Skip to main content

A moment to Remember – They don’t make movies like these since 2004.


Can you recall the last movie which made you drop your defenses and your cynical view of the world and relationships? Can you recall the last movie which made you yearn for something which you knew was all reel but you hoped that it was real? Can you recall the last movie which made you invest so much in the lead characters that you forgot where you were and cried your soul out? Can you remember the last movie which made you reminiscence of a time when you truly and really believed in fairy tales?
I do, well some of them anyway, couple of movies do pop in mind which might answer most of the questions I ask, ‘Jerry Maguire’, ‘Love Story’, ‘The Notebook’ and ‘50 First Dates’. But if you look at the release dates of each of these movies, Jerry Maguire – 1996, Love Story – 1970, The Notebook – 2004, 50 First Dates – 2004, it has been more than a decade since I have seen these movies. 

2004, apparently seems to be the year, fairy tales for the new century were written and translated on screen. One movie which seem to have missed the public eye, much like the solitary tear you wipe away after you have decided that you have cried your heart out was ‘A Moment to Remember’.
 
‘A Moment to Remember’ is a South Korean movie, based on a Japanese television drama; the South Korean title literally translates as ‘Eraser in My Head’.  It is a simple story about a young girl and a young guy, who meet, fall in love, get married and then the girl begins to lose memory. It may sound like just any other movie, this review may read like just another review, but it is not.

The story is simple and unassuming like a cotton thread, sewing the many stories in the movie together. The crux of the story is about a girl meets boy. But it is so much more than that. Apart from being a love story, it is also a story about a father – daughter relationship, a story about ex – lovers, a story about an estranged mother and her son, a story about a student seeking his mentor’s validation. The movie was like a multilayered chocolate cake. Each layer telling a story of its own, but at the end of the day it is a simple love story.

A love story for which I needed subtitles to understand the dialogues, a love story where you don’t have to verbalize every single thought, a love story where songs played in the background, a love story which made me bawl my eyes out like a pregnant cloud exploding over a parched piece of farm land.
ALL the actors, including the extras play along like pieces of a jigsaw, fitting themselves snugly into what is a beautiful mosaic of a sad love story. But the movie is all about the lead pair of Son Ye-Jin and Jung Woo-Sung. Their faces extending as canvases on which their characters paint with different emotions, resulting in nothing less than a renaissance. Son Ye-Jin’s face is like pale porcelain, radiating with elegance, and when it cracks, the sound resonates in your heart, mind and soul long after the movie ends. Jung Woo-Sung’s face is scruffy, hiding behind it all the mystery and pain, and when he clean shaves it, the ache in his heart and mind scream in your psyche.

If you have watched enough love stories, you will spot the multi amalgamation points of different movies. You will find traces of ‘Love Story’, ‘50 First Dates’ and ‘The Notebook’. But you disregard them all. All because of the emotions on the character’s faces in the extremely close shots mirror yours, because, you see the physical and emotional breakdown of characters in those medium shots as you find yourself breaking down and wiping the first traces of wetness off your cheeks. And these images play like a bass note to the treble note of aerial and long shots of beautiful breath taking scenery.

Written by Yeong-ha Kim and John H. Lee (who also is the director). And as far as this movie is concerned, take my word and do NOT watch it with your other half. Watch it alone, with a box of tissues for company and hope that your story plays like this one and ends with a happy ending.

Comments

Dexgle said…
i guess i will watch the movie :) and zenny unc, if u dont know, the words are like badly formatted, there is extra spacing between letters and its hard to read :| i'm viewing the mobile version through opera mini...
Zennmaster said…
Yeah! That seems to the issue with the theme used. Not suited for mobile access. But will keep in mind. Cheers

Popular posts from this blog

Happy reading... I suppose...

Hello! Been quite a while since I stared down at the blinking cursor. So here... Uploading ALL of the stories I started and left unfinished over the years (reckon some of this is from circa 2009). Not sure how long the download links will work for... So if you want to read something, reckon best to download them and then like most things in ones' refrigerator, junk them when mold begins to grow on it. NOTE: The work is not proof-read, so there will be errors, spelling mistakes, missing words among others. The Great Indian Mythology : Was supposed to be a re-telling of Mahabharat set in today's day and age in a tongue in cheek manner. But the more I read the actual original story, I realized I can't top the fuckedupness that already exists. But, I did enjoy writing few bits of it.  Will rate this 2/5. If you think what I have written is fucked up, wait till you read the actual story... Not the PG rated Amar Chitra Katha... Also points deducted because I didn'

Amul - A Short Story

Its morning again, I can hear the darned birds chirping outside, with my eyes still closed I can hear the ticking sound of the wall clock like the irritating sound of the water faucet dripping. The water faucet never drips in my house, because I don't like it dripping, like the way mom's head was dripping blood, and flooded the floor and spoiled the carpet. I like everything neat and clean. My name is Amul. I believe my father was especially fascinated by the utterly butterly delicious girl. Though I have a liking towards her myself I don't like to acknowledge that to anybody. Though not many people have actually found out about this connection. But am aware of this because my father during one of his happy drunken moods told me about this. And those are rare cases. I know for a fact that even if am genetically part of my father, I will never become like him. I study in the 7 th grade. And I like my school. My favorite subject is math. I don't understand why people

Here is what I think the future holds!

Years ago, back in 2010, I had the good fortune for working on a trend forecasting project for a proper-proper blue chip company. Our job was to predict the future five years down the line, so that the company would be well prepared to get its pipeline of products in tune for the needs of its customers for the future.  It was the first time, I came across a company which had vision.  And the project and the predictions or in market speak, the trends that we forecasted have played themselves out enough for me to thump my chest like a Neanderthal calling out to Jane, the proverbial virgin.  Time has elapsed, and I seek the same rush of predicting future trends.  So, here are my trend forecasts for the next 5 years (2017 - 2022) Prime/Select/Premium subscriptions will enlist a human component and not just rely on an algorithm.  This includes media subscriptions such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime etc.  These services will be charged on top of the services you are