The story was about two brothers: Jong-Hyun (Won Bin) and Sung-Hyun (Sin Ha-Kyun). Ever since he was born, the eldest, Sung-Hyun, always gained the best of their mom, being the “weak” one and having a harelip. Their father had died, and the mother worked as a fierce loan shark, while also making sure they lives’ expenses always as little as possible, in order to gather enough money for Sung-Yun’s operations.
Other than his physical deformation and the fact that he had to be in the same class with his younger brother because of the time he had spent for operations, Sung-Hyun was always the good son; he exceeded in studying, loved by the teachers and classmates, most likely to enter a good university and became a doctor—a big dream of his. Even though the operations had taken care of the gap on his upper lip, but the scars stayed.
Jong-Hyun, the youngest, was the opposite. Feeling neglected by their mother, he had grown into a rebellious troublemaker and an underachiever in his class. But of course, he was more popular than his brother, especially among girls. This later on caused a problem between the two of them; Sung-Yun had a thing for a girl that liked Jong-Hyun. Jealous and often felt alienated from the loving relationship between the mother and Sung-Yun, Jong-Hyun never talked to Sung-Yun as a younger brother; he even wouldn’t call Sung-Yun “hyong” (means: older brother)---from what I heard, calling someone based on that person’s age and your own is still quite an essential manner in Korea.
The problems just kept on piling and gradually got the best of this family, leading them into one night of big tragedy that changed everything they have known all of their lives.
Right from the moment I saw Kim Hae-Suk at the screen, I knew this movie was definitely going to be a typical sad Korean movie, better get some tissues ready! She seemed to have specialized herself in mother character that has really harsh and hard life. At first I thought this was going to be the Korean version of Dustin Hoffman’s Rain Main, but I was mistaken. Though melodramatic, the story wasn’t cheesy; it even felt fresh, even though from the start I felt somebody was going to die eventually… (This was a Korean movie after all ;-p)
No wonder that Won Bin got a lot of praises because of his role in this movie. While he had this typical charming, ladies’ man, and generally good guy images in Endless Love (with Song Hee-Kyo) or Friend (with Kyoko Fukada), in this movie he gave out a different side that would be a shame to be missed. The same appraise should also given to Kim Hae-Suk and Sin Ha-Kyun, of course. Over all, this movie was certainly one of the most memorable Korean movies I ever saw.
Title: Uri Hyeong / My Brother Director & Screenplay: Ahn Kwon-Tae Casts: Kim Hae-Suk, Sin Ha-Kyun, Won Bin, Lee Bo-Yeong Genre: Drama Distribution: CJ Entertainment Language: Korean Released in South Korea: 2004 Images: www.hancinema.net
Other than his physical deformation and the fact that he had to be in the same class with his younger brother because of the time he had spent for operations, Sung-Hyun was always the good son; he exceeded in studying, loved by the teachers and classmates, most likely to enter a good university and became a doctor—a big dream of his. Even though the operations had taken care of the gap on his upper lip, but the scars stayed.
Jong-Hyun, the youngest, was the opposite. Feeling neglected by their mother, he had grown into a rebellious troublemaker and an underachiever in his class. But of course, he was more popular than his brother, especially among girls. This later on caused a problem between the two of them; Sung-Yun had a thing for a girl that liked Jong-Hyun. Jealous and often felt alienated from the loving relationship between the mother and Sung-Yun, Jong-Hyun never talked to Sung-Yun as a younger brother; he even wouldn’t call Sung-Yun “hyong” (means: older brother)---from what I heard, calling someone based on that person’s age and your own is still quite an essential manner in Korea.
The problems just kept on piling and gradually got the best of this family, leading them into one night of big tragedy that changed everything they have known all of their lives.
Right from the moment I saw Kim Hae-Suk at the screen, I knew this movie was definitely going to be a typical sad Korean movie, better get some tissues ready! She seemed to have specialized herself in mother character that has really harsh and hard life. At first I thought this was going to be the Korean version of Dustin Hoffman’s Rain Main, but I was mistaken. Though melodramatic, the story wasn’t cheesy; it even felt fresh, even though from the start I felt somebody was going to die eventually… (This was a Korean movie after all ;-p)
No wonder that Won Bin got a lot of praises because of his role in this movie. While he had this typical charming, ladies’ man, and generally good guy images in Endless Love (with Song Hee-Kyo) or Friend (with Kyoko Fukada), in this movie he gave out a different side that would be a shame to be missed. The same appraise should also given to Kim Hae-Suk and Sin Ha-Kyun, of course. Over all, this movie was certainly one of the most memorable Korean movies I ever saw.
Title: Uri Hyeong / My Brother Director & Screenplay: Ahn Kwon-Tae Casts: Kim Hae-Suk, Sin Ha-Kyun, Won Bin, Lee Bo-Yeong Genre: Drama Distribution: CJ Entertainment Language: Korean Released in South Korea: 2004 Images: www.hancinema.net
No comments:
Post a Comment