Nah Hyeon (나현)

[MOVIE REVIEW] Eugene shines in 'Heartbreak'

Source | 2008/10/12 | Permalink |

"Heartbreak Library", directed by Kim Jeong-kwon, has a misleading Korean title: "Geu-namja-ui chaek 198-jjok", which translates into "Page 198 of the Man's Book". On the surface, it is about a man who has lost his love and struggles with an uncontrollable sense of loss. But the real protagonist is his opposite, a woman who goes a step beyond her own romantic travails.

Her name is Eun-soo (played by singer/actress Eugene (Yoo Jin)), a librarian who has recently broken-up with her boyfriend. Right before heading out to the library where she works, Eun-soo looks in the mirror, where a photo is attached with a yellow Post-it hiding the face of her old flame. Apparently her emotions for him have not gone away completely, even though she knows all too well that he won't come back.

For Eun-soo, what's more important is her work at the library located in a seaside village, and she's a stickler. She knows where people hide library books and which ones are not in the right shelves. She al...| More

Women aim for Olympic glory in Forever the Moment

Source | 2008/01/02 | Permalink |

Director LIM Soon-rye is one of the key female directors in Korea and she returns with the sports drama "Forever the Moment" centred on the Korean women's handball team from 2004; the women took home the silver medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics after a heroic battle with women hand ball's leading nation Denmark.

LIM chose to make a character study rather than concentrating on the emotional finale at the Olympics. She even left out the other Olympic matches leading to the finale in favour of fleshing out the characters.

"Forever the Moment" distinguishes itself in this way from other sports dramas which usually try to exploit the dynamics and excitement that sports games can provide lengthily. In other ways, LIM's film contains the classic elements of a sports drama.

The film starts out with individuals who are far from Olympic contenders. MOON So-ri plays a former handball star who is now a mother and trapped in an unhappy marriage. KIM Jeong-eun is from the same generati...| More