Bungee Jumping of Their Own

Being a hopeless romantic, how can I not like this film? Many a young lady has shared my umbrella in a sudden downpour. But that's where the analogy ends. Bungee jumping is not for me.

A Korean student offers the shelter of his umbrella to a young Korean girl and yes! it's love at first sight. Urged on by his school mates he takes the matter further and books into a hotel room. It's hilarious to watch but a calamity for the couple when he gets a bout of nervous hiccoughs!

They promise to love each other forever. Even in death, he says he will find her again. He casts a spell on her. Whenever she thinks of him, her "little pinky" (little finger) will rise.

The rest of the film takes a strange and original twist. What happens next many will not believe possible. I suppose we believe what we want to believe.

Time passes and the student becomes a school teacher, a charming fellow but hiding his sorrow at the loss of his loved one. Never forgetting his promise of eternal love, he begins to imagine her spirit has entered the body of one of his students. He watches him incessantly, lovingly and one day he sees a definite clue. His "little pinky" stands up.

The homosexual element of this film is delicately handled as the handsome teacher and student become lovers.

The ending is beautiful as the lovers hand-in-hand fulfil the wishes of the young Korean girl whose goal in life was to go to New Zealand for a very special purpose.

Yes, this is a film for romantic lovers. I am very sure of that.

BUNGEE JUMPING OF THEIR OWN (Beonjijompeureul Hada)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Dolby Digital

A high school teacher (Lee Byung-hun) suspects that a teenage boy (Yeo Hyun-soo) is the reincarnation of a girl he loved and lost 17 years earlier - and begins to fall in love with him...

The Korean movie renaissance continues apace with this extraordinary film from debut director Kim Dae-seung, working from Ko Eun-nim's equally extraordinary script, which tackles the universality of love in all its myriad forms. Hoping to spring a surprise on the film's notoriously conservative domestic audience, the distributors omitted virtually all references to the 'gay twist' from advance publicity materials, promoting the movie as a story of enduring love (the opening section is no different from dozens of other romantic dramas produced in SE Asia every year), headlined by some of the country's most popular actors.

Korean superstar Lee Byung-hun (JOINT SECURITY AREA) is utterly charming as the beleaguered protagonist who stands to lose his friends, family and livelihood because of a sudden, inexplicable identity crisis (he isn't 'gay' in the true sense of the word, he's simply found his soulmate in an unexpected place), and he makes a startling transition from gauche youth to confident adult, touched by eternity; his emotions are palpable, and deeply affecting. Lee Eun-ju is strong in a largely thankless role as the woman who captures Lee B-H's heart (sadly, the actress took her own life in February 2005), while rising star Yeo (BIRTH OF A MAN) holds his own as the young man caught up in circumstances beyond his control.

A romantic melodrama in the true sense, Kim's remarkable film balances magic and realism with exquisite grace (look out for the 'waltz at sunset' sequence, guaranteed to warm anyone's cockles), though the climactic descent into darker territory leads to an unexpected finale which is both sad and liberating, all at the same time. Unfortunately, the film has been saddled with an appalling English title which makes it sound like some kind of comedy, and prospective viewers are urged to look beyond this minor blemish. Brave, emotional, and played to perfection by a sterling cast, this is transgressive cinema at its most compelling.

(Korean dialogue)

This film is about a young man falling in love with a girl he meets on the street. She then disappeared without a trace. 17 years later, he is convinced that his girl reincarnated as his male student.

I did not know a thing about the film before I watched it, and I was completely blown away. The plot is amazingly well written. It is a very well told love story. The past and present are intertwined, and the past is revealed only when it is relevant to the present. The relationship between the young couple is well built, setting a great scene for subsequent developments.

The second part of the film portrays a forbidden relationship. They face a lot of self doubt and pressure from others. It exemplifies how hard it is to live an alternative life. And to think In-woo is doing so because he "knows" Hyeon-bin is special makes me wonder what price people would pay to love, and to honour previous promises. The little signs that In-woo uses to make up his conclusion is well planned and well placed throughout the film. I was amazed by it, as every scene shows its significance later on in the film.

Hyeon-bin and In-woo's relationship is a double taboo, and I congratulate the filmmakers for having the courage and determination to make this film. "Bungee Jumping of Their Own" is captivating and touching. It is like no other film. and I certainly recommend it.

A hot chick meets a cute guy at a bus stop, and they fall in love just like that. 17 years later, the cute guy is a teacher. Gradually, we learn more about what happened 17 years ago (thanks to some flashbacks), as events take a surprising turn in the present.

"Bungee Jumping Of Their Own" has to be one of the strangest movie titles of all time, and doesn't make the slightest bit of sense until the very end of the film. Extreme sports fans, I'm sorry to report than Bungee Jumping is *not* a major part of the film. Also, despite the sappy dvd cover that put me off watching the film for ages, it's not some kind of girly love story either. Yes, it is a love story, but a strange and interesting one.

It's not often I stoop to watch a drama, especially a love story, but I'll generally make an exception for Korean films as they are so often very well done, with an intelligence and depth that you are unlikely to find in Hollywood or Hong Kong for instance. Bungee is no MY SASSY GIRL, but it's a fine piece of film-making. The production values are excellent - beautiful cinematography and soundtrack and well written script, but the big stand-out is the quality of the acting. I don't think I recognised any of the actors, but they all gave superb performances full of depth and emotion.

I'm in a phase at the moment where I'm kind of bored of cinema - seen so many movies they all kind of blur together and few films leave lasting impressions. Bungee Jumping Of Their Own stands out because of the unexpected places it goes, the intelligence and the technical virtues, and will certainly stick in my mind for a while. I'd expected to put it up for trade once I'd seen it, but it's definitely a keeper

Strongly recommended.

Have just arrived home from seeing this movie and felt I had to add my words of praise to a 'gentle' film about the most important thing in life - love and our relationship with that one 'true love' that some of us are lucky to meet during out life time.

For those like me, who were touched by a first true love this film is for you. As I watched it was like replaying a most awesome part in my life when I encountered that soul mate who I knew from the first second, was going to be the only one for me.

Others have done justice to the story and construction of the movie in their comments. For my part, I would simply say that if you have had that mystical encounter with that one true love for you then you 'must' seem this film if you see nothing else.

This is certainly - one of out the box!