Korean cinema: My Sassy Girl

Thanks to a glowing thread about this movie on a web forum, I finally got a hold of the apparently popular 2001 Korean film My Sassy Girl.

The movie comes from the true-life experiences of author Ho-sik Kim who made a best-selling book out of stories he posted on-line about his relationship with his girlfriend. In the film, Kyun-woo comes across a young woman drunk and belligerent on the subway and in a series of accidents is mistaken for her boyfriend. From there an actual relationship starts, usually involving her threatening to kill him if he doesn’t act the way she wants.

It’s actually a far better story than I’ve described and though the girl can be a real pain towards him, the story unfolds around the reason why she’s that way, and how it’s very much a conflict between her past and how much she’s quickly grown to like him.

Honestly, this film is great if you’re interested in watching an asian movie with your woman, but she doesn’t want the usual over-the-top martial arts violence-packed stereotype. Good use of humor, some real emotions and a great ending.