My Sassy Girl, South Korea

My impressions of Kwak Jae-yong’s My Sassy Girl are mixed. It contains elements that are both highly unique and fresh, but at the same time it follows the overdone, hackneyed archetype of boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, they separate, and finally are reunited. Due to these two conflicting characteristics, one must look towards characterization and structure to see the real detail of the film.

The character development in the story is impeccably done. The characters develop their personalities very quickly and do not violate them through the movie. For instance, Gyeong-woo, the main character is introduced very early in the film to be a slightly effeminate male looking to in some ways prove his manhood by being a “lady’s man.” Similarly, his female counterpart is cast very early as being a very physical (and physically violent) person even in her inebriated state. This foreshadowing is accomplished through her continued grabbing of Gyeong-woo in her disoriented state that can be construed as both physically violent actions and, due to their impishness, friendly embraces. These two complex characters act as foils for each other initially, but as the movie progresses both characters become more moderate in their actions— Gyeong -woo taking a more masculine role and his female opposite becoming more feminine. This equalization ultimately suggests equality between the two characters as well as a strong relationship. Although this characterization is well done, structure detracts from the film viewing experience.

The structure of the film has few positive aspects and more negative ones. In favor of the structure is a unique organization that is different from many Hollywood movies. Although it does employ a fairly linear storyline, the division into parts (Part One, Part Two, and Overtime) is not something often seen in Hollywood-esque films and helps to highlight when major changes in characterization will occur. At the same time, though, the familiar plot archetype of the film causes the film to feel slightly too long. It becomes fairly obvious by mid way through Part Two what the story will entail for those remotely familiar with the archetype. Although there is a twist at the end to help curtail this negativity, several scenes towards the end of movie detract from the overall viewing experience even while serving important purposes for finalizing the characterization and gracefully concluding the story.

My Sassy Girl contains elements that are both well done, but at the same time slightly hackneyed, and drawn out. Therefore, the film presents an interesting case for study because it manages to maintain artifacts of its own culture while simultaneously employing a Hollywood style archetype.