Jinkusu!!! (2013)

Jinkusu!!!: Directed by Naoto Kumazawa. With Hyomin, Kurumi Shimizu, Kento Yamazaki, Su-kyeong Jeon. South Korean exchange student Yoon Ji-ho tries to make love bloom between her uptight classmate Kaede and Yusuke, a very shy boy she’s infatuated with since middle school.

“It might seem like a simple little romantic movie, but Naoto Kumazawau0026#39;s Jinx!!! manages to be touching despite its manipulative and sentimental premise. Arriving in a Japanese school as an exchange student from Korea, Ji-ho (played by K-pop group T-ARA idol Hyomin) strikes up a friendship with her Japanese friend Kaede. Using her love of films she attempts to help her friend and a boy she has long admired overcome their shyness and declare their love for each other by acting out classic scenes from Love Actually, The Notebook, Edward Scissorhands and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s hardly a serious examination of cultural differences, not even within the narrow field of romance. but this lovely little film will convince you about the power of movies, the creation of illusions, and their ability to transform oneu0026#39;s view of the world. Jinx!!! doesnu0026#39;t rely entirely on western cinema to achieve second-hand effects either. Ji-hou0026#39;s own tragic-romantic love-story is meaningfully and skillfully integrated into the narrative, and has a beautiful romantic allure of its own.”