Title: 남과 여 | Namgwa Yeo | A Man and A Woman
Genre: Romance | Drama
Distributed: Showbox
Release Date: February 25, 2016
Synopsis:
Sang-Min and Ki-Hong, two strangers crossed paths when Sang-Min asked the help of Ki-Hong to make sure her son will be okay to the children’s camp in Helsinki, Finland. They ended up being stranded in an inn and delayed their travel back due to the snow storm. The time they spent together ignited a mutual sexual attraction between them even not knowing who they were. Several months later, back to South Korea, Ki-Hong found Sang-Min and pursued her even at peril of both their situations as they are both being married and have special children who require care and a stable family. Their relationship blossomed to a deeper level despite the complications where both of them need now to decide what they really wanted to do whether to do what’s right or do what makes them happy.
Characters:
- Jeon Do-Yeon as Sang-Min
- Gong Yoo as Ki-Hong
- Lee Mi-So as Moon-Joo
- Park Byung-Eun as Ahn Jae-Suk
- Park Min-Ji as Babysitter
- Yoon Se-Ah as Se-Na
- Min Moo-Je as Se-Na’s Boyfriend
- Jung Sun-Kyung as Sang-Hee
- Jeon Ik-Ryung as Hyo-Sun
- Kang Shin-Chul as Ki-Hong’s Friend
- Lee Ji-Hoon as Ki-Hong’s Friend
- Lee Sang-Won as Ki-Hong’s Junior
- Heo Hyeong-Gyu as Team Leader Heo at Construction Site
- Baek Sang-Hee as Soo-Hyun
- Kim Young-Sun as Housekeeper
My Review:
I watched this film because of Gong Yoo, who is one my favorite Korean actors and he rarely does projects. It caught me totally by surprise on certain scenes of the film and seeing him in a different light in comparison to what I generally see him on his projects like “Train to Busan” and my favorite “Coffee Prince”.
So, What do I Like About this K-Drama?
(1) Gong Yoo is one of the most talented Korean actors, so, as expected did quite well in playing his character here. However, as the film is driven more on Sang-Min’s character than his, I didn’t really get much to enjoy his character’s plight excepts for the exceptional scene in the ending when he was deciding to leave and go after Sang-Min or go back to his child left inside the restaurant while his wife is in the restroom. Moreover, his rendering emotional quiet expression in the car at the end. He was truly exceptional on those scenes and no words are necessary to be uttered to feel what his character is feeling.
(2) Jeon Do-Yeon’s performance on this film is quite exceptional. I can totally empathized with her character as she excellently portrayed a lot of scenes of her struggle as a woman in love with not her husband and being a mother. I truly love the scene when she confessed to her husband her love affair with another man. It was so simply played and delivered but effectively projected.
(3) There is an appreciation of the visual scenery provided on the location.
(4) I honestly got to enjoy seeing Gong Yoo in a passionate sexy scenes even if for me there’s lacking of chemistry between Gong Yoo and Jeon Do-Yeon.
What I do Not Like About this K-Drama?
This film remind me a lot of the “The Bridges of Madison County” of Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. Although, this is a pale reflection of that film, the actors here did render a decent portrayal of their roles. There’s some lacking ingredients of the building of Ki-Hong’s character and connection to Sang-Min especially as to his continuous interest with Sang-Min several months later after the not so in-depth building of their emotional bonding in Helsinki except for their sexual encounter. In the end, this film was okay but I wish there were some changes done in the building of their relationship to make it more substantial other than my faint logic of both of them just wanting to escape with their current situations.
Would I recommend this K-Movie? Yes, for fans of Gong Yoo.
My Rating to this Korean Film
( See My Rating System: ) 3/5 Stars
OST:
01. A Man and A Woman or 남과 여 – Bang Jun Seok