My Sassy Girl
My Sassy Girl (Korean: 엽기적인 그녀, romanized: Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo, lit. ’That Bizarre Girl’) is a 2001 South Korean romantic comedy film directed by Kwak Jae-yong, starring Jun Ji-hyun and Cha Tae-hyun. The film is based on a true story told in a series of blog posts written by Kim Ho-sik, who later adapted them into a fictional novel.
The film was very successful in South Korea, where it was the highest-grossing comedy of all time,[2] and one of the top five highest-grossing films ever at the time. When My Sassy Girl was released across East Asia, it became a blockbuster in the region, becoming a hit in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The film’s success in Asia drew comparisons to Titanic. Its DVD release also drew a large international cult following, particularly in China, Southeast Asia, and parts of South Asia. My Sassy Girl sparked an international breakthrough for Korean cinema, and it played a key role in the spread of the Korean Wave.[3][4]
The film has spawned an international media franchise, consisting of film remakes and television adaptations in different countries as well as a sequel. An American remake, starring Jesse Bradford and Elisha Cuthbert, and directed by Yann Samuell, was released in 2008.[5] A Japanese drama adaptation with Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and actress Rena Tanaka as the leads started broadcasting in April 2008.[6] A sequel, My New Sassy Girl, a collaborative work between Korea and China, was released in 2016.[7][8] There is also a Korean television adaptation of My Sassy Girl, as well as Indian, Chinese and Nepali film remakes.
The film tells the love story of a male engineering college student, Gyeon-woo, and “the Girl” (whose name is never mentioned in the movie). Gyeon-woo just cannot seem to catch a romantic break. Their personalities stand opposite to the “characteristics traditionally associated with masculinity and femininity…in Asian societies in general”.[9]
One day, at dinner and drinks with his college friends, Gyeon-woo is interrupted by a call from his mother, telling him to visit his aunt and meet a potential date. At the train station on his way to his aunt’s, he observes a drunk girl, standing precariously close to the edge of the train platform as the train approaches; he pulls her to safety just in time. Inside the train, Gyeon-woo cannot help but stare at the girl who is his “type” but repulsed by her drunkenness. Finally, she throws up on a passenger and faints but not before she calls Gyeon-woo “honey”. The passenger aggressively chides Gyeon-woo and tells him to take care of his “girlfriend”. Gyeon-woo, completely flustered, leaves her on a subway platform bench, but his conscience compels him to take her to the nearest hotel for safety. While the girl is passed out on the bed, her phone rings and Gyeon-woo picks up. He gives vague answers in regards to the girl’s whereabouts and perhaps through GPS tracking, police raid the room and Gyeon-woo gets maced and sent to jail. He is sent home from jail the next morning, and to his surprise he gets a phone-call from the girl, who demands they meet by the train station so she can figure out what happened the night before. Over soju the Girl cries, admits to breaking up with her boyfriend the day before and gets thoroughly drunk, resulting in a second trip to the same hotel. Thus begins his comically ill-fated relationship with the Girl.
After this second overnight stay at the hotel, she begins to become a more active part of his life. She visits Gyeon-woo in college and pulls him out of class, telling the teacher that Gyeon-woo is the father of her soon-to-be-aborted baby. The Girl’s mood swings wildly from joyful to downright violent, but Gyeon-woo puts up with it and lets her abuse him for her amusement.
She is an aspiring scriptwriter and throughout the movie gives Gyeon-woo three different screenplays from different genres. The first is an action movie—The Demolition Terminator—which switches gender roles, symbolically having the Girl save her helpless lover (Gyeon-woo). The second is a wild perversion of a Korean short story—Sonagi—in which the Girl, having died, asks that her lover be buried along with her—even though he’s still alive. The last is a wuxia/samurai movie spoof full of genre clichés and anachronisms. All three feature the same common thread: the Girl is from the future.
Despite all the horrible things Gyeon-woo endures, he is determined to help cure the girl’s pain. He decides to surprise her on her birthday and takes her on a nighttime trip to an amusement park which ends up quite differently from how he planned: the pair encounter an AWOL soldier who holds them hostage and rants about his misery after being jilted. Gyeon-woo convinces him to release her, and she in turn convinces the soldier to free Gyeon-woo and go on with his life and pursue another love.
