Yeoja, Jeong-hye

I sat for two hours loving this woman, and feeling sorry for her, hoping for her. That's what is supposed to happen when you watch a well-executed character study.

If you were to look up "boring art house film" in some film dictionary you might find the plot synopsis for This Charming Girl listed as the definition: The film follows Jung-hye's quiet life and reveals the landscape of the character's inner feelings.

Jung-hye has forged her own life out of simplicity and solitude as the result of some trauma earlier in her life. The film doesn't focus on what that trauma is or how Jung-hye may eventually resolve it. Instead, it focuses on the mundane life she has made for herself as a result. We watch her feed her cat, cook herself meals, go to a job at an uneventful workplace. This is not an action movie. It's an extremely slow burn that leads to one very intense scene which involves a knife. It's an intense scene not because anything crazy happens but because we can see all of the repressed emotions inside this woman come boiling to the top. And we can see this happening because Kim Ji-Su's performance is nothing short of phenomenal.

No use going into more detail about the events of the film. It's better to see them for yourself. If you like well-written, well-acted, meticulously directed character studies This Charming Girl is one of the best ones out there. Even though it is art house to the max, there isn't a pretentious moment in the film.

I watched this film the evening after watching X-Men: The Last Stand in part to help wash out the bad taste X3 left in my mouth. This Charming Girl is a quiet introspective film about the life of a post office worker.

The protagonist, is quiet, shy and introverted and just a little bit quirky. A meticulous cleaner, we watch the unfolding of her daily events and slowly, over the course of the movie, we see the connections of her daily activities to past events in her life through a series of blended flashbacks.

The film is meditative and places you inside the life of Jeong-Hae, by asking you to participate with her as she adopts a cat, spends time with her coworkers and explores the more mundane facets of her life. However, as the layers are peeled back into her past, the film does a great job of building empathy for her, especially in light of her past tragedies and scars, and when the situations become slightly less mundane, all the tensions in her past come to light in a controlled, but emotionally potent way. In the end, we understand part of why Jeong-Hae is the way she is thanks to the meticulous study of her behavior and activities along with the insight into her memories.

The directing is impressive in that the director manages to bring the audience into the life of Jeong-Hae with only her daily activities and their connections to the initially mundane-seeming activities in her past. The film is not dialogue heavy and yet it doesn't really drag because of this or the fact that a lot of the film progresses in small steps.

However, this is not a film for the impatient or for those who are afflicted with ADD. The film does take its time, letting the viewer become acquainted with Jeong-Hae in her quiet moments, but at the same time, there isn't a whole lot of action in the traditional sense. In order for a viewer to get something out of this picture, the viewer has to be willing to explore, question and investigate Jeong-Hae in her interactions and activities. That's probably asking a lot out of the typical American film-goer.

Still, the overall impact of the film is quite potent if you're willing to explore it and is quite affecting in the end. I liked it. 8/10.

I watched this film at the Korean film festival in Berlin and i simply loved it, such a great detailed view over life of a post office worker , to show how complicated human beings can be , the suspense scenes , like the one with the knife , was really awesome . she also depicted a view over Korean modern big city life .

The existence of her dead mother gave the film a subtle surreal touch , and the minimalist detailed shots were quite amazing also . many people would find this film boring but to me it was one of the greatest Korean films I've ever watched .

a film to watch !!

Well maybe this movie wasn't for me? I usually do like romantic comedies, what are usually referred to as 'chic flicks', and I love Asian cinema, particularly movies from Korea, and while I know this movie is referred to as a drama, I thought this would place me in good stead to enjoy this movie. Sadly it didn't. For me, watching this move was like watching grass grow. I got bored. Nothing really happened! I'm not into shoot em ups, not into action movies and usually love nothing more than to sit back and watch a movie about people, their relationships and emotions, but I couldn't help looking around for something else to do while this movie was playing. It just never got me involved or into it.

a synopsis as the narrative is slight, and secondary to Ji-su Kims extraordinary portrayal of a human beings inner space. Within minutes I had completely forgotten I was watching a work of fiction, I know of no other movie that explorers the interior life of its characters so intimately. Shot almost entirely with a hand-held camera, and with a restrained unobtrusive soundtrack, this movie follows Jeong-hye, an introverted post office worker through her day. As the story unfolds, this reserved and seemingly unemotional woman is shown to be a deep and complex personality deserving of our respect. Inspirational film-making of the highest calibre.