U ri Sunhi (2013) Reviews

• Something lost in translation

  sbwoodside2013-09-13

  Sunhi returns to the film school she graduated from a year before and starts to run into old friends. She's interested in some, others are interested in her. Awkward encounters ensue, heavy drinking and eating chicken. It's a sort of a Rom-Com, but with some kind of Korean twist that I didn't completely understand. The closest comparison is an extended episode of Seinfeld, or perhaps a Woody Allen movie. I saw this film yesterday at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). On the plus side, there were a number of funny scenes, especially revolving around the game of telephone being played between the four main characters as they talk about Sunhi, each other, how they need to dig deeper to find themselves, etc. On the downside, not much happens, I never really got into any of the characters, and ultimately I was a bit bored. I suspect that there's a cultural and language disconnect. I don't think that the subtitles did justice to what seemed to be some clever repetition of lines and memes circling between the characters. Culturally, I know that Korea has a deep and quite dissimilar culture compared to Canada. So, I suspect that many of the jokes and potentially the romanticism was lost on me. Director Hong Sang-soo is said to be quite successful in Korea. Perhaps with a better introduction by the festival staff, and improved subtitles, this film could be more successful. As it is I can only give it a 6/10.

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