O Clássico

So a lot of people have compared this director's work to his previous work My Sassy Girl which came out about 2 years before this one did. There have been many comparisons between this one and that and while there are similar themes in choice of music and themes I would say it is like comparing apples to oranges. MSG was funny and then got dramatic hence it is a romance/comedy with some drama (if anything, i would call Windstruck MSG 2). This one was mostly a dramatic romance story with a few very classical clichés. There is enough foreshadowing that you can guess what is going to happen if you pay any attention at all and have seen any Korean drama, but the director still does an excellent job in telling the story.

The main characters do an excellent job acting and bringing out the character's emotions. The story is beautiful and so is the music. Enjoy it for what it is, if you have a heart at all you'll be teary eyed. You'll know what is coming and you'll still be floored by it, thats how good it is. Even the ending, which I thought was a bit over the top, is the only way you could have ended a classic.

I am a little hesitant to say that this is a date movie, definitely not for a first date. I would think that any emotionally sensitive human being is not going to be particularly happy throughout most of this movie until the very end. Such is a melodrama.

I just love this story. This is a beautiful picturesque movie about first love, a touching tale about love, sacrifice, and friendship crossing two generations. The movie begins with the story of the daughter. From the beginning, the movie showcases the stunning Korean scenery and beautiful camera angles. The movie unfolds with the telling of the daughter Chi-hye and her crush Sang-min a boyfriend of her friend Su-kyeong. The movie quickly dives into the heart of the movie when the daughter discovers her mother's diary about her first love. This, my fellow movie aficionado, is the start of the Classic. For sake of brevity and not giving away the plot, I will not go into detail about this wonderfully written and wonderfully acted movie. There are some flaw in the movie but even with that I am blown away by how emotionally gripping and satisfying the story and acting of the main actress Son Yeh-jin and Cho Seun-woo (who play's the mother's love interest). The musical scores and selections are awesome and very fitting to the mood of the story. The movie title suggests a classic Korean love story but in the end, I can't help but wish that I too could have experienced such level of love. For the romantic at heart and those who want to experience the full range of human emotion watch this movie, better yet own this movie.

After finding out that the same director for Yupki Girl was directing Classic, I immediately went to watch this movie. And I was glad I did. Classic is a movie that is definately worth watching and it incorporates many of the same themes and styles from Yupki Girl such as great scenery shots and similar music (like Pachabel's Canon).

If this movie had not been called "Classic," I would have given it a lower rating. But because it is, it is definately classic. I'm sure the director wasn't making this movie unique so that it would stand out like his previous movie, but instead wanted to make a movie that makes people remember what cheesy romances were like back in the days. Yes this movie is VERY cliche and VERY cheesy, but that's why it's called a classic. The director's intention was to create a film that reminds people what a perfect romance is and how perfect things will eventually turn out.

I loved this movie and would recommend it to anyone who wants to watch a perfect romance.

Technically speaking, this film showcased beautiful cinematography, convincing acting, and an overall continuity that brings viewers so deeply into two stories which become one, that it resonates long after viewing the film. This movie takes place in flashback format and the quality of the production is proven in the fact the the movie is seamless and smooth that even watching it without subtitles (which I did!), the story was still so easy to follow. Classic is not strictly just a love story, but a story about humanity and relationships of all kinds: friendship and the bond between children and parents. I am reminded of "Amelie" for it's lightness of spirit and dips into the imaginative and the fanciful. An underlying belief in romance rules the characters in both films. Classic is a complete package, there are no loose ends and instead at the end, you can take a deep breath and feel satisfied. I think that this would be a great foriegn film for someone who doesn't like foreign films to see because the actors portray the characters and their stories so convincingly that you can read the humanity without understanding the language. The quality of the acting and entire composition of the movie make it universal. It's inspiring to know that even in 2003 a film can be created that is truly timeless.

What can I say about The Classic, except that I never thought I'd like such a film. Cheesy romances featuring teenagers are really not my usual viewing, but The Classic was just beautiful.

I am not familiar with Korean cinema, and have never seen 'My Sassy Girl' so I cannot comment on how it measures as a follow-up. But as a movie standing on its own, it was a touching, tear-jerking and humorous 2 hour journey for me. The cinematography was outstanding, and paired with an equally impressive soundtrack it created beautiful scenes of the Korean countryside, as well as enhancing the generally poignant, nostalgic mood of the film. The acting was first class all around in my opinion, the movie could've so easily gone overboard with bad-acting considering the general plot of the movie, but never once did I find myself irritated by the lead female. The casting was perfect, and I was absolutely charmed by the characters of Jun-ho and the hilarious Tae-su. There were also a lot of comical elements in the movie which had me laughing off my sofa, making the characters endlessly endearing. The film takes us through a journey of many years in the past from when the characters' parents first meet, and had me bawling my eyes out at the end. The modern day story is just as good too. The film also finishes with what I consider two big surprises which had me thinking about the movie for ages afterwards.

All in all, I am really surprised that I liked this film. After considering why this was so since I really don't like romantic/comedy dramas, I came to the simple conclusion that this was just great filmaking, where the watcher gets utterly lost in the movie. It may not be very realistic, and however long we analyse it and it's clichés at the end all we know is that we were moved and entertained by this movie.