*** Must Watch Korean Movies ***

I have seen a whole lot of Korean Romantic movies these past few days. I wonder why not many people in India know about these movies. Maybe because we were never exposed to Korean cinema in our mainstream media or had any of these Korean movies telecast on Doordarshan in India.

Korean film makers are masters in romantic story telling. I have no idea why this is so but the scripts and the stories they show are the best I have seen in romantic dramas.

My only grouse against Korean movies is that someone or the other is always dying at the end of the story. It is such a common feature that its pure relief when a character does not die at the end of the film.

However there will always be a melodramatic twist at the end that will make you weep a bit. Other than that, I love KOREAN cinema!

I am posting a 3 part summary of the movies which I have enjoyed so far.

My favourite romantic Korean movies are-
Part 1-

The Classic-A young girl discovers a bunch of old love letters written to her mom by a lover. The mother's love story bears a striking resemblance to her daughter's present day love story. Both the old and new stories are interwoven together to create a movie thats beyond a classic. Loved every moment of this romantic fairytale. Must see for a beginner to Korea's romance movies.















Seducing Mr Perfect
A young woman who has had a string of bad romances accidentally runs into her boss. He is charming, drop dead handsome, smart, aloof and basically has all the qualities of the perfect man. They both strike a deal so that he can teach her the dating rules to help her win over a good man. Instead Love strikes them as expected.




















My little bride
This is a really cute movie of a 15 year old school girl who has to marry a much older 24 year old guy because of her grandfather's wishes. It doesnt help that the young girl also has a crush on her schoolmate. How the married odd couple adjust to life and keep their married life a secret forms the rest of the funny romance.




















First Kiss
One of my favourite romance movies was 'First Kiss'. It is a sweet story of a young woman who has never fallen in love in the real sense nor has she had her first kiss. She is a timid, lost in her thoughts journalist working for a small magazine. She meets a brash, over the top, ever smiling photographer who joins her company. How the two fall in love is what the movie is all about.





















He was cool
I never expected 'He was cool' to be so much fun. Its really an amazing romantic comedy with a little bit of everything. There is fighting, romance, friendship, disease,death and redemption. The heroine of the movie unfortunately committed suicide in 2007 and its sad cause she acts very cutely in this flick. The story is of a bad boy kind of protagonist who meets a quirky high school girl by accident. And once they start going around, the fun does not stop. The story moves along well and holds your attention.There are some very good fight scenes in this. Its pure timepass.




















A Millionaire's first love
A young rich arrogant guy is made to study in a rural village as part of a rule in his grandfather's will. There he meets a girl with a beautiful personality and a sad secret.
It has a very good second half that will make you emotional.





















Windstruck
Now this is a movie I really enjoyed. I am not surprised that it was a major success in Korea. It depicts the romance between a lady cop and an innocent guy that she accidentally arrests on their first meeting. As time progresses the plot shows them having a good life together but before long there is trouble in paradise. The hero dies accidentally and how the girl copes up forms the rest of the story. There were a lot of good things happening in the story as the scenes are very unconventional and make you smile and cry a bit. The ending is quite nice as it almost hints to a prequel of 'My sassy girl'. Highly recommended.



















My Sassy Girl
Actually to be very honest, I didnt find 'My sassy Girl' to be that entertaining. However it has a cracker of an ending when the two lovers realize the role destiny plays in their life. It is also credited with starting the romantic movie trend in South Korea and one of the biggest blockbusters ever in Korea.

A young man helps a drunk woman on a train. However this chance encounter leads to many more encounters in which the girl basically makes him dance to her tunes. He ultimately realizes that she acts so rudely and funny because of some issues in her life.I like the line in the movie, 'Destiny is building a bridge to the one you love'.























My Girl and I
After 10 years a man returns to his village which was where he met his first and only love of his life. He remembers their beautiful love story and how it changed his life.

Very beautiful cinematography.















Singles
A bunch of late twenty somethings grapple with life, love and jobs. Two girl friends and their love stories and friendship is shown in a very interesting manner. Its a light breezy entertainer.

'Lovers in Paris' -Best romantic Korean drama..

I am so in love with Korean movies and dramas. 'Lovers in Paris' is the latest from Korea thats stolen my heart.

One of the most romantic and well written dramas is 'Lovers in Paris' which was broadcast on SBS in Korea. This Korean drama was telecast in 2004 and got very high ratings during its run. The main actors in this were-
Park Shin-Yang as Han Ki-joo
Kim Jung-Eun as Kang Tae-young
Lee Dong-Geon as Yoon Soo-hyuk

I was searching for Park Shin Yang's other movies when I came across this scene of 'Lovers in Paris'. Earlier I had seen his movie, "White Valentine" in which he had played the role of a sad, depressed young lover who is miserable after the death of his partner. I loved his acting in 'White valentine'. In many of the scenes, his eyes and body language did most of the talking.

I want to applaud the director, actors and the scriptwriter of this romantic Kdrama. They have created a beautiful series of episodes which showcase the love story so well.



In the opening episode we are introduced to Tae Young who is a struggling student in Paris. The series shows her wishing for money and happiness at the wishing fountain in Paris. She is a bit goofy and tends to mess up things but she has a very nice caring heart. She somehow gets a job as a housemaid in a rich man's place. The rich man is Han Ki-joo-the central character of 'Lovers in Paris'. He is a shrewd but smart businessman who has a very keen eye for things around him. He is a cut above the rest in all his business dealings.




















Through a series of fun misunderstandings Tae-young ends up acting as his fake fiancee for a business deal. As the story progresses they find themselves drawn to each other. Park Shin-Yang performs his role very well as a jealous, super handsome lover. The plot thickens when the rich guy's nephew(Yoon Soo-hyuk) also gets attracted to the same lady. Now the lovers have to sort out amongst themselves as to who gets whom.
















The music that plays during the series has a very catchy tune. The moment you hear that it registers in your memory. Also the director has utilized the amazing "Moon River" soundtrack from 'Breakfast in Tiffany's'. It is such a beautiful tune and raises the effect of the Kdrama to a different level.

I saw a couple of scenes of this drama on Youtube and was blown away by the intensity of the performances and the brilliant script and acting. The two lovers in this also got the 2nd place for a best kiss contest in Korea. The scene for which they won the award is below. They both look terribly cute and embarassed as the kissing scene is played out to the audience.



There are other amazing scenes in this Korean drama including a proposal scene which is hilarious. The main guy proposes to the girl by giving her three options and asks her to choose from yes, NO and maybe but whatever she chooses his option ends in marriage.

The best part is that even parodies of this drama are hilarious to watch. This clip from another television show proves that. I liked the way the singer in this parodied the important scenes from the drama.


Somehow I wonder why the director didnt make a movie out of this. But I guess Korean dramas are equally popular as Korean movies so it did not matter.

I wish I could someday write a brilliant script like this for an Indian serial. This is a must watch for all people who like romantic dramas which has a good amount of comedy too.



Spoiler Alert-Please dont read further as I am gonna jot down my thoughts about the ending to 'Lovers in Paris'.

I read at many places on the web that people don't like the ending of the drama. Personally I understand that they felt a bit cheated when everyone realized that the whole drama was just a screenplay that Tae Young was writing in real life while working as a maid in Han Jo's house. But the best part is they are destined to be lovers in real life as they end up meeting each other in the exact same circumstances as she has written in her fictional screenplay. It was one of the best non cliched happily ever after endings that I have seen.

Also I loved how the writers ended the series in Paris-the same place where the story started in the first place bringing to a full circle the series of events in the love story.

Three cheers to the wonderful Korean drama, 'Lovers in Paris'.