Cheob-sok

This is plain melodrama with computer and cool young man - woman. Interesting, worth to see, but not great movie. You've seen such a melodrama for a long time.

This was the first korean movie I ever saw and I admit I loved it at that time. For once it was fitting my own situation quite perfectly... I found my match through the internet and she sent me that movie. In Germany they bought the rights and made a (bad - like most remakes see Nikita or three man and a baby) "copy" of it. When "You've got Mail" came out I only thought that the American one was a poor and boring remake of that lovely and romantic piece of art that "The Contact" is.

When I first ran across this gem, it was about 3am. The scene with the car accident was just occurring. I find this to be very fortunate, because if it hadn't caught my attention, I might have kept flipping the channels right past it. Let's just say that the car accident really grabbed my attention.

Here was this seemingly serene movie, lovely young woman driving along, listening to Velvet Underground, and all of a sudden, the scene is contrasted by this amazing accident! The accident actually sets the tone for much of the movie, which is why I even bother to mention it.

The accident leads to a scene where the audience discovers that Soo-hyun has a problem with her tear ducts, which seems to symbolize that she is out of touch with her emotions, or at least has trouble expressing them to those around her.

As for the acting, it's brilliant. The characters aren't perfect. If they had been perfect, this movie would have been akin to "You've Got Mail," which essentially pales in comparison to "The Contact." "You've Got Mail" is nothing more than the simplest of unlikely love stories. But with "The Contact," there's a certain unpredictability. The characters seem so authentic that you don't know who will end up with who in the end.

If you should ever have the chance to see this film, and you're the sort of person who likes something different from the monotonous American romances, be sure to see it! So far as I'm concerned, there's not a dull moment, and the ending is exquisite.

This is an interesting movie. On one side you have a music producer who received an lp from someone in his past. He decided to play the song on his radio program. On the other side, you have a tv shopping network telemarketer out for a night drive and while listening to the song played by the music producer she found herself in a road accident. The song by the velvet underground took new meaning for Soo-hyun and she emailed a request. Dong-hyun, the producer, met Soo-hyun through chatting. Later as they shared stories and problems they realized that each one was entangled in a love triangle (past and present).

One might think that this film seems familiar when compared with some foreign box office hits. However, I enjoyed the most its attention to tensions in conversations, how the characters' actions and facial expressions revealed what they did not want to know and did not want others to know. The film also focused on scenes depicting the characters in the same place but not seeing each other (literally and symbolically). A play on its title, contact.

In the last scene, some members of the audience could not believe at what's happening (shots before the film's end). Some would verbalize their thoughts on the matter. I guess they felt the tension and urgency of the scene. I think that is the beauty of the last scene. I guess you just have to see it and judge for yourself.

This film swept the Corean Grand Bell awards (Corea's in-country equivalent to the US' Oscars) when it was released in 1997. The story is about two lonely late-twenty/early-thirty types and the new craze that was then "The Internet". Something like a romantic drama version of the film You've Got Mail released a year later, the film sets up unrequited loves and two people who are lonely because they are unable to move on.

The two are connected through a record that the man plays, a Velvet Underground song that was a gift from his ex. As their friendship develops, they confront each other regarding their own current states and slowly begin to realize that even though they'd only met electronically (although they'd actually physically been very near each other a couple times without realizing it--think Chungking Express), that their friendship is more meaningful than they realized, Internet or no internet.

In some sense, the film is about connecting with people in loneliness, even through the internet, to find healing for your own ongoing situations. The themes of the film are just fine. The production is top notch for the state of the Corean film industry in 1997. The acting was good.

However, the film still failed to fully impress on me and I attribute it to the somewhat excessive story--or perhaps editing. The film spends a little too much time on the male lead's angst, which isn't expressed through action, but a lot of inaction. So we get the typical "gee, i'm reflecting on how my life sucks" shots far too frequently. The other problem is that the film doesn't adequately develop the characters relationship such that the end is particularly rewarding.

The end effect of the film is "oh, it's nice." But nice doesn't make a film worth watching again. The Contact has a lot going for it in terms of explorations of loneliness, unrequited love, letting go, and connecting with others as well as capable direction in terms of developing a moody atmosphere befitting the characters, as the camera traces lonely halls and corners of rooms, but in the end, the story isn't particularly compelling. Or maybe it was just me. It's an okay film; you won't hate yourself for watching it. But at the same time, it's certainly not a must watch.

On the other hand, it did get me interested in The Velvet Underground. It's an all right film. 6/10.