Breasty Moons

Yeah, this film has a shot of the moon turning into breasts. The title of the recent 2004 film Yeogosaeng sijipgagi (the English title is "Marrying High School Girl") pretty much says it all. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, you're getting that My Little Bride vibe again (or if you haven't, probably some weird sort of double-sided Nabokovian feeling.)

Okay, I didn't make much sense in that last paragraph. I'll try again.

South Koreans lately seem to be kind of preoccupied with this Lolita concept of an old guy having a relationship with a young girl, or two young lovers getting busy or somesuch. Examples of this idea are the aformentioned movie My Little Bride, Kim Ki-duk's movies Samaria and The Bow, and that K-drama showing now on local screens, My Bride is 18. I really don't know why, but heck, I'll take it.

The story is kind of taken from an old Korean folk tale, The Princess and the Beggar. Pyunggang (played by one of the most beautiful young actresses in Korea, Lim Eun-gyeong, pictured to the left) is a high school student who has been cursed by the spirit of Princess Pyunggang (the princess in the folktale.) You see, in the folktale, Pyunggang didn't get to marry her love, Ondal the fool, thus she became a ghost to someday be resurrected. Now the present Pyunggang must find the resurrected Ondal on her 16th birthday and marry him or else she will die.

Eventually, Ondal does come, in the form of a brainy high school student portrayed by Korean musician-turned-actor Eun Ji-won. Pyunggang, a bit of a tomboy (but still cute) is hesitant but throws herself at Ondal, even going as far as to awkwardly seduce him (which is a bonus point to Lim Eun-gyeong's fans... =p) Eventually a lot of stuff happens, a strange subplot is dealt with in cringe inducing manner, a strange foreign girl is thrown in for no apparent reason except to tittilate more viewers, and everything basically ends up happily ever after... kind of.

I personally feel hesitant upon liking the ending too much. It does deal on teen marriage and sex, but it seemed to trivialize the whole thing (you can probably guess the teenage couple does get busy in a hilarious sequence involving the moon, bunnies and a mortar and pestle. Use your imagination) that prevents it from becoming anything remotely socially relevant or responsible; a trend some people are seeing in movies or late (the last half Jenny, Juno for one) and that sort of detracts from their experience.

But you see, I don't think that was the point at all. This is another turn your brain off goofball highschool comedy, full of the slapstick and green humor stuff that you usually see in K-comedies. It is a stranger blend of My Little Bride, although I do admit that despite Lim Eun-gyeong being more beautiful, she stands no chance against the ultra cuteness factor (I just had to bold-ify that) and general charisma of My Little Bride's Moon Geun-young. My Little Bride is the better movie of the two, although I would be lying to you if I said I didn't enjoy watching it. Besides, Lim Eun-gyeong is in it. And that makes any movie (even Resurrection of the Little Match Girl!) around 2381 times better.

If you don't really mind the concept, and if you like over the top, silly K-comedies, try it.