A Love (2007) Movie Review

Although though he is not as well known internationally as the likes of Park Chan Wook and Bong Joon Ho, director Kwak Kyung Taek is one of the biggest and most successful film makers in Korea, having been responsible for such blockbusters as “Friend”, “Mutt Boy”, and “Typhoon”. He returns here with his latest effort “A Love”, which on the surface at least seems like a bit of a departure, being more romantically inclined than his previous works, all of which have tended to be decidedly macho affairs. Although the film actually turns out to cover a lot of familiar ground for the director, this slight shift proved popular with local audiences, managing an impressive one million admissions at the Korean box office within the first eight days of its release.

The film begins with the childhood meeting of Chae In Ho and Min Joo, which sees the young lad irrevocably smitten before the object of his affection is cruelly swept away by unfortunate circumstances. Fast forward a few years and their paths cross again as In Ho (now played by actor Ju Jin Mo, last seen in “200 Pounds Beauty”) falls foul of her troubled brother, swearing that he will love and protect her forever. This is soon put to the test as Min Joo (Park Si Yeon, recently in “The Fox Family”) is threatened by a particularly nasty gangster, which of course leads to violence, and the two are parted once more as he ends up in jail and she goes overseas to stay with her father in Japan. After he gets out, having heard nothing from her for years, he starts working for the chairman of a large corporation, taking care of all the dirty work and rising up through the ranks. Fate strikes once again as Min Joo reappears as the chairman’s new mistress, pushing In Ho towards another life changing and indeed life threatening decision.

Although “A Love” is certainly a romantic and overtly melodramatic film, it is also a resolutely macho and male-oriented one, with the relationship between In Ho and Min Joo basically being that of a tough, though vulnerable and softly spoken protector and his wide eyed damsel in distress. Given this, whilst Kwak strives to put his protagonist into a variety of difficult situations, it is always obvious what choices he will make, and the film is inherently predictable throughout.

Still, this is by no means a criticism, and to an extent this feeling of inevitability lends the film a genuinely tragic air. Kwak is certainly a master of male angst, and is ruthless when it comes to putting his characters through the emotional wringer, piling on the misery as the film builds towards its downbeat climax. Thankfully, this is all handled with a sense of dignity, and the film never descends into histrionics or too much howling, coming across almost as a more fleshed out and depressing version of Kim Ji Woon’s “A Bittersweet Life” rather than a mere retread of “Friend”.

Unsurprisingly, there are tear filled eyes a-plenty and many scenes of characters staring off into the distance or exchanging yearning glances, though to criticise a film like “A Love” for this would be like complaining that an action thriller had too many gun battles or explosions. Kwak is an old hand at the genre and plays it to the hilt, knowing all too well that the best route to the viewer’s heart is through a set of well drawn and sympathetic characters, which he does he best to deliver. In Ho and Min Joo are both likeable enough, even though it is hard to shake the feeling that most of their troubles could have been solved with a few frank conversations, and it would take a jaded soul not to be moved by their plight, self made or not. Whilst it is pretty grim for the most part, “A Love” is certainly an emotional experience, and is hard to fault as a slice of tortured romantic drama.

Thankfully the film is not all doom and lovesick gloom, as Kwak wisely spices things up by injecting a fair amount of brutal violence, never allowing In Ho to spend too much time wallowing or crying alone in his room. As well as helping to keep things moving along at a good pace, this also serves to reinforce the film’s testosterone fuelled core, again underlining that this is a love story told from a traditional male perspective.

As a result, “A Love” is a film that should be enjoyed by all viewers and not only by fans of Korean melodrama. Whilst Kwak does not try to reinvent the wheel or even to add much to the genre, it works well on all levels and confirms that he is still one of the best directors when it comes to honest character drama and explorations of modern masculinity.

Kyung-Taek Kwak (director) / Kyung-Taek Kwak (screenplay)
CAST: Joo Jin-mo, Park Si-yeon, Joo Hyeon, Kim Min-joon, Lim Hyeon-seong