The Scam
Country: South Korea Year: 2009 Genre: Thriller, Drama
Park Yong Ha; the eternal and incurable scar. Loving an actor who is no longer with us because life was too hard on him and watching his old works is not an easy matter, as you well know. The Scam is a cunning and breathtaking account of stock manipulation in a big country like South Korea. The behind scenes of the stock market. What are stock ants? Why do ordinary people get scammed all the time? Is it really about successful people always succeeding and others not having a chance? Do hard work and smart brains not count if someone is not born rich or powerful? Isn’t the world too disgusting to stand? Fast, brilliant, interesting and funny, The Scam gives you a 2-hour gift. Park Yong Ha - hot and charismatic as he’d always been to the extent of actual physical pain to the watchers. Park Hee Soon, doing great with his cynicism and passionate behaviour. Kim Mu Yeol, portraying a coward and a scumbag in the most attractive way ever. Kim Min Jung as the type of women who make me proud to be one of them. Kim Jun Seong - the cherry on top.
Here's the ending OST by Park Yong Ha himself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7RYw7EIFNw
A Girl at My Door
Country: South Korea Year: 2014 Genre: Drama, Family, Melodrama
Darkness has shades, and this is the darkest. Many people do not think of domestic violence as something serious. Kids have to get beaten when they misbehave. Kids who get hit grow the right way. Parents have the right to discipline their children the way they see fit. It’s a family issue and nobody has the right to interfere. All the nonsense. Domestic abuse is not just serious but is life-altering; and rarely for the better. A Girl at My Door ushers us to a heinous side of the human life that we usually choose to ignore. We catch a glimpse of what the life of an abused child might be if left without care. And what we see is not very nice. The film also sheds light on the suffering of homosexuals in a country like South Korea, and how deprived of all credence and humanity they become once they’re outed. Mysterious, intriguing and even shocking, A Girl at My Door can be read on many levels; and the simplest reading is grievous.
The Cat Funeral
Country: South Korea Year: 2015 Genre: Romance
A beautiful ordinary love story. The film traces all the phases of a relationship; in melancholy. Meeting, loving, pressure, misunderstandings, insecurities, exhaustion, giving up, breaking up, reminiscences, regrets, lingering feelings and finally acceptance. Both Kang In and Park Se Young wonderfully portray the two characters of the lovers trying to put a closure to their more than beautiful but short relationship. The shifting between the present and the past adds emotional depth to the well-written story. The music - especially the ending OST by Kang In - forces the stubborn tears to fall.
Here's Kang In's OST:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR59SmCPEDQ
I would not have added this new duet if it was not great. I know that you know I'm a Kang In fan but it's really not the main reason. With your movie list for the weekend, a few wonderful songs won't harm, don't you think??