Sometimes it's better to let yourself go

February 22, 2005

Never have I known a director who is as good at making a forced tear-jerker so bearable as Kwak Jae-Joung. I imagine most people are not familiar with him, but those who have kept an eye on the Korean film industry have no doubt seen or heard tons about My Sassy Girl. His two subsequent films (The Classic and Windstruck), albeit subpar to the original, are still fairly well crafted and undoubtedly perfect for a) those lonely nights, and b) a nice evening with a significant other.

But that's the general schpiel. The deal with his direction is one that bugs me to some degree: No matter how much I see through the fluff in his films, in the end, he always gets me when it matters. The very last impression is one where you find yourself smiling, gleefully so, and you don't think twice about the ridiculousness of what just happened moments before.

It's not so much playing with the emotions (a la Million Dollar Baby) as it is a skill. And honestly, it's not a skill that I disapprove of. The most wonderful stories are the ones where the author or director's imagination trumps your belief in practicality. Kwak is good at this, even great. Formulaic or not, I can't wait for his next film.

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you know Gurinder Chadha's remaking it, right?

"a) those lonely nigbhts"