An old summary of my Jung Woo Song marathon back in 2011. Films mentioned:- The Restless, A Moment To Remember and Sad Move.
Below the cut are small spoilers for these films
The Restless I had a DVD of this lying around at home but I didn't finish watching it. When I did get round to watching the film it turned out to be bad quality and out of sync so I watched a better version online. I wasn't expecting The Restless to be super stylish or Oscar-winning. One might argue the characters are Sues/Stus but then when you think about it's not based on proper real life people. It's pretty much fantasy/Wuxia or whatever floats your boat. Like Bichunmoo, Musa, HOFD, Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon The Restless has impressive special effects and fights.
The story itself is very thin and characters die too quick for my liking. Kim Tae Hee as So-Hwa is nothing like her bitchy character in Stairway To Heaven. Here she's often expressing a lot of WTF faces at the leading actor though the reason for that is understandable. Jung Woo Sung's character is heroic and manly. Yi Gwak is a demon slayer who accidentally finds himself in Midheaven where spirits wander for 49 days before being reincarnated. The thing is, Yi Gwak is not dead ane he finds his lost lover is in Midheaven - only she has no memories of him.
Because of his role as The Good and in Musa, I was almost used to Jung Woo Sung being the straight in the eyes hero type or even a reluctant hero but for some reason I found him being a bit more than just calm or cold in The Restless. I guess he was little bit dorkier. This was before I watched his other films though.
A Moment To Remember So after researching JWS a lot of people mentioned this as their recommendation but warned about getting tissues ready. After skimming through a film review I could see why it could make the more emotional ones weepy. It's about how a married couple meet, fall in love by breaking different class boundaries and how they cope when the wife is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I've got to point out that Jung Woo Sung is beyond a pretty face. He sold me in A Moment To Remember, managing to make me swoon and even devastated my insides when there were heartbroken scenes. He clicked with Son Ye-jin.
Sad Movie Four different stories based on real life situations. I would say more but then the spoiler flag would come about and the entire story would be given away thus I recommend Sad Movie should be checked out when possible. All the characters are likable and have realistic flaws. I had braced myself again in case I burst into tears because even the name of the film gives you a hint of what to expect. Most of the film has a lot of comedy in it and at times you really want to cheer the characters on so they can achieve their wishes. When the sad bits do come along however one has to get ready at some point. Shin Min-ah can definitely act and Cha Tae Hyun is adorable just like in My Sassy Girl.
Daisy I saw lots of photos with JWS and Jeon Ji Hyun and didn't realise they were also in a film together. The film is set in Netherlands and the location is really nice. Very romantic. It's also directed by a HK filmmaker Andrew Lau who did Infernal Affairs. You can see the action flick take into effect when there are gun fights taking place. On the outside Daisy looks pretty. There's a lot of monologue that reminds me of Wong Kar Wai. It might come off as irritating after a while because there seems to be a great deal of internal character talk since the beginning but I do think the voiceovers are acceptable if someone has no voice.
I didn't have much of a grudge against the characters' voiceovers though at times I felt there wasn't much movement in their actions. It's fine to occasionally contemplate in your mind as that is what I do but you got to be doing other things too. I appreciated Jung Woo Sung's killer with a kind heart character however he should have been shown other sides. Show me more of your hitman streak and not just your 'romantic' side if you want to prove you're a complex guy who kicks arse but has a caring demeanour. The 'triangle' between Jeon Ji Hyun, Jung Woo Sung and Lee Sung Jae wasn't physical or mentally kicking you in the teeth. I found it subtle. What I found refreshing was that the hitman didn't hate Jeong Woo for growing closer to Hye Young. Watch out for a slight twist later on the film if you want to see what I mean.
I remember seeing David Chiang in a recent HK cop drama series and he was a cool mentor type of guy. Forgot the name of it unfortunately. He was rather impressive in Daisy, playing the one who sends the hitmen to do their killing duties. There are also conversations in Mandarin between himself and Jung Woo Sung which made the Chinese-ness of Daisy show up amongst the Korean stars. I found Daisy in general is nowhere near as mind-boggling as Andrew Lau's work on the mighty Infernal Affairs. It's got a simpler story.
Below the cut are small spoilers for these films
The Restless I had a DVD of this lying around at home but I didn't finish watching it. When I did get round to watching the film it turned out to be bad quality and out of sync so I watched a better version online. I wasn't expecting The Restless to be super stylish or Oscar-winning. One might argue the characters are Sues/Stus but then when you think about it's not based on proper real life people. It's pretty much fantasy/Wuxia or whatever floats your boat. Like Bichunmoo, Musa, HOFD, Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon The Restless has impressive special effects and fights.
The story itself is very thin and characters die too quick for my liking. Kim Tae Hee as So-Hwa is nothing like her bitchy character in Stairway To Heaven. Here she's often expressing a lot of WTF faces at the leading actor though the reason for that is understandable. Jung Woo Sung's character is heroic and manly. Yi Gwak is a demon slayer who accidentally finds himself in Midheaven where spirits wander for 49 days before being reincarnated. The thing is, Yi Gwak is not dead ane he finds his lost lover is in Midheaven - only she has no memories of him.
Because of his role as The Good and in Musa, I was almost used to Jung Woo Sung being the straight in the eyes hero type or even a reluctant hero but for some reason I found him being a bit more than just calm or cold in The Restless. I guess he was little bit dorkier. This was before I watched his other films though.
A Moment To Remember So after researching JWS a lot of people mentioned this as their recommendation but warned about getting tissues ready. After skimming through a film review I could see why it could make the more emotional ones weepy. It's about how a married couple meet, fall in love by breaking different class boundaries and how they cope when the wife is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I've got to point out that Jung Woo Sung is beyond a pretty face. He sold me in A Moment To Remember, managing to make me swoon and even devastated my insides when there were heartbroken scenes. He clicked with Son Ye-jin.
Sad Movie Four different stories based on real life situations. I would say more but then the spoiler flag would come about and the entire story would be given away thus I recommend Sad Movie should be checked out when possible. All the characters are likable and have realistic flaws. I had braced myself again in case I burst into tears because even the name of the film gives you a hint of what to expect. Most of the film has a lot of comedy in it and at times you really want to cheer the characters on so they can achieve their wishes. When the sad bits do come along however one has to get ready at some point. Shin Min-ah can definitely act and Cha Tae Hyun is adorable just like in My Sassy Girl.
Daisy I saw lots of photos with JWS and Jeon Ji Hyun and didn't realise they were also in a film together. The film is set in Netherlands and the location is really nice. Very romantic. It's also directed by a HK filmmaker Andrew Lau who did Infernal Affairs. You can see the action flick take into effect when there are gun fights taking place. On the outside Daisy looks pretty. There's a lot of monologue that reminds me of Wong Kar Wai. It might come off as irritating after a while because there seems to be a great deal of internal character talk since the beginning but I do think the voiceovers are acceptable if someone has no voice.
I didn't have much of a grudge against the characters' voiceovers though at times I felt there wasn't much movement in their actions. It's fine to occasionally contemplate in your mind as that is what I do but you got to be doing other things too. I appreciated Jung Woo Sung's killer with a kind heart character however he should have been shown other sides. Show me more of your hitman streak and not just your 'romantic' side if you want to prove you're a complex guy who kicks arse but has a caring demeanour. The 'triangle' between Jeon Ji Hyun, Jung Woo Sung and Lee Sung Jae wasn't physical or mentally kicking you in the teeth. I found it subtle. What I found refreshing was that the hitman didn't hate Jeong Woo for growing closer to Hye Young. Watch out for a slight twist later on the film if you want to see what I mean.
I remember seeing David Chiang in a recent HK cop drama series and he was a cool mentor type of guy. Forgot the name of it unfortunately. He was rather impressive in Daisy, playing the one who sends the hitmen to do their killing duties. There are also conversations in Mandarin between himself and Jung Woo Sung which made the Chinese-ness of Daisy show up amongst the Korean stars. I found Daisy in general is nowhere near as mind-boggling as Andrew Lau's work on the mighty Infernal Affairs. It's got a simpler story.
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