I So Wanted to Like This Movie, Unfortunately ... - Donggam (2000) Discussion

[–] Bornastar718 18 years ago

You're right. I was very irritated with the naivety of So-Eun...
She left Dong-Hee because she saw that her friend and him were meant to be together instead of her and Dong-hee. Okay, now this where it gets complicated...
1.) He meets the 1979 So-eun, and starts falling in love...
2.)So-eun finds out she's talking to her son with Dong-Hee
3.)She thinks of her life with Dong-hee and realizes that Dong-hee really loves her friend instead of her.
4.)She breaks up with him...
5.)Okay...now some things changed... She never married Dong-hee and quit the university. THIS IS WHERE IT GETS SCREWED UP. IF SHE DIDN'T MARRY DONG HEE HOW THE HECK COULD JI-IN BE ALIVE????

Thats it be the answer to your question is that the Ham is like "magical" and somehow connects them together.

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[–] goods116 18 years ago

Ji-In is NOT the son of So-eun, he is the son of So-eun's friend (I forget her name). Dong-Hee married So-eun's friend, and So-eun realizes this is what happens and is sad because she realizes that she will not end up with Dong-Hee.

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[–] puscus 18 years ago

There is no flaw in the movie...

The So-eun that Ji-in met in 2000 is a 40 years old english teacher, she is not the 20 years old So-eun from 1979... So, they are both year 2000 characters. Just because Ji-in speak with her on his HAM in 1979 doesn't mean that So-eun doesn't exist in 2000... she is just 20 years older.

And, as said above, Ji-in is the son of Sunmi (So-eun friend). And when So-eun learn that the parents of Ji-in are Donghee (the guy she's in love with) and Sunmi (her best friend), she knows she is not meant to be with Donghee. And maybe she thinks that Donghee and Sunmi betrayed her, and she begins to be more distant with them... which they don't understand at first because they don't know at that time they will get together.

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[–] 14_hours_to_save_the_earth 18 years ago

Nlkoolkat I think you hit the nail on the head. It was a bit over the top. I can understand why some viewers have rated it quite well but for me the flaws in the movie have nothing to do with the concept or the time gap.

Like nlkoolkat I found the goliath sized helpings of soppy piano music a bit gut churning and far too much of the movie was devoted to characters looking miserable and not saying anything. It was sluggish in places and to the foreign viewer it doesn't really make its point. I suspect the main point of the film is one of reassurance that things turn out well in the end. The references to Korean history hint to me that to really understand,...no not "understand", the movie was easy to understand. To really "find the beauty" in this movie I think you might need to be Korean and maybe have witnessed some of the more difficult times of the country's history and want to look to a brighter future. But if I am right then why wasn't there more storyline devoted to the riots and the plight of the students and dictatorship.

No I think I am totally wrong. Instead I think this was a classic example of Asian films doing what they sometimes do so brilliantly and that is being overcentimental just for the hell of it. Just incase it does turn out to be a fantastically romantic story.

Apart from the music the main thing that annoyed me was that the most interesting character in the film, Jee -In's alcoholic wannabe girlfriend doesn't get much of a look in. In fact she gets rather dicked on. She is so clearly besotted with Jee-In that their story alone would have made for a better film. She gets verbally abused all the way through and stands by him through his, and I quote "Sci-Fi melodrama", even turns up at his door in a drunken stupor just waiting to be taken advantage of but nothing. Wonder-boy is too involved with future lady and the magic radio !!!! This is the best bit,..only after Jee-In visits superlady in the future (who looks bloody good for someone of 47 years) gets the brush off then tries to trash his radio and has a good old cry,....only after all this does he think "ahh sod it there's a really hot girl who is nuts about me standing right here and she is my own age I thin kI'll hold her hand oh it's the end of the movie.

Grr. It had its nice moments but I felt was rather misguied and focussed too heavily on being centimental instead of really focussing on any of the characters.

I watched it through but couldn't handle a second helping....and just an after thought but the movie could have been called "the magic radio" as I think the radio they were both using was one and the same. You can laugh but they made The Tuxedo, there's tone about a magic remote control and other movies about magic inanimate objects. sheesh

after after thought. If you're looking for a really beautiful movie with a love story and torment and a hint of asia try Snow Falling on Cedars.

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[–] Target_Acquired 17 years ago

like with all other time travel/switching related movies, there comes a catch

PARADOX!

that ham radio was just a gimmick so to speak... a way to connect those two stories and also help market the movie business wise like in frequency

this movie wasn't that bad... but i must say that i still like my il mare, terminator 2 and frequency better =0)

ps. what's the meaning of the title ditto?

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[–] henry325 17 years ago

I agree this movie is super sappy and throughout the movie I wanted to wring Seoun and scream at her, FIGHT FOR YOUR MAN, but no she lets her best friend get a move on him and then doesn't tell them why shes burning that bridge. I think the piano music hits it right though, watching korean melodramas I expect to feel tormented and the piano music really does it well. I'm really surprised the son didn't ask his parents about Seoun. Also...the alcoholic girl...make a move man hes dumb for not macking on that chick until the very end of the movie. What is a girl like that hanging around a guy like that for in the first place?

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[–] Bitter_Almonds 16 years ago

Even if she had refused to let go, they still would not have ended up together. One of the points in the story is "fate." We are made aware that In is the son of her friends, so we already know So-Eun doesn't end up with Dong-Hee.

One of the points from the original poster I agree with is the use of music and crappy editing, but I like the concept of the movie and it didn't try my patience. I think most girls will like this movie for the romantic aspects.

Do The Mussolini! Headkick!

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[–] Desertman84 15 years ago

The movie's theme was not about fixing concepts but rather it was about leaving things as they are.Also,we have to consider the cultural differences between Korean women back in 1979 to the Korean women at present.

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[–] chillired 17 years ago

I watched this movie last night and I liked it quite a bit. I didn't see any flaws in the storyline. It seemed fine to me. I liked the twist about Soeun finding out her best friend and her simpathy ending up together. Actually I don't think her finding out changed anything. The main guy didn't seem too much interested in her. She was shy and quiet type while her friend seemed more lively one. They just weren't made to be. The only thing is that left her all alone in the end. I liked Soeun and In meeting. I don't think she brushed him off, there just wasn't anything to say. And about In and his friend. I don't think he realised at the end he might as well settle with her. He told Soeun he has someone he loves so I think he loved his friend from the begining.

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[–] chillired 17 years ago

I watched this movie last night and I liked it quite a bit. I didn't see any flaws in the storyline. It seemed fine to me. I liked the twist about Soeun finding out her best friend and her simpathy ending up together. Actually I don't think her finding out changed anything. The main guy didn't seem too much interested in her. She was shy and quiet type while her friend seemed more lively one. They just weren't made to be. The only thing is that left her all alone in the end. I liked Soeun and In meeting. I don't think she brushed him off, there just wasn't anything to say. And about In and his friend. I don't think he realised at the end he might as well settle with her. He told Soeun he has someone he loves so I think he loved his friend from the begining.

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[–] Anna_Screengazer 17 years ago

The main annoying factor for everyone is why SoEun left Dong-hee.
I take it she realized that if she stays with Dong-hee the boy she had talked to on the radio and developed certain affection for would never be born in the first place (talk about "Back to the future"). No one even thought about that; you're really cold-hearted guys. :-)

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[–] makatang_elepante 17 years ago

yeah there was a scene where In wondered out loud what was going to happen to him in case So-eun decided to go after Dong-hee. that was pretty much the conflict of the whole thing, but it was barely explored, and So-Eun seemed to be much more obsessed with the thought of her best friend ending up with Dong-hee, rather than trying to 'save' In. the two leads did have some kind of affection after all the radio talks, but for me, their experience wasn't enough to compel them to actually do something for each other. there were a lot more possibilities than what actually happened, and i felt that the circumstances were a bit contrived. So-eun had to be naive, and In had to be a little compassionate to strangers.

the movie, ending as it did, seemed to be saying to leave things be, if things were going to be what they are. i was expecting some sort of connection or parallelism with all the relevant events mentioned in 79, like the martial law in pusan and the death of the president. but, they remained to be ornamental scenes, the movie seemed hell bent on focusing on the oh-so-fixable conflict between So-eun, and, well, herself.

all being said, i love kim ha-neul, and the only melodramatic films i voluntarily swallow (complete with the overkill piano and violin scores) are hers. ^_^

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[–] land-on-the-moon 10 years ago

Well, it's the same element of SF as in the Philadelphia Experiment :D

I mean : the unplugged-but-"working" radio, the Romeo-Juliet hint, the teacher's transfer... what if the "parallel universe" is an euphemism for an impossible real life situation (and I'm referring particularly to the Korean life style, but ,well, elsewhere too)...?

see the movie from a different perspective, and even the melodramatic music makes sense (for a broken heart, that is :)

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