Just watched this movie with my Malaysian girlfriend, she agrees it's pretty much a total failure. Every couple was in a ridiculous situation making ridiculous choices except maybe for the old woman who decides to take care of the man with Alzheimers. Why ridiculous? Where to begin...
First of all, the title translates as "love," yet I saw nothing to convince me that there was any love to be found in this film, ANYWHERE. We have five couples--a husband-wife with a daughter in a seemingly (but obviously not) happy marriage, a businesswoman and her brother, the former sleeping with a married man and the latter who's totally fine until his sister somehow gives him renal kidney failure?? Then there's old lady with Alzheimers guy, famous magazine publisher/editor (although I've never heard of people in such positions being treated as celebrities, but okay, I'll bite) with his bookshop-working girlfriend, who is apparently too low for him to be seen in public with only when the media suddenly pop up, because it would totally surprise him that that would happen when he's walking around holding hands with her in public, right? And finally the guy who works for some magazine and a pregnant girl who comes along looking for the guy who got her that way, but of course magazine guy falls for her.
So what's unbelievable? Everything. The businesswoman, through the anger at herself that she projects on her brother, somehow makes his kidneys fail, so in remorse she donates one BUT she dies in the process! Okay, maybe something went wrong on the operating table, right? NOPE, she knew she was going to die, proved by the letter she wrote before going in for surgery. This is idiotically stupid on so many levels, but mostly because no one would ever do that without exhausting other options, AND it's still blatantly selfish as she forces him to live with the guilt of being alive at the cost of her life, just because she wasn't having any luck with relationships. And why is it her that this happens to? Is it because she's the only woman of the bunch in a secret adulterous relationship?? Hm...
Then we have pregnant girl who sadly has a miscarriage, but this miscarriage serves as a lame plot device and nothing more--because magazine guy who falls for her probably wouldn't have been so keen on her if she ended up having someone else's baby, no that would be complicated and complexity is something this film obviously avoids like syphilis.
Famous publisher/editor guy proposes to bookshop girl he'd been on ONE date with before pushing her away and disowning their relationship in a public statement saying that he would never let a girl interfere with his work ethic?? WTF kind of excuse is that? In any case I expected her to slap him and tell him to get the hell of the train, but no, what a beautiful ring it was, wow, yeah OK let's get married. Shoot me in the head.
Equally retarded was seemingly happy guy whose wife suddenly falls for another man whom we never even see, making me wonder if he wasn't just in her head, but seemingly happy guy is far too persevering for his own good (one might say, STALKER), starts leaving notes for her IN THIS OTHER GUY's HOUSE, which say, more or less, I've learned to let go of you thanks to our daughter, CAN'T YOU SEE HOW WELL I'M COPING IN THESE NOTES I'M LEAVING YOU?? So his wife (ex? did they ever divorce? Were they even married?) get freaked out and calls the cops--oh, wait, sorry that's what happened in my head. No, she smiles and realizes she really does love him and they get back together and live happily ever after in their yard.
Finally we have old lady and Alzheimers Guy, which I saved for last so I could end on a slightly positive note, positive relative to the other stories, as this one still gets about a -1000000 but that's better than -2035324340654 that I give the other story lines. She is, we find out, all alone and has no one to love, and so she finds purpose in taking care of Alzheimers Guy, whose son can't afford to take care of him. But there are still plenty of hosey scenes with tears and the doctor who treats him saying he'd pay for the nursing home if his son couldn't because 'without him he'd never have become a doctor' blah blah blah.
And the message of the movie, which very much isn't love, is, family is more important than anything, even life, apparently(if you're a woman, as the husband cheating on his wife seemed to be doing just fine). Good grief, this movie sucks.
First of all, the title translates as "love," yet I saw nothing to convince me that there was any love to be found in this film, ANYWHERE. We have five couples--a husband-wife with a daughter in a seemingly (but obviously not) happy marriage, a businesswoman and her brother, the former sleeping with a married man and the latter who's totally fine until his sister somehow gives him renal kidney failure?? Then there's old lady with Alzheimers guy, famous magazine publisher/editor (although I've never heard of people in such positions being treated as celebrities, but okay, I'll bite) with his bookshop-working girlfriend, who is apparently too low for him to be seen in public with only when the media suddenly pop up, because it would totally surprise him that that would happen when he's walking around holding hands with her in public, right? And finally the guy who works for some magazine and a pregnant girl who comes along looking for the guy who got her that way, but of course magazine guy falls for her.
So what's unbelievable? Everything. The businesswoman, through the anger at herself that she projects on her brother, somehow makes his kidneys fail, so in remorse she donates one BUT she dies in the process! Okay, maybe something went wrong on the operating table, right? NOPE, she knew she was going to die, proved by the letter she wrote before going in for surgery. This is idiotically stupid on so many levels, but mostly because no one would ever do that without exhausting other options, AND it's still blatantly selfish as she forces him to live with the guilt of being alive at the cost of her life, just because she wasn't having any luck with relationships. And why is it her that this happens to? Is it because she's the only woman of the bunch in a secret adulterous relationship?? Hm...
Then we have pregnant girl who sadly has a miscarriage, but this miscarriage serves as a lame plot device and nothing more--because magazine guy who falls for her probably wouldn't have been so keen on her if she ended up having someone else's baby, no that would be complicated and complexity is something this film obviously avoids like syphilis.
Famous publisher/editor guy proposes to bookshop girl he'd been on ONE date with before pushing her away and disowning their relationship in a public statement saying that he would never let a girl interfere with his work ethic?? WTF kind of excuse is that? In any case I expected her to slap him and tell him to get the hell of the train, but no, what a beautiful ring it was, wow, yeah OK let's get married. Shoot me in the head.
Equally retarded was seemingly happy guy whose wife suddenly falls for another man whom we never even see, making me wonder if he wasn't just in her head, but seemingly happy guy is far too persevering for his own good (one might say, STALKER), starts leaving notes for her IN THIS OTHER GUY's HOUSE, which say, more or less, I've learned to let go of you thanks to our daughter, CAN'T YOU SEE HOW WELL I'M COPING IN THESE NOTES I'M LEAVING YOU?? So his wife (ex? did they ever divorce? Were they even married?) get freaked out and calls the cops--oh, wait, sorry that's what happened in my head. No, she smiles and realizes she really does love him and they get back together and live happily ever after in their yard.
Finally we have old lady and Alzheimers Guy, which I saved for last so I could end on a slightly positive note, positive relative to the other stories, as this one still gets about a -1000000 but that's better than -2035324340654 that I give the other story lines. She is, we find out, all alone and has no one to love, and so she finds purpose in taking care of Alzheimers Guy, whose son can't afford to take care of him. But there are still plenty of hosey scenes with tears and the doctor who treats him saying he'd pay for the nursing home if his son couldn't because 'without him he'd never have become a doctor' blah blah blah.
And the message of the movie, which very much isn't love, is, family is more important than anything, even life, apparently(if you're a woman, as the husband cheating on his wife seemed to be doing just fine). Good grief, this movie sucks.