MY SASSY GIRL

This image is probably one of the descriptive about the relationship narrated in the film. Directed by kwak Jae-young and released in 2001 is one of the most successful films in terms of box office. The fact that a romantic comedy gets such success of the audience not just nationally but also outside of Korea, in the Asian market, was not common because of the Korean taste for dramas most of the times. Even the proper character refers to this in the dialogue of the film “Koreans love drama”.

The favorable outcome of the film was such that Hollywood tried to reach it as well with a remake but with a poor result.

The film tells the story about a young couple that gets to know in a very awkward and funny situation in the metro. The girl, that is drunk, asked a young boy to show respect letting an older man to seat in his place and after that, she vomited on the top off the old man and fainted calling honey to the protagonist. From this point they start a weird relationship dominated by the girl’s strong character. Finally, we appreciate that her personality is influenced by the death of her previous boyfriend. Once again Korean cinema shows another typical example of its preference for mixing genre.

 Plot and characters are quite different from any other occidental romantic comedy with many cultural clichés; maybe these are the reason why the American remake got such awful results. The film was very unique in terms of cultural topics and obviously it was impossible to get a good adaptation in English culture.

The movie resembles a large number of Korean typical situation most of them related with Confucianism thoughts.

The respect to the elders very important point to Korean society, the fact that is a patriarchal society in which the father, maximum authority (below the elders) at home, is very strict to girls and men are supposed to care about women, the importance of the marriage,…The family press both characters to get married and even by the end of the film the aunt tried to introduce a good girl to her nephew. Introducing this popular blind date culture in which the family usually gets involved and it’s something very common there.

Appealing to common situations based on their drinking culture, the circumstances that emerge when a man and a woman go to a motel in Korea, situations that maybe local audience can interpret better. It was a film that many Koreans could identify with and probably that was the main point of its success.