My Sassy Month

There's just something about the movie's story that sticks and lingers in the heart of anyone who had seen it. If you're a guy, you'll most probably be thinking about the sassy girl for days (and suffer naming her names since the girl remained nameless in the movie). If you're a girl, you'll most probably dream of Gyun-woo. Like me. Sigh again.

The plot seems to be simple at first viewing: Boy meets sad girl in a subway. Boy swears to take care of girl. Girl eventually becomes happy. Boy falls in love in the process. Boy can't let go of girl as a result. They get separated, and the story ends with both being together again.

It must be in it's simplicity where the movie's beauty lies. The actors handle their roles with verve and energy and, dare I say it, sass, and the writer/director must take some credit, for producing the snappy pace and quirky situations. The initial sketching of the characters is done in very broad strokes, and gives us a hero and heroine who are interesting and clearly at odds. The hero, likeable but perhaps a tad shallow in his preference for quiet, pretty girly girls, doesn't look like a suitable match for anyone with any depth, and we're caught early on thinking this might be a predictable adventure.


Not so, once we meet the heroine: we find her on the train, pissed as a newt (a marvellous phrase from my youth that I'm determined to resurrect), and not exactly presenting at her best. She's even less appealing when she throws up and calls our hero "Honey" before passing out, since this leads to the passengers assuming he is her boyfriend, and demanding that he clean up. Ick. Double ick. But we soon see another side to both characters as a result: he cleans up and carries her about town rather than abandon her, and she shows a hint of the sadness that drives her to be such a pain. He even takes her to a love hotel, and stays with her, but doesn't attempt to molest her in her sleep (luckily, or I'd have stopped watching right there).

After that, the rest of the film consists mostly of our hero being dragged around Seoul, abused, misused, and humiliated, but ever more determined to delve to the heart of this perplexing girl. From a female point of view, and a fairly fractious female at that, it's nice to see the girl getting to call the shots. I particularly liked seeing her make the hero wear her high-heel shoes all the way home when her feet hurt: instead of letting him carry her, she makes him realise just how uncomfortable heels can be. It takes the wind out of the whole "rescuing hero" image, where the strong man helps the fragile girly without actually having to empathise.


There are many scenes that you'd probably consider Filipino stereotypes, but there are a number which are bizarre yet unbelievably moving. The scene in the subway train where Gyun-woo and the sassy girl did a red-line contest is the funniest, but clearly shows a great deal about the two character's personality: one's a control freak, the other's a subservient hopeless-romantic chap. He snapped, he laughed, she freaks out, she slapped and she slapped many times until he cried. Sweet and funny, the scene would make you wish "sana ganyan din kami ni..."


The soundtrack? Well, I can't complain about it. I realized that Koreans lay sounds in comedy and romantic scenes the same as how Filipinos do it. You would even hear the song "I Believe" and the piano piece Canon D repeated on several signifant scenes of the film. But you won't notice it anyway, as you become engrossed by bot Gyun-woo and the sassy girl.

It's a good thing I've seen My Sassy Girl with it's original dubbing. I bought a VCD version just so I can watch the movie on my laptop as I work, and the audio is divided to Korean on my left ear, and Japanese on the right. And the Japanese track isn't that good.

The only thing that I'd like to note, though, is that "I Believe" is that type of a song that would remain playing at the back of your end even as days pass by. And you'll never get tired of it, specially when you recall what transpired in Gyun-woo's tree.


All in all, if you like romantic comedies, this is an absolute stunner, and if you don't, it's still an absolute stunner. Some may call it "My Sappy Film", but I'd still say it's brilliant. See it for the laughs, see it for the love, or see it for the turning upside down of gender stereotypes, but just see it. I'm sure: You'll want your own tree. You'll want someone to share it with. You'll always look forward to the next day's MRT ride. You'll have a craving to go to a disco pub wearing your highschool uniform, and start an annual event doing it. You'll never look at a piano the same way again. Ever.

I give My Sassy Girl a five thumbs up! (Uhh... that's possible if you're from Mars. Teeheehee...) Now the debate (if "Windstruck" is the sequel of My Sassy Girl) goes on...