Truly, cannot understand the gushing acclaim this movie has attracted. The main character Nora, is supposedly an ambitious and gifted writer, aspiring to win a Nobel Prize or a Pulitzer, but can't seem to string more than a bland, stunted, superficial sentence together. Her sulky, cold, prepossessed, vain behaviour was grating to watch for nearly 2 hours. It was disturbing watching Nora manipulatively play an emotional cat and mouse game with the two, supposed 'loves of her life'. When she immigrates from Korea to America she cannot even summon a goodbye to her sensitive, devoted, childhood sweetheart, Jung Hae Sung. The script is excruciatingly silly at times, for example, when, after 12 years of no contact, Jun Hae Sung seeks to make contact with Nora on the internet, she replies, 'do you remember me?'....well of course he does because he has been looking for you and you were the best of buddies! The dialogue is woefully lacking in nuance and cross-cultural issues dealt with very little exploration, eg., Nora describing Jun Hae Sung to her husband, as 'masculine' and so 'Korean'.
When he visits her in New York, she gazes into his eyes seductively, despite having no intention to pursue a relationship and without any regard to his obvious loneliness, fragility and vulnerability. Despite it being blatantly obvious that he is in love with her, Nora tells her husband that she realises Jun Hae Sung came to New York to see her! Really! Nora's references to 'Inyeon', the Buddhist ? , she wasn't sure :-), concept of how relationships are based on multiple encounters over thousands of lifetimes, fate and providence, attempts to weave a spiritual, deeper theme into a movie which, in my opinion, was distinctly lacking in depth or soulfulness. Go see the underrated and beautifully poignant, 'Empire of Light' for that.
As a woman, I have to wonder if this 'triangle love' story would have been as well received if Nora's character was a man? I think the critics might not be as gushing if a man, possessing all the power, acted as recklessly and manipulatively towards two vulnerable women?
When he visits her in New York, she gazes into his eyes seductively, despite having no intention to pursue a relationship and without any regard to his obvious loneliness, fragility and vulnerability. Despite it being blatantly obvious that he is in love with her, Nora tells her husband that she realises Jun Hae Sung came to New York to see her! Really! Nora's references to 'Inyeon', the Buddhist ? , she wasn't sure :-), concept of how relationships are based on multiple encounters over thousands of lifetimes, fate and providence, attempts to weave a spiritual, deeper theme into a movie which, in my opinion, was distinctly lacking in depth or soulfulness. Go see the underrated and beautifully poignant, 'Empire of Light' for that.
As a woman, I have to wonder if this 'triangle love' story would have been as well received if Nora's character was a man? I think the critics might not be as gushing if a man, possessing all the power, acted as recklessly and manipulatively towards two vulnerable women?