I started watching this movie without knowing anything about it. The sense of humor is typically Asian where it is enough to have a look at the characters to burst out laughing. I totally enjoyed it and if you know a little about both the Japanese and the Korean culture then it'd be much easier to get the jokes. The acting is impeccable and all the characters very likable. If you are in the mood for love, watch it!
2 Reviews
Thoroughly enjoyed this movie
rs-5510 March 2024
Young-Un is a 29 year old young South Korean guy whose life suddenly runs off the tracks. (How is it that folks over there always look ten years younger than their age?) His gold digger girlfriend dumps him, and while he's on a business trip to Japan, his company back in South Korea gets shut down for selling fake ginseng. He's in Japan, freshly unemployed and without a shoulder to cry on. He tries to get hold of his girlfriend in case she might have reconsidered but she texts him back a picture of herself and her new boyfriend embracing. She's done with him for sure.
(A sub-plot of the story is that Young-Un's father runs a big company and he would like his son to follow in his footsteps, but the two are not on the best of terms and Young-Un has chosen to make his own way elsewhere. Was there ever a better name for a son than 'Young-Un'?)
As he hits a low point - unemployed, dumped by his girlfriend, alone, Young-Un meets a man and his wife who run a school teaching foreign languages. They see him blowing up by himself at the park after getting his ex girlfriend's texted picture and they note that he speaks Korean - just what they need for their school. At first, they take him out for supper to console him but after quite a few drinks, Young-Un agrees to teach Korean to the Japanese-speaking students in their school. Reluctantly he agrees (after sobering up the next morning) and begins his new job as a teacher. In the class he teaches, he meets the lovely Sakura, a single Japanese mom who is going through some rough spots in life herself and needs to learn Korean quickly to keep her job.
I don't want to give away too much of the story but both Young-Un and Sakura are well-played and appealing characters you care about. (If I don't care about the characters I won't stay interested in a movie.)
A couple of little Easter Eggs in the story: when the owner of the school and his wife take Young-Un out for supper and drinks, we're treated to his Karaoke performance of a song that shows he actually can sing pretty well - and, later in the film, we get a brief sample of his dance moves. Neither are key to the story really but they're fun to see and add a little dimension to his character. I was not aware when watching the movie that this guy has been a famous member of boy bands and other things in S. Korea - so that is where he gets his 'chops'.
You'll note some interesting cultural differences in Korean movie-making, such as the occasional use of cartoonish sound effects (i.e. 'boinggg!') and the piano background music sounds like something from a silent movie. These don't harm anything though. Anyhow - it's a very enjoyable movie and I'm glad I watched it. I watched this one to the end and never once thought of bailing out.
(A sub-plot of the story is that Young-Un's father runs a big company and he would like his son to follow in his footsteps, but the two are not on the best of terms and Young-Un has chosen to make his own way elsewhere. Was there ever a better name for a son than 'Young-Un'?)
As he hits a low point - unemployed, dumped by his girlfriend, alone, Young-Un meets a man and his wife who run a school teaching foreign languages. They see him blowing up by himself at the park after getting his ex girlfriend's texted picture and they note that he speaks Korean - just what they need for their school. At first, they take him out for supper to console him but after quite a few drinks, Young-Un agrees to teach Korean to the Japanese-speaking students in their school. Reluctantly he agrees (after sobering up the next morning) and begins his new job as a teacher. In the class he teaches, he meets the lovely Sakura, a single Japanese mom who is going through some rough spots in life herself and needs to learn Korean quickly to keep her job.
I don't want to give away too much of the story but both Young-Un and Sakura are well-played and appealing characters you care about. (If I don't care about the characters I won't stay interested in a movie.)
A couple of little Easter Eggs in the story: when the owner of the school and his wife take Young-Un out for supper and drinks, we're treated to his Karaoke performance of a song that shows he actually can sing pretty well - and, later in the film, we get a brief sample of his dance moves. Neither are key to the story really but they're fun to see and add a little dimension to his character. I was not aware when watching the movie that this guy has been a famous member of boy bands and other things in S. Korea - so that is where he gets his 'chops'.
You'll note some interesting cultural differences in Korean movie-making, such as the occasional use of cartoonish sound effects (i.e. 'boinggg!') and the piano background music sounds like something from a silent movie. These don't harm anything though. Anyhow - it's a very enjoyable movie and I'm glad I watched it. I watched this one to the end and never once thought of bailing out.
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