Day 13 - My Sassy Girl
First Impressions:
I was both entertained and perplexed. The movie opens with the main character waiting to open a time capsule after two years. He then reveals that his parents wished he was a girl. They dressed him as a girl and treated him like a daughter until he was 7. He says that he thought his penis would become smaller and smaller until one day it disappeared. Instead it did just the opposite.
I liked the main character, Gyeon-Woo. He's an engineering major and academics are an important part of his life, which is not something we've seen in rom-coms. Gyeon-Woo's sassy girl tries to convince him to cut class but he says this is one class he cannot miss. She puts up her hand to request a break, and talks to the professor who when class resumes insists that Gyeon-Woo spend the day with his girlfriend; she told the professor that she was getting an abortion and Gyeon-Woo was the father (!)
"My Sassy Girl" has been remade 7 times, is a TV series and has a sequel.
Personal Reflection:
"This is how I met her again."
I won't go into the plot like I did with "200 Pounds of Beauty" because "My Sassy Girl" is a little more difficult to chart. It's a movie that is an accumulation of moments and missed moments. Gyeon-Woo and 'the girl' (as she is known) are friends, maybe more than friends, then break up. Unlike other rom-coms, the cues as to whether they are a couple or not are not founded on physical intimacy. In fact, she primarily touches him only to hit him, which is how she shows affection.
Like some actual relationships, the audience is never sure entirely what is going on. I wasn't aware they were seeing each other the first time until they are taken hostage by a rogue soldier at an amusement park. The soldier asks how they know each other. Gyeon-Woo replies that they are "just friends". Afterwards, the girl hits him and says, "Just friends?! Wanna die?"
He overhears the girl arguing with her mother about how she shouldn't see Gyeon-Woo. Then she stops calling him and he doesn't hear from her until like a month later. She calls and asks him to bring her a rose in front of her entire class to commemorate the 100th day they've known each other while she plays Pachbel's Canon on piano (because this is when a girl is the prettiest).
One day (while they are broken up) the girl calls Gyeon-Woo to join her on a blind date (yes,she is on a date with someone else). When she leaves to go to the washroom, Gyeon-Woo lists 10 rules her date should know to make her happy. These are things like, 'Always order coffee, not juice or coke. If she hits you and it hurts, pretend it doesn't. If she hits you and it doesn't hurt, pretend it does. Bring her a rose during class on the 100th Day you know each other. Never let her have more than 3 drinks. She wants to write movies, encourage her writing.' Her date tells her what Gyeon-Woo said and this is when she realizes he might be the one, that he knows her a lot better than she gave him credit for. I absolutely melted. It was adorable.
The real questions start to emerge in the third act entitled, Overtime. Gyeon-Woo and the girl part ways after burying letters in a time capsule near a tree, promising to return in 2 years to read them. Only Gyeon-Woo returns and reads the letters. He finds out that her boyfriend had died one year to the day that they had met. She wonders if fate had brought them together somehow to cure her of her grief. The rose in the class was something her boyfriend had done; the girl was trying to look for her deceased bf in Gyeon-Woo. She says she thinks that if they are meant to be they will meet again by chance.
Fate is defined in the movie as, "Building a bridge of chance for someone you love". As it happens, the Aunt that Gyeon-Woo is told to visit knows the girl and has meant to introduce them the entire time! Gyeon-Woo finally visits her when who but the girl is there visiting at the same time. Fate has drawn them back together.
In "La La Land" would Mia and Seb have met through Seb's sister? She gave him the number of a girl to call. What if this girl was Mia? What if just like in "My Sassy Girl" the characters are destined to meet no matter what they choose to do?
In true rom-com fashion, Gyeon-Woo and the girl embrace their fate by holding hands.
Rom-Com Tropes:
1. Missed connections. As Gyeon-Woo jumps on the train, the girl jumps off. As Gyeon-Woo goes up a subway escalator, she is going down.
2. A romantic encounter in the rain that almost leads to a kiss.
3. Fate will orchestrate who you meet. Don't worry!
Soundtrack:
Nothing worth noting.
I was both entertained and perplexed. The movie opens with the main character waiting to open a time capsule after two years. He then reveals that his parents wished he was a girl. They dressed him as a girl and treated him like a daughter until he was 7. He says that he thought his penis would become smaller and smaller until one day it disappeared. Instead it did just the opposite.
I liked the main character, Gyeon-Woo. He's an engineering major and academics are an important part of his life, which is not something we've seen in rom-coms. Gyeon-Woo's sassy girl tries to convince him to cut class but he says this is one class he cannot miss. She puts up her hand to request a break, and talks to the professor who when class resumes insists that Gyeon-Woo spend the day with his girlfriend; she told the professor that she was getting an abortion and Gyeon-Woo was the father (!)
"My Sassy Girl" has been remade 7 times, is a TV series and has a sequel.
Personal Reflection:
"This is how I met her again."
I won't go into the plot like I did with "200 Pounds of Beauty" because "My Sassy Girl" is a little more difficult to chart. It's a movie that is an accumulation of moments and missed moments. Gyeon-Woo and 'the girl' (as she is known) are friends, maybe more than friends, then break up. Unlike other rom-coms, the cues as to whether they are a couple or not are not founded on physical intimacy. In fact, she primarily touches him only to hit him, which is how she shows affection.
Like some actual relationships, the audience is never sure entirely what is going on. I wasn't aware they were seeing each other the first time until they are taken hostage by a rogue soldier at an amusement park. The soldier asks how they know each other. Gyeon-Woo replies that they are "just friends". Afterwards, the girl hits him and says, "Just friends?! Wanna die?"
He overhears the girl arguing with her mother about how she shouldn't see Gyeon-Woo. Then she stops calling him and he doesn't hear from her until like a month later. She calls and asks him to bring her a rose in front of her entire class to commemorate the 100th day they've known each other while she plays Pachbel's Canon on piano (because this is when a girl is the prettiest).
One day (while they are broken up) the girl calls Gyeon-Woo to join her on a blind date (yes,she is on a date with someone else). When she leaves to go to the washroom, Gyeon-Woo lists 10 rules her date should know to make her happy. These are things like, 'Always order coffee, not juice or coke. If she hits you and it hurts, pretend it doesn't. If she hits you and it doesn't hurt, pretend it does. Bring her a rose during class on the 100th Day you know each other. Never let her have more than 3 drinks. She wants to write movies, encourage her writing.' Her date tells her what Gyeon-Woo said and this is when she realizes he might be the one, that he knows her a lot better than she gave him credit for. I absolutely melted. It was adorable.
The real questions start to emerge in the third act entitled, Overtime. Gyeon-Woo and the girl part ways after burying letters in a time capsule near a tree, promising to return in 2 years to read them. Only Gyeon-Woo returns and reads the letters. He finds out that her boyfriend had died one year to the day that they had met. She wonders if fate had brought them together somehow to cure her of her grief. The rose in the class was something her boyfriend had done; the girl was trying to look for her deceased bf in Gyeon-Woo. She says she thinks that if they are meant to be they will meet again by chance.
Fate is defined in the movie as, "Building a bridge of chance for someone you love". As it happens, the Aunt that Gyeon-Woo is told to visit knows the girl and has meant to introduce them the entire time! Gyeon-Woo finally visits her when who but the girl is there visiting at the same time. Fate has drawn them back together.
In "La La Land" would Mia and Seb have met through Seb's sister? She gave him the number of a girl to call. What if this girl was Mia? What if just like in "My Sassy Girl" the characters are destined to meet no matter what they choose to do?
In true rom-com fashion, Gyeon-Woo and the girl embrace their fate by holding hands.
Rom-Com Tropes:
1. Missed connections. As Gyeon-Woo jumps on the train, the girl jumps off. As Gyeon-Woo goes up a subway escalator, she is going down.
2. A romantic encounter in the rain that almost leads to a kiss.
3. Fate will orchestrate who you meet. Don't worry!
Soundtrack:
Nothing worth noting.
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