Keulraesik (2003)

Keulraesik: Directed by Jae-young Kwak. With Son Ye-jin, In-Sung Jo, Cho Seung-woo, Ki-woo Lee. A college student finds a diary detailing a long-ago love triangle involving her mother, her future father, and his best friend.

“The story involves a girl, whose best friend is dating a guy that she secretly likes. She one day finds a diary and letters from the past that belonged to her mother. The story then shifts to the past where the mother is a young woman who falls in love with a guy, but she herself is arranged to be married with the guyu0026#39;s friend. Thereu0026#39;s a parallel between the past and present and the story shifts back and forth between two romances. I found this movie to be a well-executed Korean melodrama. The cinematography is quite beautiful. However, it is rather cliche in some parts (as some aspects of the directoru0026#39;s previous work feels a bit repeated here), yet as a movie itself, it is a well-filmed, nicely delivered piece of work. It is kind of unfortunate, however, given the popularity and the expectations given to the movie due to the directoru0026#39;s more accomplished, previous work, u0026quot;My Sassy Girl,u0026quot; this reviewer couldnu0026#39;t help but feel somewhat disappointed. If I hadnu0026#39;t seen the previous work and saw this movie for the first time, I mightu0026#39;ve given higher praise. As it is, however, the movie almost accomplishes in being a truly great movie (as opposed to good, which it is). Occasional inventiveness in composition and atmosphere and timing is excellent. The movie does tend to be a bit predictable (particularly if you know what kind of themes the director has presented in his previous work) and admittedly I saw the ending coming sooner than I probably should have (althogh it didnu0026#39;t really distract me from enjoying it either). One canu0026#39;t help whenever one sees a rainy scene or when a certain Pachebel music comes out, one is reminded of a scene directly from u0026quot;My Sassy Girlu0026quot; (As u0026quot;My Sassy Girlu0026quot; actually pokes fun at melodramas) Without some of those distractions, it may have resonated a lot more strongly as an original piece of work. In terms of characters, they are certainly memorable, and the romantic elements (while, not as multidimensional or as deep as the directoru0026#39;s previously mentioned work) are convincing. There are some historical backdrops to go along the romance that gives the film a somewhat a denser, almost epic, if not nostalgic, feel, yet doesnu0026#39;t really go in the way of an epic (which itself might not have been a bad direction to go). Some of the attention to detail are also pretty well done. Overall, though, I enjoyed the film as a romantic melodrama, while being a bit hampered by tough expectations and some cliches, the characters and the romance certainly leaves a nice impression.”