I flinched more than once during its 20 minutes even though I came to embrace its unapologetically flamboyant aspects with some smile in the end.

The main background of the movie is Fire Island, the famous gay village off the South Shore of Long Island. As another summer starts, a young Asian American gay man named Noah (Joel Kim Booster) is certainly looking forward to having lots of fun there along with his several close friends including Howie (Bowen Yang) during next several days, and we soon see them and many other gay people becoming quite excited as the ship carrying them eventually arrives at Fire Island.

However, their holiday week of this year turns out to be quite bittersweet. For several years, they could always stay at a big house owned by a middle-aged lesbian named Erin (Margaret Cho), and Erin has been more or less than a saucy mother figure for the boys, but, alas, she now has to sell her house due to her growing financial difficulty. Discerning that this year may be the last time when he and his friends can really enjoy themselves together, Noah becomes all the more determined to make Howie matched with someone good enough for him, and Howie reluctantly goes along with that although he is not that willing to be more active about romance for understandable reasons.

When Noah and his friends happen to be invited to a certain big house in Fire Island on their first day, things seem to be going pretty well for all them. While enjoying looking around all those attractive (and shirtless) guys, they also have some fun with free booze, and Howie happens to get involved with a nice handsome dude named Charlie (James Scully) during that wild night, though he suffers a lot from a severe hangover in the next morning.

As watching Howie and Charlie getting closer to each other, Noah is ready to encourage their possible romance as much as he can, but then he comes to face the opposing influence from Will (Conrad Ricamora), a taciturn lawyer who happens to be one of Charlie’s close friends. As he subsequently clashes more with Will, Noah comes to dislike Will more than before, but, to his bafflement, he also finds himself gradually attracted to Will, and, what do you know, it seems that Will also likes Noah more than he admits on the surface.

Now many of you will be surely reminded of Jane Austen’s immortal classic novel “Pride and Prejudice”, and the movie does not hide its source of inspiration at all as reflected by its opening scene. Although many of its main characters often do not wear clothes much compared to those delightfully restrained characters of Austen’s novel, the movie is still as witty, sharp, and, sophisticated as we can expect from a good variation of “Pride and Prejudice”, and its several funniest moments remind us that we human beings are still clumsy about emotions even when we are nakedly honest in terms of attitude and appearance.

Above all, you may see yourself from its main characters if you are one of its target audiences. Yes, many of them are more or less than archetypes, but most of them are imbued with the palpable sense of life and personality, and I wish Joel Kim Booster’s screenplay provided a bit more space for several substantial supporting characters including Max (Torian Miller), who feels like your typical token black supporting character as often merely occupying his small space in the background.

I guess Booster decided to stick to what he knows best as an Asian American gay man from the start, and, as far as I can see, he succeeds in that aspect more than once. Several key scenes between his character and Howie ring true as balanced well between comedy and drama, and, as a gay man who has been quite uncertain about any opportunity for good relationship in his life, I was particularly touched by when Howie comes to show more of his thoughts and feelings later in the story. Usually looking as stiff and reserved as Will on the surface, I have also been as insecure and desperate as Howie due to approaching to 40 day by day, and I can only hope that there is still a chance for me despite many obstacles including the prevalent social bias against sexual minority people in the South Korean society.

As they function as the emotional center of the film, Booster and his co-star Bowen Yang, who has been mainly known for his contributions to “Saturday Night Live”, are also supported well by a number of various talented performers. While Conrad Ricamora and James Scully dutifully occupy the opposite position, Matt Rogers, Tomás Matos, Torian Miller, and Margaret Cho are also solid on the whole, and Cho enjoyably steals every second of her appearance.

“Fire Island” is the third feature film of Andrew Ahn, one of the recent notable Korean American filmmakers who drew my attention via his debut feature film “Spa Night” (2016). Compared to the hauntingly somber qualities of “Spa Night” and his next film “Driveways” (2019), the movie is certainly an unexpected change of direction, and it surely demonstrates another side of his considerable talent. Come to think of it, I should thank him for showing me a bit of Fire Island, but, because I usually prefer peace to fun, I would rather visit there during a less crowded season. Can I go there on a cold and quiet winter day without any humiliation, I wonder?

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American Underdog (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A standard underdog story – and that is all

Posted on June 7, 2022 by kaist455

“American Underdog” is a standard underdog story which neither overachieves nor underachieves. While I appreciate its earnest handling of story and characters to some degree, the movie does not have enough life or personality to distinguish itself from those countless feel-good sports drama films ranging from “Rudy” (1993) to “The Blind Side” (2009), and that is a bit disappointing considering some nice efforts from its several main cast members.

Like many of its seniors, the movie is based on an unlikely real-life underdog story which is supposed to touch and inspire us a lot, and its rather heavy-handed opening scene conveys to us how much its real-life hero, Kurt Warner (Zachary Levi), has aspired to be on the top of the National Football League of US since he was very young. Although things do not look that promising to him during his subsequent college football career, Warner keeps trying nonetheless, and he certainly expects a lot when the annual NFL draft is finally started.

Unfortunately, it turns out that nobody in NFL is particularly interested in Warner, and it seems that he may have to get some other job once his time in the college is over, but he still does not give up at all. Although he eventually decides to earn his living a bit via working as a local supermarket employee, his mind and body are still driven toward NFL, and his aspiration is fully supported by Brenda (Anna Paquin), a young struggling single mother with two kids who becomes much closer to him than expected after their accidental encounter at a local bar. Like him, she has her own lifelong aspiration, and they sincerely promise to each other that they will support each other’s aspiration, though they are still tentative about whether they can actually marry.

What follows next is a series of personal hardships they manage to endure. While they are still not married, Warner tries to support Brenda and her two kids as much as he can whenever he is not working or pursuing his dream, and Brenda surely appreciates that, but then there comes a very desperate moment on one particularly cold winter day. Discerning that the woman he dearly loves and her two kids really need more financial support, Warner eventually agrees to join a local minor league football team, and we get some amusement as he tries to get himself accustomed to his new environment. Yes, he surely looks clumsy as entering a field again after so many years, but, what do you know, thanks to his brusque but no-nonsense coach, it does not take much time for him to be back in his element.

Because he frequently has to be separated from Brenda and her kids due to his job, Warner finds himself rather estranged from them as time goes by, but then he and Brenda find themselves consoling each other over a sudden personal loss. I do not go into details here, but I can tell you instead that I was rather baffled by how the movie hesitates to delve deeper into the consequent crisis in their shared religious belief. In fact, it even steps away from what could be very emotionally intense for both of them as hurriedly moving onto its last act, and that is rather odd considering how it often emphasizes their faith in God’s will as well as themselves throughout the story.

The last act mainly revolves around Warner’s unexpected big opportunity via a prominent NFL team led by Dick Vermeil (Dennis Quaid), who insists on recruiting Warner despite a lot of objections from inside and outside his team. Just because he believes in Warner’s hidden potentials, Vermeil firmly stands by him, and Warner is certainly happy to ready himself against many odds and pressures to come upon him.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Warner does not disappoint Vermeil and many others in the team at all when he suddenly becomes the quarterback of the team right after a rather nasty accident on the field, but directors/producers Andrew and Jon Erwin (While the former serves as one of the co-editors of the film, the latter participates in the adaptation of Warner and his co-writer Michael Silver’s book “All Things Possible”, by the way ), keep things rolling under their competent direction. While the movie blatantly tries to pull our heartstrings as almost everyone in the story is watching Warner playing on the field, John Debney’s score sounds as dramatic as required, and the eventual uplifting moment is naturally followed by the obligatory epilogue reminding us again of how remarkable Warner’s life and career are.

However, Warner in the film often feels too flat and plain outside his goodwill and determination, and that sometimes undermines the diligent acting of Zachary Levi, who shows here a more serious side of his talent in contrast to his cheerfully goofy comic performance in “Shazam!” (2019). In case of several notable cast members in the film, Anna Paquin manages to bring some spirit to her rather thankless roles, and Bruce McGill and Dennis Quaid comfortably fill their respective spots although they do not have many things to do besides motivating Levi’s characters whenever it seems necessary.

Overall, “American Underdog” plays its story and characters too safe at times, and that made my mind instantly go back to a number of better football drama films such as “Rudy”, which, in my inconsequential opinion, has more spirit and personality besides being feel-good as demanded. I will not stop you if you just want to kill your spare time, but I still think it could aim a bit higher with less convention and more honesty, and that is all.

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