Saturday, November 22, 2008

Rain Shower (From My Sassy Girl)



Directed by Jae-yong Kwak, Korea, 2001, approximately 2 minutes

A short film Sonagi, Rain Shower in English, appears in My Sassy Girl, one of my favorite Korean romantic-comedy films. My Sassy Girl tells the story of a male college student, Gyeon-woo (Tae-Hyun Cha), and the girl (Ji-hyun Jun) who is never named in the movie. The girl is an aspiring scriptwriter and keeps sending her scripts to film companies. Throughout the movie, three different short films from different genres are played, and Sonagi is one of them. Sonagi is a short story by Soon-won Hwang and is made to a film in My Sassy Girl. In Sonagi, the rain shower symbolizes the short but heart-rending love between the boy and the girl. They like each other, but they cannot tell what they cannot express what they feel. One day, they spend some time together and are caught in a shower on their way home. The girl, who has weak health, catches a serious cold and soon dies. Before she dies, she asks her grandfather to bury her with her clothes on, the clothes that she was wearing on the day she met the boy.

In My Sassy Girl, the girl writes a new version of Sonagi, in which changes the end. She says that it should not end like this as Gyeon-woo mentions that the Koreans love sad films because of Sonagi. She comes up with a wild perversion of the short film. The dying girl in Sonagi asks that her lover be buried along with her even though he is still alive. The resulting situation is not only quite humorous, but also shows the girl's unusual personality well. In addition to that, Sonagi gives a hint about the girl and Gyeon-woo's love story.

The girl in My Sassy Girl is very pretty and seems sweet and nice. In fact, the actress Ji-hyun Jun, who plays the girl, is always mentioned in the list of Korea’s most beautiful actress. However, contrary to her appearance, her personal characteristics are out of the common. For example, she makes her boy friend put on her high heels just because her feet hurt and she wants him to feel the same. Gyeon-woo cannot say no and puts on the heels without any complaint. She also slaps Gyeon-woo's face in the subway when he loses their bet. As the original Korean title That Bizzare Girl says, she is bizzare. The plotline of Sonagi is supposed to be very romantic, and has made a lot of Koreans cry because of the boy and the girl's touching love story. Nevertheless, the girl changes the ending into something like a horror film. That moment is the one of the scenes that clearly shows how bizzare she is.

In addition to that, the short film Sonagi also implies the short love story of the girl and Gyeon-woo. However, although Sonagi has a sad ending, My Sassy Girl ends with a happy ending. In the original version of Sonagi, the girl and the boy cannot confess their love to each other, and their love story ends as the girl dies. Their love is as short as a rain shower that soaks them on their way home. In My Sassy Girl, Gyeon-woo and the girl love each other but do not say it. They just hang out together like friends. The movie consists of Part One and Part Two, and in Part Two, the girl and Gyeon-woo break up because of the girl's father's demand although they have liked each other for a short period of time. Nonetheless, the story does not end in the way Sonagi does. They meet two years later by chance in a blind date through Gyeon-woo's aunt's mediation and live happily ever after.

Sonagi in My Sassy Girl appears about only 2 minutes in the movie. Still, the short film affects the story of My Sassy Girl. It provides a hilarious scene, as well as describes unusual personality of the girl by changing the ending of the film. No one would imagine the ending of Sonagi in that way. In addition to that, the film insinuates the relationship between the girl and Gyeon-woo. The story of Sonagi makes the viewers think that they will not get together and the movie will not end happily. However, in spite of Sonagi's sad ending, My Sassy Girl ends happily, and that makes the viewer satisfied after watching the movie.

11 comments:

  1. Among the three short films in My Sassy Girl, I like the new version of Sonagi the most! When I think of it, the scene always makes me laugh. And I did not realize the short film is related to My Sassy Girl, it is interesting.

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  2. The original version of Sonagi is so sad, but the girl's version is hilarious, just like you said. The girl is so pretty in the film. However, her personality is so... unique. The changed ending definitely shows her personality.

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  3. The motive of Sonagi makes this movie more sympathetic and understandable.

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  4. I like the movie 'My Sassy Girl' a lot also! It is a very funny movie. I was very interested in the part when you related 'Sonagi' with 'My Sassy Girl'. I never thought of it that way, but when I read your writing, it really made sense!

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  5. I've never thought of Sonagi part in that way. But it really seems to be relaed to the girl and Gyeon-woo's story. I am glad that their love doesn't end like Sonagi.

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  6. When I saw the movie, I thought the new version of Sonagi is very creative and because of her bizzare thinking, the main character looks more attractive.

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  7. The story of Sonagi made me think that Gyeon-woo and the girl's story would end sadly, too. I'm sorry that the girl and the boy in Sonagi didn't end happily. It's good that the girl and Gyeon-woo's love was happy ending.

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  8. This film is one of my favorites, too. I like the actor who plays Gyeon-woo and the actress who plays the girl. Their version of Sonagi is really funny even though it is supposed to be very sad. As you mentioned, the girl is really bizzare.

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  9. Sonagi is such a beautiful story. As Gyeon-woo says in the movie, it has made a lot of Koreans including me cry. I like the original version of Sonagi so much that I kinda don't like the girl's version. It ruins the boy and the girl's sad love story.

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  10. When I saw the original version of Sonagi, I cried, like Gyeon-woo says in the movie. Jihyun Jun and Tae-hyun Cha's version of Sonagi is hilarious. I wonder how the girl she comes up with such an idea.

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