I must admit to finding this movie quite confusing, just as I thought I'd worked it out it seemed to take another turn. The link from beginning to development certainly requires patience before some understanding of what's going on begins to emerge. However I would tend to agree with the previous reviewer it's probably underrated and it has some quite complex layers of meaning that by the end have you puzzling but staying with you as you try to unravel them - perhaps that's the definition of a good movie. It's obviously not just a "gay" movie. It struck me as more representing in a story a psychological breakdown and struggle to make sense out of what had happened to him - someone trying to recover psychologically from a deep inner sense of loss of the "love of his life" - maybe an ideal image and since she disappeared that ideal image would never be tested by reality, so having an even more powerful hold in a way. So he seizes on coincidences of words etc and projects this image on to someone else who happens to be a schoolboy. Others may see it as having some spiritual explanation, like reincarnation - and certainly that's the more obvious explanation in a way, given the closing comments of the film. If you apply the title "bungee jumping" to what happens at the end and two people finding a real feeling of love for each other, regardless of the issue of sexuality, then it would seem to be a happy "gay" ending (what a rarity in Korean movies that is). If that's the case, I take it the bungee jumping is intended to be just that (and we do see the pulley). But then you wonder did the rope snap or did they jump off as there's these closing comments about meeting in another life and definitely giving the impression that you will keep coming back until you're in a "normal" hetero- relationship - which mixes up the whole meaning of the story again - or is that just meant to be taken as a laugh? really a statement that sexuality is of secondary importance? Well sometimes I do "overdetermine" the meaning of stories, admittedly, but this is not a straightforward story by any means. There's a fair bit of angst and sadness about two-thirds through. Putting aside the meaning, the "visual delights" would not entice me to watch again (that's apart from the fact the quality of film is pretty low on the only available subbed version I could find). It's dated, the "schoolboys" had certainly been held back about five years judging by their real ages or they must have extraordinarily well-developed physiques in Korea. But these are not really important given the impact of the story. Can't really give it a ten as there are too many loose ends capable of various interpretations which may be just because the director has failed to communicate well enough for analytical types like me to pick out the signals to what he intends. Well worth a re-watch in the future despite the discouraging film quality.

Lees verder