신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin

Language Partner

Today I will be meeting my new Korean/English language partner (if all goes well!). She is the wife of a graduate student of one of my friends. We will practice conversational Korean and English--hurray!

Here's the movie I have waiting for me...(I must have been desperate)...

Director Sang-soo Hong dishes up a fresh take on modern courtship in this episodic tale that follows the evolution of a romance between TV writer Soo-jung (Eun-ju Lee) and affluent art gallery owner Jae-hoon (Bo-seok Jeong). Mutually attracted after meeting at an art exhibition, Soo-jung and Jae-hoon find their dalliance derailed when, on the verge of a sexual encounter, Soo-jung admits to being a virgin. Will Jae-hoon eventually deflower her?

Choyonghan kajok (1998)

Today's movie is The Quiet Family directed by Ji-woon Kim. Here's imdb's plot summary: A family decides to buy a lodge in a remote hiking area. Their first customer commits suicide and the distraught family buries his body to avoid the bad publicity. But their luck gets worse, the bodies start piling up, and the family becomes frantic to rectify the situation.

One of my favorite Korean actors, Kang-ho Song, is the bumbling older brother and is quite funny.

Korean word/phrase memorized/reviewed from the film: chon mahn eyo = you're welcome

Korean Movie of the Day: Face

Sang-Gon Yoo, Director. Forensic sculptor Hyun-min (Shin Hyun-jun) finds himself in a race against time to save his child's life in this thriller. As his daughter recuperates from a heart transplant, Hyun-min agrees to help solve the case of a vicious serial killer by reconstructing a skull from one of the victims. Once the skull is in his house, Hyun-min's daughter experiences strange visions, and the worried father must unravel a conspiracy involving ... human organs.

Korean phrase of the day memorized from the movie (self-Romanized): Putakhamnida (Please). (As in, Make her face from this skull, putakhamnida!)

(Is it true that there are more narratives about single fathers in Japanese and Korean pop culture than in US pop culture, or does it only seem that way to me based on a small sample size of the former?)

As Shin, the actor who plays the male star, says in his interview, this movie is a blend of a thriller, a horror/ghost story, and a sad love story.

My rating: 4/5 stars.