'My Dear Enemy' and others...

Details: Category: Diary

Long time no blog... again. Having gotten around to watching quite a few films lately, I felt I should mention Lee Yoon-ki's brilliant fourth feature film: My Dear Enemy (멋진 하루, something like “one fine day”, but the title's already taken). The premise is promising and completely delivers on all fronts:

A woman meets her ex-boyfriend and demands the 3.5 million won ($3,073) that she lent him a year earlier. The problem is: he claims to be flat broke and offers to pay her back later. The woman, however, not taking “later” for an answer, presses him to pay her back on the spot. They embark on a day-trip to collect the debt money from some of the man’s (female) acquaintances, and bits of bittersweet memories by the same token.

It is Jeon Do-Yeon’s first film since she earned the prize for best actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, and once again, a very compelling performance in a subdued, reserved role opposite Ha Jeong-Woo's extrovert character.

Definitely the most beautiful Korean film I have seen in quite a while: a subtle, nuanced, psychologically smart (if there is such a thing) melodrama without the touch of crass sentimentalism that you can find in most films of the genre. Also, and perhaps even more importantly, a wonderful Seoul road-movie (of sorts).