By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
December 7, 2018
☆☆☆☆
Na-Mi (played by Shim Eun-Kyung)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.
South Korean films and dramas are getting the reboot in the United States. Daniel Dae Kim took the K-Drama “Good Doctor” and turned it into a hit for ABC. Kim is also revamping “My Lawyer, Mr. Jo” into a series for the American market. Tyler Perry’s team is remaking “Miss Granny,” one of my all-time favorite Korean films. And Kevin Hart is producing “Bye, Bye, Bye” — a remake of the Korean blockbuster “Sunny.”
Released in 2011, “Sunny” focuses on a group of middle-aged women, who reunite to fulfill their terminally-ill friend’s wish to see them all together again. The premise sounds maudlin. But deftly directed by Kang Hyeong-Cheol, the film moves seamlessly between the women’s current lives and their (relatively) care-free high school days.
Shim Eun-Kyung, who also starred in “Miss Granny,” plays the teenage version of Na-Mi. A transfer student from the countryside, she is bullied for her accent, clothes and just being the new kid. She shakes in fear as she anticipates a beating, but ends up being rescued by a group of alpha girls who go by Sunny.
The film poignantly captures the innocence of childhood wants and dreams, which sometimes turn into nightmares. One of the teenagers had hoped to become Miss Korea. Flash forward to her working in a brothel, not because she wants to, but because it’s what she had to do to help feed her mother and herself.
As for Na-Mi — whose marriage has lost its excitement — she thinks about his childhood crush: a cool boy who smoked, had long hair and flirted with her, before making out with one of her best friends. When she is reunited with him, she snaps back to reality. The boy of her dreams is still handsome, but more ahjussi than anything else.
Though vastly different in topic, “Sunny” reminded me of the 2004 coming-of-age film “Once Upon a Time in High School,” which dealt with high school boys during South Korea’s turbulent late 1970s. Both take viewers to another world that doesn’t seem to exist anymore.
Critical praise: “Sunny” was a box office hit in South Korea and was well received in the United States as well. But oddly enough, some reporters can’t seem to review a Korean product without mentioning kimchi. For instance, Variety gave the film a thumbs up, but said that “the film could glow internationally, since it explores issues familiar to auds everywhere, albeit with a distinct kimchi flavor.”
🙄
This reminded me of the NPR review of Kyung-Sook Shin’s book, “Please Look After Mom.” The reviewer didn’t like the book, which is fine. But she had the audacity to describe it as a piece of “kimchee-scented Kleenex fiction.”
Can you imagine how ridiculous it would sound if I described an American author’s work as “mayonnaise-scented fiction”? 🤔
Release date: May 4, 2011
© 2018 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved
I’m so sorry, excuse my language, but what the fuck kind of shit “journalism” is that? What the actual hell is “kimchi-flavored?”
This is SO WRONG! The movie is NOT even a comedy… well…it’s has funny part… also it’s deep rooted with korean culture too, ALREADY a masterpiece as it is.
My lungs…when Hollywood able to stop remake anything and hire better writers?!
Wow what dicks. Going public with their racism and nasty attitude for all of us to see. 😬
Love how they are remaking some of my favorites! I’ve never heard of My Lawyer, Mr. Jo but saw the article about it being remade so I started watching it. So far, so good!