Son Ye-Jin 손예진 [Drama “Thirty-Nine” (JTBC/NETFLIX)]

[bingejin]

Hi...testing...I love Son Ye Jin

[Sonyejin Love]

Greetings Son Ye Jin fans!

 

I'm so glad to see Son Ye Jin gaining more fans. Thank you for all your support and interests 

 

 

 

 

 

Even after 20 years, she's shinier 

 

[BinJin99]

Sorry YJ's fans, I have to interrupt this poster.

 

@Intuition1

 

I guess you are probably a HB's fangirl.

You first questioned about YJ's make up in BinJin's thread and now her tooth. 

 

You might have visited the wrong thread.

 

I hope you are as beautiful as YJ, inside and out.

[yejinatic1981]

On 6/21/2020 at 10:53 AM, Intuition1 said:

I would like to ask something I noticed about SYJ,  but I am worried some people would take it negatively. I like SYJ's smile and understand why she is known for her smile. I watched a lot of her movies and dramas from early 2000s to now and noticed something peculiar. Her teeth in the early 2000s until 2015 were unchanged, but after 2015, her teeth looked different. Nonetheless, the difference was small enough to not be noticeable. Then in 2019, her teeth were drastically different. Longer and bigger. I wondered why she did this. She had perfect teeth from the beginning, so why change them? She looked more beautiful with her original teeth. The size of her original teeth and the ones she had before 2019 fit her face perfectly. The teeth she has now are just too big for her face. Can someone please explain to me why she had changed her teeth, particularly as she was known for her smile.

I think she's had dental veneers implant. I agree, I like her perfect natural teeth better during Personal Taste days but I think they were a bit yellowish as most natural teeth are. She probably got them to have whiter teeth and "smaller gums". If you notice in her interviews, her teeth on both sides are still a bit yellowish compare to her frontal teeth when she smiles. Unfortunately, I think entertainment/ modelling industry has different standard on teeth appearance e.g. my niece is a ramp model and trainee beauty queen here in PH and her management encouraged her to have dental veneers despite having nice teeth (they were a bit small but perfect I reckon. the management sponsored the procedure). After the procedure, I was really mad when I saw her dental veneers, they were white but too bulky and looked so unnatural. Also, she has to be careful on what to eat or drink e.g. if she drinks red wine, she has to brush her teeth immediately and thoroughly because it might stain on the veneers. With YeJin, however, they are not as bad as other dental veneers I saw, they still look natural if you don't pay too much attention to it. But I agree, I like her natural teeth better. Unfortunately, once one undergoes dental veneers implant, they can't get their natural teeth back anymore even if they want to. They can only change their dental veneers to new ones after a few years.

[slowpoked]

Has anyone in here watched My Wife Got Married? What are your thoughts on it?

 

I saw it recently and I was fine with it. It does require a lot of suspension of disbelief, but that's what movies are for. It's just weird though that for a supposedly "feminist" movie, the movie was told entirely from the POV of the husband, and thus, I think, that contributed to the unfair perception of SYJ's character.

 

I bring it up though because I have a question for you long-time SYJ fans. I read that she won the Blue Dragon Best Actress award for her role in this movie (which people say is the Korean equivalent of the Oscars), and while obviously that is a great achievement, I am having a hard time thinking that SYJ's performance in this movie is otherwordly. Don't get me wrong, I love and appreciate a great comedic role - I'm of the opinion that comedy is much harder to pull off then drama, and that is why I'm frustrated when great comedic roles get overlooked just because they don't cry their eyes out or yell at the top of their lungs. But I just didn't see anything special in SYJ's performance in here - maybe the competition that year is weak? I've seen other movies/dramas of SYJ and she has a lot of performances far superior than in MWGM.

[slowpoked]

I think this is huge. I'm a big fan of Park Chan Wook and I hope in the future that SYJ gets a chance to be directed by him:

 

 

[ElectricHearts]

@slowpoked same! for me, I found it hard to watch My Wife Got Married when I watched it last month. I guess because of what her character was doing to her husband. I wanted to understand more from her POV why she wanted to have be with two men. I don't think we ever understood why she wanted to do that and we definitely never understood especially when she was pregnant. Instead by the end of the movie, we see both men having been through this situation by her character and how they have this common respect for each other by the end of the movie since they both love her. I definitely wanted to see more from her character except by the end of the movie, I felt unsatisfied with what had happened. 

 

update from manyo website

 

 

[Helena]

4 hours ago, slowpoked said:

maybe the competition that year is weak?

Competition wasn’t weak; the other candidates: Moon So-ri (and Jeon Do-yeon are widely considered Korea’s best actresses), Kim Yun-jin (won Best Actress at Grand Bell Awards 2008; nominated at Baeksang 2008 and others), Soo Ae (won Best Actress at Grand Bell Awards 2009 and several other critic awards), and Gong Hyo-jin (won at Korea Film Awards 2008).   At 45th Baeksang Arts Awards, Son Ye-jin (My Wife Got Married) also won Best Actress over Gong Hyo-jin (Crush and Blush), Soo Ae (Sunny), Kim Hae-sook, Kim Min-sun.

 

29th Blue Dragon Film Awards (2008) [2007.10.25 ~2008.10.3]

BEST LEADING ACTRESS 여우주연

Gong Hyo-jin 공효진 (Crush & Blush 미쓰 홍당무)

Kim Yun-jin 김윤진 (Seven Days 세븐데이즈)

Moon So-ri 문소리 (Forever The Moment 우생순)

Son Ye-jin 손예진 (My Wife Got Married 아내가 결혼했다)

Soo Ae 수애 (Sunny 님은 먼곳에)

 

BEST LEADING ACTOR 남우주연

Kim Yoon-seok 김윤석 (The Chaser 추격자)

Kim Joo-hyuk 김주혁 (My Wife Got Married 아내가 결혼했다)

Seol Kyung-gu 설경구 (Kang Cheol-Jung: Public Enemy 1-1 강철중 : 공공의 적 1-1)

Song Kang-ho 송강호 (The Good, The Bad, The Weird 놈놈놈)

Lee Byung-hun 이병헌 (The Good, The Bad, The Weird 놈놈놈)

Ha Jung-woo 하정우 (The Chaser 추격자)

 

(1) The result of the Blue Dragon voting was revealed. The panel of judges consists of 9 people. 

Best Actress:

Only took 1 round of voting since Son Ye-Jin won by a wide margin.
Round 1: Son Ye-Jin (6 votes), Kim Yun-Jin (2 votes), Gong Hyo-Jin (1), Moon So-Ri (0), Soo Ae (0)

Best Actor: ‘The Chaser’ Kim Yoon-Seok VS Ha Jung-woo

Round 1: Kim Yoon-Seok (3 votes), Ha Jung-Woo (3 votes), Lee Byung-Hun (2 votes), Kim Joo-Hyuk (1 vote)

Round 2: Kim Yoon-Seok (4 votes), Ha Jung-Woo (3 votes), Lee Byung-Hun (1 vote), Kim Joo-Hyuk (1 vote)

Round 3: Kim Yoon-Seok (5 votes), Ha Jung-Woo (4 votes)

Best Screenplay:

Round 1: The Chaser (4 votes), Crush & Blush (3 votes), Seven Days (2 votes)

Round 2: Crush & Blush (6 votes), The Chaser (3 votes)

 

Who are the judges?

최종심사의 심사위원장은 부산국제영화제 김동호위원장이 맡았고, 이영희(드라마 PD) 조혜정(수원대 교수) 조진희(숙명여대 교수) 정이현(소설가) 송해성(영화감독) 장윤현(영화감독) 김대승(영화감독) 강일홍(스포츠조선 엔터테인먼트부장) 등이 심사위원으로 참여했다.

 

———
MWGM was popular with Korean audiences. 

Spoiler

(Koreans chose the year’s best movie stars)

[RESULT] Song KangHo & Son YeJin, Korea Gallup Poll '2008 Best Film Actor/Actress'

1. Song Kang-Ho (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) - 13.1%

2. Son Ye-Jin (My Wife Got Married) - 11.3%

3. Kim Hye-Soo (Modern Boy) - 7.4%

4. Jeon Do-Yeon (My Dear Enemy), Jang Dong-Gun - 7.3%

6. Jung Woo-Sung (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) - 6.1%

7. Ha Jung-Woo (The Chaser, My Dear Enemy) 

 

(Posted these in MWGM thread back then)

[yejinatic1981]

I think she won the best actress in My Wife Got Married because she portrayed her character effectively, even if the entire movie was told from the POV of the lead actor's character. She was not the dominant character in terms of having the best lines or scenes to express her character more intensely yet, for me, her character was annoying, confusing, vague and unrelatable based on the society's standard of a good woman, which is the point of the movie. It's so easy to notice heavy drama or intense acting but I think how she portrayed her role innocently and lightly yet left impact (whether positive or negative) on the audience feelings deserved the best actress award. SYJ's acting aside, based on personal preference (and in the world I grew up), I would not consider this movie as expression of feminism and it's one of my two least favourite movies of her, story/scenario- wise. But then, strong stands and campaigns like feminism and the likes are always controversial. 

[slowpoked]

31 minutes ago, yejinatic1981 said:

She was not the dominant character in terms of having the best lines or scenes to express her character more intensely yet, for me, her character was annoying, confusing, vague and unrelatable based on the society's standard of a good woman,

 

I felt the same way to towards her character at different points of the movie. Like, I don't mind a sexually mature and liberated woman in a movie, I actually think it's a fun role to play. Side bar - while YSR is nowhere near SYJ's character in MWGM, I like the fact that CLOY has YSR not making any apologies for dating a lot of men. The story did not use that fact to sl*t-shame her but in fact use that characteristic of her to portray her as a strong woman who knows what she wants and gets it. One of my favorite lines is in episode 13 where YSR said "That's why I had to date a lot of men while waiting for you. And do you know how hard it was for me as well? Is he the one? Then he wasn't the one. Is he the one, then he wasn't the one either." All this while RJH looks on in horror. I thought that was one of the best scenes in the series.

 

Back to MWGM - That's why I think the movie did a disservice by having the story told exclusively from the POV of the husband. I was waiting for that magic moment to have the story subtly shift to her POV so the audience can understand where she's coming from. I was also actually annoyed with the husband as well because she has already shown to him who she was when they were just dating - I think it was arrogant of him to think that by marrying her and tying her down, he would suddenly change this woman who has a wildly different concept of love and relationships than him. Then he eventually blamed her for going back to her old ways.

 

31 minutes ago, yejinatic1981 said:

it's one of my two least favourite movies of her, story/scenario- wise.

 

What's the other one? I think the best SYJ movie for me is still Be With You. I did not know anything about the original and so I was totally taken aback by the ending, in a good way. Even my husband who is not really a fan of dramas and romance was pleasantly awed and surprised by the ending. We even spent days discussing how the time travel in the movie actually worked. 

 

Acting-wise, I really liked her in April Snow, A Moment to Remember and The Last Princess. I'm a fan of slow burn movies and so I liked the former two, but my husband, not so much. 

[yejinatic1981]

1 hour ago, slowpoked said:

What's the other one? I think the best SYJ movie for me is still Be With You. I did not know anything about the original and so I was totally taken aback by the ending, in a good way. Even my husband who is not really a fan of dramas and romance was pleasantly awed and surprised by the ending. We even spent days discussing how the time travel in the movie actually worked. 

White Night - the story is quite draggy for me, a lot of things are going on at the same time, I still have not finished it cos I always stop but I am not sure if the story will progress in the end. There were just too many characters there, I feel like it neglected to properly highlight the purpose of her character.

 

My favourite movie of her (over all criteria - acting, story and all) is A Moment to Remember, and Be With You comes very close (Cried rivers watching both of these movies!)

 

Intense acting- wise: The Truth Beneath, The Last Princess, The Classic and Blood and Ties

 

(I really like the story of Blood and Ties too, and I love The Classic's screenplay & OST)

 

"Feminism-wise" or something like that - The Pirates

 

 

[slowpoked]

14 hours ago, yejinatic1981 said:

White Night - the story is quite draggy for me, a lot of things are going on at the same time, I still have not finished it cos I always stop but I am not sure if the story will progress in the end. There were just too many characters there, I feel like it neglected to properly highlight the purpose of her character.

 

I agree. The story concept had a lot of promise actually. I don't want to say too much so I don't spoil you in case you want to finish it eventually. But I agree with you there's just too many characters, and the various time jumps between the present time and 15 years ago was not done as cleanly as it could have been that it sometimes became confusing which timeline the movie is in. 

 

I stuck with it because I was still curious about how it will end. I will say though, SYJ and the male lead gave terrific performances. If the writing, editing and directing were tighter, this could easily have been one of SYJ's better movies, along the level of The Truth Beneath.

[Helena]

Helena: Director Lee Kyoungmi was referring to Gong Hyojin (‘Crush and Blush’ is the English title of ‘Miss Hongdangmu’) and Son Yejin (‘My Wife Got Married’) competing for Best Actress Awards (SonYejin won at BlueDragon & Baeksang).  ‘Crush and Blush’ was director Lee’s debut feature; she worked with director Park Chanwook on ‘Sympathy for Lady Vengeance’ (the last film of director Park’s Vengeance Trilogy).

 

——

 

[Sonyejin Love]

Warning: **Spoiler** don’t read if you haven’t watched the movie

 

Son Ye Jin Talked About Her Role in “White Night”

KBS Entertainment 2009.11.16

 

 

Actress Son Ye-jin looked unusually upbeat when we met with her on November 12 prior to the opening of her new movie "Into The White Night." She was wearing a light and comfortable knit sweater, cute shirt and white skirt. Her radiant smile shined. She also talked quickly and easily. She looked nothing like her perfectly refined character Mi-ho from the movie.

Son said, "It's funny but I was scared of Mi-ho. I was scared of accepting her feelings and being swept up by them. I studied her for a long time while the movie was still in its planning stage, but I decided to 'be' Mi-ho only during filming because I was scared to accept her. It might look irresponsible, but I also need to live my life." 

 

It is already Son's 10th big-screen role. She debuted as a movie actress by playing an innocent woman who falls in love for the first time. So far, she has appeared in "April Snow," "The Art of Seduction," "Open City" and "My Wife Got Married." Each time, she played fresh and provocative characters, displaying her charm to the fullest. 

But playing Mi-ho, the daughter of a murderer, was not easy for her. She said, "I thought I wouldn't be nervous this time. But I was nervous during the screening for the first time because I felt big pressure. That was because I received a prestigious award for 'My Wife Got Married' last year, or maybe because this role is especially meaningful to me since it's my tenth big-screen role."

 

She added, "When filming 'The Art of Seduction' I thought viewers would be surprised, and when filming 'My Wife Got Married' I thought viewers would be dumbfounded and would laugh. But this time I can't say how viewers will react. That's how difficult Mi-ho was to me."

"Into the White Night" is based on a famous novel by Keiko Hikashino. The producer of the movie gave Son the book and said that he wanted to make a movie based on it. Son said, "In the novel, Mi-ho is downright sinister. She gives you goosebumps. I would have never agreed to play her if she had been as sinister onscreen. But since ordinary sinister roles lack charm, I wanted to make her look like someone deserving sympathy." 

 

The movie begins by drawing comparisons between Mi-ho being together with her lover, and Yo-han (Ko Soo), who kills someone. At the moment when Mi-ho gets into a car accident, Yo-han is making love to another woman. That is also the reason the word "body exposure" appears alongside the movie title on portal sites. But Son said that this scene showed that Mi-ho and Yo-han were always mentally together, even though they did things separately.

To Son, the most difficult scene was the one where she appears nude and talks to her fiance's daughter. She said, "This scene shouldn't look vulgar and must appear painful. Will viewers understand Mi-ho, or will they think that this scene was just included in order to draw viewers?"
 

Apart from appearing nude, Son also had a hard time portraying the extremely restrained and perfect personality of her character. The scene where she takes one sip of coffee and puts down the cup was filmed many times because her eyes looked in the wrong direction. She had to make Mi-ho look like she knew nothing yet was aware of everything, and was sad yet happy.

Son said portraying Mi-ho was like acting with her hands and feet tied up. She said, "It was very hard. Why did I agree to do it?" 

"I want my next role to be comfortable, fun and easy. I don't want to play someone like Mi-ho again, but I would like to play someone who is really charming, no matter how difficult the role is," said Son.

Cr: KBSWorld 2009

[Helena]

Source/Credits: http://www.hangulcelluloid.com/mywifegotmarried.html

 

"Get her to marry you. That's the only option. 

Throw away your delusions about women - they're all the same. They can't escape after getting married and having kids."

Synopsis:
Squeezing into a busy subway carriage, Deok-hyun (Kim Ju-hyuk) comes face to face a former female work colleague, In-ah (Son Ye-jin), whom he had a major crush on when they worked together. On going for a drink to catch up on old times, they discover that they both have a passion for football (In-ah being a Barcelona fan, Deok-hyun a Real follower) and, almost instantly, Deok-hyun's former feelings are reignited. To his surprise, when the bar closes, In-ah takes him back to her flat for a coffee and, inevitably, they end up sleeping together - thus beginning an ongoing love affair. Over time, Deok-hyun repeatedly tries to convince In-ah to marry him and despite her initial, and repeated, refusals, she eventually relents and the two lovers are wed. However, blissful though their married life appears, a spanner is thrown in the works when In-ah confesses that she loves someone else. Except, she doesn’t want a divorce, but instead wants to marry him too…

 

Spoiler

Review: 

Films which feature a reversal of the stereotypical male/female roles within a relationship have become fairly common in South Korean cinema over the last few years, not least in romantic comedies, and such is the case in My Wife Got Married: 

 

In-ah is a strong, confident woman who knows exactly what she wants and, more importantly, what she doesn't. She enjoys sex and is in no way bashful about admitting it, having it or talking about it but, while ongoing (and loving) relationships are important to her, she refuses to allow anyone to simply assume that she belongs to them, and fully believes that love and commitment can exist in more than one relationship at the same time.

 

Spoiler

 

Conversely, Deok-hyun is, without doubt, a product of his generation and upbringing. A passive, and rather neurotic, man, he firmly believes the ideals which have been instilled in him throughout his life - find a soul mate, fall in love, get married, settle down and raise a family - and, as such, he simply can't understand (and finds it hard to believe) In-ah's claims that it is possible to love more than one person and commit wholly, and equally, to both. 

 

In-ah's strength of character and determination to do whatever brings her pleasure is a constant source of angst to him, with her regular bouts of staying out late, drinking, and constantly turning off her phone, instantly, and repeatedly, leading him to assume that there can be no explanation other than that she is having an affair (even before she brings up the subject of polygamy), and his monogamous nature, combined with his lack of self-confidence, result in him constantly fearing that he is losing her and that sooner, rather than later, he is likely to get dumped for another man. As a result, his noticeable double standards (he finds In-ah's not wearing a bra sexy before they begin dating, but chastises her for it during their relationship; he sees male friends, and family members, having adulterous affairs and, though it is clear that he doesn't agree with them, he is able (to a degree) to chalk them up to "Well, it happens", while going almost insane when he thinks that In-ah is doing the same, etc.) clearly also play a part in his increasing desperation to convince In-ah to marry him but, to his dismay, that not only fails to sort his problems and ease his fears, but actually multiplies them, almost exponentially.

 

Spoiler

 

While a fairly straightforward discussion of monogamy vs. polygamy may initially appear to be the chewy centre of this warm and funny romantic treat, My Wife Got Married is as much a critique of the differing expectations placed on wives and husbands by Korean society, and the respective etiquette each is routinely expected to follow. In-ah and Deok-hyun keep any mention of polygamy from even close relatives (In-ah because she feels it's no-one else's business; and Deok-hyun rather more because of his fear of what others will think, and even embarrassment, to a degree) and, as such, their relationship and marriage is seen by those around them as an ideal to be aspired to. 

As the details of other adulterous liaisons of (male) family members and friends are brought into the light of day, My Wife Got Married contrasts outside perceptions of In-Ah and Deok-hyun's, seemingly, perfect marriage (and Deok-hyun's feelings about what's really going on) with the reactions to the illicit affairs of other husbands, and deftly points an accusing finger directly at Korean society's patriarchal nature - most noticeably in Deok-hyun's mother almost taking the side of one of Deok-hyun's male relatives (when she finds out that he has been unfaithful to his wife), rather than perceiving him as simply being the guilty party.

 

Spoiler

 

Aside from the themes and underlying commentary present in My Wife Got Married, the film presents itself as a gently amusing, quirky romance. The ongoing football references and analogies within Deok-hyun and In-ah's relationship work well throughout and though there are no truly laugh-out-loud moments, they really aren't part of the film's remit anyway. 

 

It does have to be said that the warmth and success of the humour, and also the believability both of In-ah's polygamist nature and the fallout it causes, are largely thanks to the performances of Son Ye-jin and Kim Ju-hyuk, with a noticeable chemistry between the two drawing viewers further into caring about the characters and the final outcome in their relationship.

 

The one area of My Wife Got Married which would have benefitted from being tightened up is the pacing, especially in the second half of the film where it slows noticeably, with too much time spent cycling over one particular turn of events in the plot, and over Deok-hyun's repeated attempts to ascertain the truth of the situation. Thankfully, towards the latter stages of the film, the pacing of the plot returns to close to its original level and, by the time the film's conclusion draws near, My Wife Got Married is largely able to re-engage viewers' attention.

Cast:

Son Ye-jin, as In-ah, gives easily the best performance of all the cast in My Wife Got Married - so much so, in fact, that she deservedly won the Best Leading Actress award for the role at the 29th Blue Dragon Film Awards in 2008. Her portrayal of the head-strong, sexy and full of life character of In-ah is note-perfect throughout and, combined with Kim Ju-hyuk's performance as Deok-hyun, ensures that Deok-hyun's inability to deny In-ah whatever she wants is not only understandable, but also completely and utterly believable throughout the entire running time of the film.

 

Kim Ju-hyuk may never quite reach as accomplished a level as Son Ye-jin, in his portrayal of Deok-hyun, but he does come pretty close on a number of occasions, ably showing each of Deok-hyun's insecurities, neuroses and paranoia without ever over-stating or over-playing the part.

Summary:
On the surface, a discussion of monogamy vs. polygamy, My Wife Got Married also serves as a critique, and inversion, of stereotypical male/female roles in relationships, all wrapped up within a gently humourous (albeit, erratically paced) romantic tale.

Starring:
Son Ye-jin, Kim Ju-hyuk, Joo Sang-wook, Cheon Seong-hun, Oh Woo-jeong, Son Hee-seon, Kim Byeong-chun, Yun Yeong-keol

 

DVD

The DVD edition reviewed is the Korean (Region 3) CJ Entertainment Single Disc Edition. 
The film itself is provided as an anamorphic transfer with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and there are no image artifacts (and no ghosting) present. 
The original Korean language soundtrack is provided as a choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 and is well balanced throughout. 
Excellent subtitles are provided throughout the main feature but English-speaking viewers should note that, as with many Korean DVD releases, there are no subtitles available on any of the extras. 

 

DVD Details:

       • Director: Jeong Yoon-soo
       • Format: NTSC, Anamorphic, Widescreen, Subtitled
       • Language: Korean
       • Subtitles: English/Korean/None
       • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0
       • Region: Region 3
       • Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
       • Number of discs: 1
       • Classification: Category III (Korean Film Classification)
       • Studio: CJ Entertainment
       • Run Time: 119 minutes (approx.)

DVD Extras:

Kick-off: Pre-Production
Halftime: Making Of
Second Half: Music Selection & Deleted Scenes
Overtime: Poster Making, Press Conference, Character Featurette, Music Video

 

All images © CJ Entertainment
Review © Paul Quinn

[Helena]

Source/Credits: http://www.hangulcelluloid.com/bewithyou.html

 

"Make sure to look after Ji-ho for a long time, and when you feel you've become a burden to him come and meet me in Cloudland. 
I'll save you a seat next to me..."

Synopsis:

Woo-jin (So Ji-sub) has raised his young son Ji-ho (Kim Ji-hwan) alone since his wife, Soo-ah (Son Ye-jin), passed away at just 32 years of age. Prior to her passing, Soo-ah promised Ji-ho that in the rainy season she'd return to him, and though Woo-jin 'knows' his wife was simply trying to ease her son's pain over her impending death, Ji-ho is absolutely adamant that she was telling the truth. 

 

As the rains begin to fall a year after Soo-ah's death, Ji-ho straight away runs off at breakneck speed towards an old railway line with his father somewhat reluctantly in tow and, to Woo-jin's absolute amazement, at the end of a short tunnel they do indeed find Soo-ah sitting on the ground beside the railway tracks; dazed and confused, but alive at least. 

 

However, she has no idea of how she got there and no memory whatsoever of her family life...

 

Spoiler

Review:

 

What comes to your mind when you hear the name Son Ye-jin? Do you instantly think of her starring roles in numerous big budget blockbusters, such as The Pirates, The Tower, Chilling Romance, Blood and Ties and The Last Princess; do you consider the well thought of work she's done with first time directors in films including White Night and The Truth Beneath; does your focus point to comedies like My Wife Got Married or The Art of Seduction that while humorous spoke of the changing place of women in Korean society; or do you think more immediately of TV series such as Personal Taste, Shark, and the seminal Alone in Love that showed her to be a star as important to the small screen as the big screen? While each and every one of these sides to Son Ye-jin’s illustrious career are wholly and entirely valid areas of focus, fans of films from the New Korean Cinema wave of the late 90s and early 2000s are more likely to look to far earlier in her filmography to cite any one of her appearances in films of a specific genre that not only played a significant part in shaping New Korean Cinema as a whole but also resulted in her being catapulted to mega-stardom in the first place. That genre was, and is, of course melodrama.

 

Throughout the early 2000s, from virtually the outset of her acting career, Son Ye-jin's critically acclaimed appearances in numerous NKC films with overt melodramatic tones - from Lovers' Concerto, to The Classic, to Crazy First Love, to A Moment to Remember, to April Snow - cemented her place as the 'Queen of Melodrama' of the entire New Korean Cinema wave. Indeed, her nuanced, impassioned and often genuinely heart-breaking performances in each and every one both quickly catapulted her to stardom and, symbiotically, saw many of her films soon deemed to be utter classics and even be considered to virtually define New Korean Cinema melodrama; underlining the genre's importance to Korean cinema as a whole and likewise Son Ye-jin's importance to the genre. In the years since the New Korean Cinema wave, Son Ye-jin's career and stardom has of course gone stratospheric, touching every genre and size of film you care to mention, but so seminal was her early work in melodrama that the news that she was stepping back into that specific genre with a role in romantic fantasy drama Be With You had me for one virtually salivating in the hope that the film would ultimately turn out to be a modern-day The Classic, A Moment to Remember, or indeed April Snow, and show Son Ye-jin doing what she frankly does better than anyone; that is, genuinely breaking viewers’ hearts with each and every tear she sheds. 
 

 

Be With You begins with a short animated story telling the tale of a mother penguin keeping an eye on her young child from Cloudland. As the rainy season commences, she returns to the world spending a happy, joyous time with her family until the rains end, when Cloudland beckons once again. As animation shifts to live action, we learn that the story is actually detailed in a book made for Ji-ho by his mother before her death, and as we later discover, was the way in which she explained how she herself would return. 

The early stages of the narrative nicely set up the character demographic; gently showing the difficulties both Woo-jin and Ji-ho still have in accepting the loss of Soo-ah a year after her passing, in spite of the bond they clearly have for each other and the fact that they each have the other's back without limit or hesitation. This section of Be With You, prior to Soo-ah's return, also features a fair amount of genuinely funny humour, mostly relating to Woo-jin’s best friend Hong-goo (Ko Chang-seok) and his efforts to get Woo-jin interested in a certain, somewhat mysterious ‘lady of class’ (played by Gong Hyo-jin). I first saw Be With You at a London Korean Film Festival teaser screening and the range of giggles to hearty laughter coming from the audience in this section shows without question how successful these early light-hearted moments truly are. Those who are perhaps less familiar with classic New Korean Cinema wave melodramas may initially find such humour in a film that deals with death and ultimately details heartbreak a little odd, but the combination of Love, Loss and Laughter in singular Korean films was so extensive throughout the New Korean Cinema wave of the late 90s and early 2000s and beyond that humour in the early stages of Korean melodramas for a time almost became a ‘must have’ (more on Love, Loss and Laughter in Korean cinema at the conclusion of this review/essay) and as such Be With You feels classic from the very outset. If you consider the classic NKC melodramas of Son Ye-jin referenced above, you'll find this idea appearing on numerous occasions – from Crazy First Love to Lovers’ Concerto and beyond – and though their humour may not be as overt as that found in Be With You, they are each connected by it, nonetheless. 

 

After Soo-ah’s mysterious return, Be With You becomes the romance you would hope it would be (ticking the ‘Love' checkbox in the Love, Loss and Laughter in Korean cinema trope). The gentle building of Woo-jin and Soo-ah's feelings for each other (for the first time, from Soo-ah’s perspective since she can't remember anything prior to her reappearance) is juxtaposed with flashbacks to Woo-jin’s frankly inept efforts to get Soo-ah's attention in their youth and subsequently the start of their relationship initially. Here too, there are beautifully humorous moments that make those efforts wholly believable and entirely natural; bolstered greatly by a noticeable chemistry between Son Ye-jin and So Ji-sub.

 

Of course loss plays a huge part in any melodramatic tale, and in the case of Be With You new loss amplifies old loss to a deeply poignant level. Touching and moving the 'main' narrative conclusion is, without question, but that certainly isn't the whole story. One would be forgiven for assuming Be With You would conclude at the end of the rainy season (fear of spoilers prevent me from being less vague) and personally on a first viewing at that point in the tale I was happy to, for a moment, think that would indeed be the case. However, the story in fact continues, detailing Woo-jin’s discovery of a diary written by Soo-ah seven years prior to her death. These final scenes (again featuring flashbacks) redefine almost entirely everything we know about the couple's relationship, adding an emotional depth easily equal to if not greater than anything we've seen thus far. Not only that, but the explanation in depth of the otherworldly reason for Soo-ah’s return ramps up the poignancy yet further, coming across as heart-breaking, uplifting and life-affirming at once and (ever so quietly) asking if the choices you make would differ if you knew they'd end in tragedy.

Over the years, the popularity of Korean film melodramas has somewhat waxed and waned, but so seminal were – and still are – the classic, most famous NKC examples of the genre that modern day releases are as likely as not to contain hugely (classically) popular tropes that could be said to reference, link or point to the genre’s entire lineage, allowing newer melodramas to stand alongside the classics in both nature and worthiness. Be With You fits in with the idea of these classic Korean melodrama tropes in not one, not two, but three distinct ways, ensuring that though the film story is based on a Japanese novel of the same name (and while some of these classic tropes are not exclusive to Korea), it still feels wholly Korean and indeed classically so:

 

Firstly, back in the day, as it were, the range of Korean melodramas featuring terminal or critical illness was so extensive that the inclusion of such tropes was for a time almost de rigueur, in a similar manner that the inclusion of long-haired, pale-faced female ghosts was almost expected in Korean horror. Even if you were only to consider Son Ye-jin's films, April Snow; A Moment to Remember; Lovers’ Concerto and Crazy First Love all feature terminal or critical illness prominently. As such, Be With You focusing its story on a character who has died, returns and ultimately has to go back to ‘the other side’ fits wholly and completely with this trope, even if it is initially inverted. 

 

Secondly, a hugely popular narrative and genre trend in classic Korean melodramas wasc the idea of love across time; characters separated by years somehow communicating whether by, for example, correspondence by an otherworldly means (letters delivered across the years through a mystical mailbox in Il Mare or conversations likewise via a ham radio in Ditto), or indeed a character learning of another's life and love through posthumous written correspondence defining the two characters’ relationship in the process, as seen in Failan among others. As such, Woo-jin finding Soo-ah’s diary written seven years before her death and reading entries specifically aimed at him in the present day – which (again) redefines everything Woo-jin thought about her feelings prior to their dating – frankly screams of Love Across Time and in the process classic Korean melodrama as a whole, to the nth degree and more.

 

Thirdly and finally, as already briefly referenced, over the years I have talked a lot about Love, Loss and Laughter in Korean cinema; the deft merging of seemingly disparate genres within singular films that played a huge part in defining classic Korean cinema internationally and pointing to an originality that ultimately allowed NKC to make massive strides on the world stage, at almost breakneck speed. I hardly even need to say it, but the sweet, gentle humour found in the early stages of Be With You (as well as Woo-jin’s faltering efforts to get close to Soo-ah in flashback); the deep, meant-to-be love they build in the past and again in the present on Soo-ah's return; and the utter heartbreak each of the main characters has to endure, twice over, all combine to allow Be With You to stand as almost a poster film for Love, Loss and Laughter in Korean cinema now and through the years. Ultimately, while some might say that no new Korean film release could be considered classic until time deems it so in hindsight, Be With You has all the markers required for it to easily stand shoulder to shoulder with almost any seminal Korean film melodrama you care to mention, including those of its star, Son Ye-jin.

 

Spoiler

Summary:

 

Heartbreaking, uplifting and life-affirming at once, Be With You positively screams of classic Korean melodrama in spite of being based on a Japanese novel... and that's before we even consider the fact that the star of the film is New Korean Cinema’s ‘Queen of Melodrama’, Son Ye-jin.

 

BE WITH YOU (지금만나러갑니다 / 2018)
Director: Lee Jang-hoon
Starring: Son Ye-jin and So Ji-sub

All images © LOTTE Entertainment
Review © Paul Quinn

[Helena]

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/06/23/2020062302301.html
Korean Wave Resurges in Japan

By Lee Ha-won

June 23, 2020

 

Diplomatic relations between Seoul and Tokyo are at an all-time low, but the Korean Wave is seeing a resurgence in Japan. 

 

Leading the trend most recently is the TV series "Crash Landing on You," which wrapped up here in February.

 

The Asahi Shimbun recently focused on the hype in Japan about the Korean melodrama available on Netflix, reporting that Japanese fans are posting messages on social media saying they watched "Crash Landing on You" five times and that the soap was "the only source of happiness during lockdown."

 

The latest edition of the weekly Shukan Asahi featured "Crash Landing on You" star Hyun Bin on its cover. The magazine said there has been a surge in Japanese women who are mesmerized by the heartthrob, who plays a North Korean soldier in the drama co-starring Son Ye-jin. 

 

The weekly also showcased the 20 must-see Korean dramas in a 10-page feature story including a color photo section. 
 

One Japanese journalist said, "The drama vividly describes the daily lives of ordinary North Koreans," which is the secret for its popularity. Yoji Komi, a former Seoul correspondent and presently an editorial writer for Tokyo Shimbun, wrote on Facebook, "I started learning the North Korean dialect" by watching "Crash Landing on You."

 

In other genres, Bong Joon-ho's Academy Award-winning movie "Parasite" also drew huge interest early this year in the island country, becoming highest-grossing Korean film ever there. On Monday BTS topped the Oricon album sales chart for the first half of the year with their latest album "Map of the Soul: 7." They are the first foreign singers to achieve the feat since Michael Jackson's iconic album "Thriller" in 1984.

 

The Asahi Shimbun assessed the latest developments as being the result of the Korean government's initiative of treating dramas and movies as key exports.

 

There have been some distinct changes. Hideki Okuzono, a professor of international relations at the University of Shizuoka who focuses on Korean studies and also appeared in the 1990s Korean movie "General's Son" said, "One recent development is the fact that Japanese viewers no longer put Korea-Japan relations into perspective when watching Korean shows or films. They just want to see globally acclaimed work."
 

And Soichi Tsukamoto at J. F. Oberlin University said that the Korean Wave is not limited to sugary pop culture any more. "An increasing number of Korean literary works are being translated and read in Japan, including the feminist novel 'Kim Ji-young, Born in 1982.' This is a meaningful development."

 

——————————

 

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13459026
Drama depicts poignant divide between South and North Korea

By Vox Populi, Vox Dei (a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun)
June 15, 2020 at 14:14 JST

 

A scene from the South Korean TV drama “Crash Landing on You” (Provided by tvN)

 

I have little knowledge about the Korean language, but when I exchanged toasts on a business trip to Seoul, I said, “geonbae,” having learned the local equivalent of “cheers” by ear.

 

In North Korea, some apparently say “chieupsida,” according to a scene from a South Korean TV drama in which homemakers in a remote village cheerfully drink canned beer with dried cod on the side.

 

“Crash Landing on You,” which has created a buzz, tells the story of a woman from a wealthy South Korean family who crash-lands in North Korea in a paragliding accident.

 

I initially thought of it as an absurd romance, but I found myself glued to the screen as it depicted the lives of North Koreans to an intriguing extent.

 

According to a colleague stationed in Seoul, the production team interviewed many defectors from North Korea to ensure accuracy in depicting everyday life in the reclusive country.

 

In North Korea, some apparently say “chieupsida,” according to a scene from a South Korean TV drama in which homemakers in a remote village cheerfully drink canned beer with dried cod on the side.

 

“Crash Landing on You,” which has created a buzz, tells the story of a woman from a wealthy South Korean family who crash-lands in North Korea in a paragliding accident.

 

In the drama, a North Korean woman falls into rapture when she gets her hands on South Korean cosmetics. Villagers hawking goods crowd a train when it stops due to a power outage.

 

North Korean authorities, apparently infuriated by such descriptions, denounced the drama as “an extremely fraudulent anti-North drama filled with falsehoods and fabrications.”

 

The drama piqued my interest in North Korean lives and inspired me to watch a YouTube video titled “Ordinary North Korean Family.”

 

The North Korean video shows a house furnished with leather-upholstered sofas and a supermarket stocked with a rich assortment of goods.

 

Obvious government propaganda aimed at showcasing a comfortable life, the video gives no real sense of how “ordinary” people live in the country.

June 15 is a special date in the history of the Korean Peninsula.  On this day two decades ago, the leaders of the two Koreas pledged a peaceful unification in a joint statement. However, no notable progress has since been made toward reconciliation, and the prospects for unification are as bleak as ever.

 

In “Crash Landing on You,” the heroine tells the North Korean military officer who saved her life before she leaves the country: “I can even go to Africa or the South Pole, but you are here (North Korea), of all places.”

 

The two neighboring countries remain far apart. I wonder if they will become intoxicated with a dream of unification again someday.

 

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 14

 

* * *

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

[SuZy Leoo]

@Helena Do you happen to have any news of SYJ 2008 Drama Spotlight? Like how was it working with JJH etc, i cant seem to find any news on Spotlight and i'd rather like that drama...

 

Meanwhile, any idea what did SYJ said in her IG?

 

 

 

[ILSYJSG]

20 hours ago, slowpoked said:

 I read that she won the Blue Dragon Best Actress award for her role in this movie (which people say is the Korean equivalent of the Oscars), and while obviously that is a great achievement, I am having a hard time thinking that SYJ's performance in this movie is otherwordly. Don't get me wrong, I love and appreciate a great comedic role - I'm of the opinion that comedy is much harder to pull off then drama, and that is why I'm frustrated when great comedic roles get overlooked just because they don't cry their eyes out or yell at the top of their lungs. But I just didn't see anything special in SYJ's performance in here - maybe the competition that year is weak? I've seen other movies/dramas of SYJ and she has a lot of performances far superior than in MWGM.

 

I actually love SYJ in MWGM!! She was so naturally adorable, charming and mischievous when portraying the polygamist - In Ah. SYJ was able to make the audience love In Ah (at least I did!) despite In Ah's wanting to marry another man. 

 

I read somewhere that when the director told SYJ that "everyone thought of you when they consider the role of In Ah", SYJ immediately rebutted him "Do I look so detestable?" Thus SYJ didn't know whether to laugh or cry when others say that In Ah was the "perfect role" for her. 

 

In a vLive interview, SYJ did say that she did not fully understand In Ah's character while reading the script and the more she tried to understand In Ah, the more questions she had. Hence in the end, SYJ simply decided to portray the character as best as she could, even if SYJ cannot agree with her different way of life.

 

I like all of SYJ's movies but I think my favourite is still AMTR - my very first SYJ movie. Really cried buckets over it.

[slowpoked]

@Helena thanks for all the wonderful articles on reviews of SYJ movies. I'm a new fan, so I'm just discovering her wonderful filmography lately. She certainly has had some interesting works, but she is a great actress.

 

Minority opinion, but I liked Be With You 2018 more than the original. When i watched the SYJ version, I read stuff about the movie online because I wanted to understand the ending better. I saw people that mentioned while the Korean version is ok, the Japanese original is superior. So I went to watch the Japanese version soon after. Maybe I would have had a different opinion had I seen the Japanese version first, and maybe on paper it was really better, but I was emotionally drawn more to the Korean version. Some directing/writing choices just made more sense in the latter version (the father's best friend being the baker as well, so SYJ's request to him towards the end made more sense, rather than in the original where the wife just goes to a random baker to make her unusual request). Another thing I liked better is the climax - the impact is stronger and more shocking in the Korean version than in the Japanese one. I also liked the reunion scene at the train in the Korean version better than in the Japanese one at the sunflower garden. SYJ's actions and words when they reunited just had a lot more punch and meaning after the big reveal unfolded, compared to the conversation of the two leads in the Japanese version.

 

For those who haven't seen it, I highly recommend BWY. It's one of her movies that I don't get tired seeing over and over again, at first, to get the details that I missed the first viewing. But during the latter viewing it's more for enjoyment of seeing a great movie.