'Love and Hate', Stuck in Between
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By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
It is commonly said that there are two types of people, namely someone you want to date and someone you want to marry.
It seems that the distinction is largely attributed to the difference between romance and reality, and many people think that love alone can't fuel their married life.
The new film "Between Love and Hate" ("The Unbearable Lightness of Dating" - Yonae, Ku Chamolsuobnun Kabyoum) deals with this dual perception through a man who struggles to find his place between his relationships with two different women _ one whom he wants to date and the other whom he has to marry.
The film doesn't takes a serious approach toward tackling this seemingly heavy issue, but is more of a casual chitchatting between close male friends who gather at a bar and talk about romance and marriage, drinking and laughing without any important place to go. The talk usually ends without any fruitful conclusions, as does the film in the end.
Directed by Kim Hae-gon and starring Kim Seung-woo and Jang Jin-yeong, the film revolves around Young-wun (played by Kim) in his 30s, who has no job but helps his single mother run a restaurant.
Young-wun is the kind of man who enjoys hanging out with his friends and doesn't want to take on any responsibility.
So when Yon-ah, a bar hostess, flirts with him, Young-wun sees no reason to reject her, despite the fact that he has a fiancee, whom he is supposed to marry.
Yon-ah knows that Young-wun can't marry her because of his fiancee, but she loves being with him despite their uncertain future together.
They have fun together, and don't try to bind one another with restrictions. Young-wun and his friends feel more comfortable being around Yong-ah than Young-wun's naïve but kind fiancee.
But Young-wun marries his fiancee because his mother forces him to do so, which devastates Yon-ah even though she knew the day would come, and thought that they could continue their relationship after his marriage.
The actors playing the leading roles of Young-wun and Yon-ah both bring life and realism to their characters. Adding a lighter approach to the ironical relationships are Young-yun's slacker friends, whom much of the film is devoted to. Like Young-yun, they don't conform to social norms and are disinterested in marriage.
It's certainly entertaining to watch these peculiar characters as they joke around, but they do end up detracting from the story as it builds towards its conclusion. Following Young-wun's marriage, the agony of the two protagonists is at odds with the comical interludes provided by the other characters, and there is a significant difference between the first comical take-off and the later, more serious part.
Staff Reporter
It is commonly said that there are two types of people, namely someone you want to date and someone you want to marry.
It seems that the distinction is largely attributed to the difference between romance and reality, and many people think that love alone can't fuel their married life.
The new film "Between Love and Hate" ("The Unbearable Lightness of Dating" - Yonae, Ku Chamolsuobnun Kabyoum) deals with this dual perception through a man who struggles to find his place between his relationships with two different women _ one whom he wants to date and the other whom he has to marry.
The film doesn't takes a serious approach toward tackling this seemingly heavy issue, but is more of a casual chitchatting between close male friends who gather at a bar and talk about romance and marriage, drinking and laughing without any important place to go. The talk usually ends without any fruitful conclusions, as does the film in the end.
Directed by Kim Hae-gon and starring Kim Seung-woo and Jang Jin-yeong, the film revolves around Young-wun (played by Kim) in his 30s, who has no job but helps his single mother run a restaurant.
Young-wun is the kind of man who enjoys hanging out with his friends and doesn't want to take on any responsibility.
So when Yon-ah, a bar hostess, flirts with him, Young-wun sees no reason to reject her, despite the fact that he has a fiancee, whom he is supposed to marry.
Yon-ah knows that Young-wun can't marry her because of his fiancee, but she loves being with him despite their uncertain future together.
They have fun together, and don't try to bind one another with restrictions. Young-wun and his friends feel more comfortable being around Yong-ah than Young-wun's naïve but kind fiancee.
But Young-wun marries his fiancee because his mother forces him to do so, which devastates Yon-ah even though she knew the day would come, and thought that they could continue their relationship after his marriage.
The actors playing the leading roles of Young-wun and Yon-ah both bring life and realism to their characters. Adding a lighter approach to the ironical relationships are Young-yun's slacker friends, whom much of the film is devoted to. Like Young-yun, they don't conform to social norms and are disinterested in marriage.
It's certainly entertaining to watch these peculiar characters as they joke around, but they do end up detracting from the story as it builds towards its conclusion. Following Young-wun's marriage, the agony of the two protagonists is at odds with the comical interludes provided by the other characters, and there is a significant difference between the first comical take-off and the later, more serious part.
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