Interview

I cringed at times. "Oh, no. More interviews of couples that tell us what Real Love is like?" But then came the plot detour to uncover the secrets behind one melancholy interview subject.

It was the gentle revelations of her history that impressed me. And kept me interested.

I found the framing story of the filmmakers putting together the interviews and the interviews themselves boring -- altho, one resolves in an interesting way. And it kept most of the actors from adding anything but a modicum of depth to their characters. Only the lovely Shim Eun Ha as the secretive woman shines (in what is sadly her last film to date -- she was only 27 years old when it was released).

It's an interesting little love story but the technique is what I liked best. The jumps in time and sequence keeps it a little off balance, you hear the same dialogue come up four or five times in the film leaving you a little confused as to when things are actually happening. Some may find this a little off-putting but I found it an interesting puzzle and I think the central story was clear enough.

Though this is often labeled an "experimental" film, it has a lot of soul and a thoughtful eye for beautiful detail in the ordinary. Director Daniel H. Byun examines the complex processes of interviewing people, filmmaking, and falling in love with his skillful blend of real-life interviews with average Koreans and a well-structured fictional plot. A few scenes may be extraneous, and the acting gets a little heavy-handed at times, but overall this film succeeds in creating a very compelling blur of reality and fiction.