Movie: My Tutor Friend (동갑내기 과외하기)

{Movie Poster: My Tutor Friend}

My Tutor Friend is a 2003 South Korean romantic comedy film starring Kim Ha-neul and Kwon Sang-woo, two very famous celebrities today. Ha-neul, as Su-wan in the movie, comes out as an unglamorous girl who needs to tutor in order to pay for her college tuition. On the other hand, Sang-woo, as Ji-hoon, is a troublemaker from a rich family who will eventually gets tutored and tamed by Su-wan. The film toped the box office for five consecutive weeks and made the third best selling Korean film of 2003.

Plot Summary:

Both Ji-hoon and Su-wan are 21 years old students. Su-wan is in her second year at university while Ji-hoon is still in his last year at high school. Su-wan’s mother works in the family business of selling friend chicken. And to help out, Su-wan earns money by tutoring other children, but often gets fired after scolding the students of their misbehaviors. While looking for other students to tutor, Su-wan comes across a troublemaker who happens to be from an extremely wealthy family. The mother of the troublemaker is willing to pay a big amount for her son to pass the high school graduation exam.

{Ji-hoon's rich mother}

Su-wan finds out that Ji-hoon is not only bad at studying, but also a huge fighter at school. He also treats Su-wan rudely during the tutor by having bad mannerism and smoking. She wants to quit, but she feels that this is the last chance she has to pay for her college tuition. Withholding his attitude, she persists in trying to get Ji-hoon to get over 50% on his midterm and eventually their relationship improves. In the end, he receives 50.1% and barely passes. According to their bet, Su-wan dances in front of a crowd during a college festival. Seeing Su-wan dancing in embarrassment, Ji-hoon realizes that he has grown some feelings for her. He also gets jealous that other boys are watching her.

{Ji-hoon smoking during the tutor}

{Su-wan dancing in front of a crowd at the college festival}

Confirmed that he wants to tell her about his feelings, he takes her on a airplane. He says that he likes her, but Su-wan feels awkward and pretends not to understand. Then, he takes her to an amusement park. Just when he wants to give her a present he prepared, the two run into Su-wan’s college friend. The college friend assumes that Su-wan and Ji-hoon are a couple, but Su-wan responds by saying that she would not date a high school student. This upsets Ji-hoon so much that he throws away the present and heads back home.

{Su-wand and Ji-hoon drink at a street bar to vent out her "anger" of Ji-hoon treating her rudely}

The two do not talk for a while, but Ji-hoon eventually meets Su-wan again when all the people he picked on a fight with holds Su-wan as a hostage. Ji-hoon must face and fight against a mop of gangsters. Ji-hoon does well for a while, but he is at the best fighter’s mercy at the end. But Su-wan saves Ji-hoon by kicking the man in the groin. While he is in pain, Su-wan and Ji-hoon drive away on her chicken delivery scooter—Su-wan is driving and Ji-hoon is holding onto her waist in the back.

At the end, the two are now a couple, and the film ends by Su-wan tutoring Ji-hoon’s younger brother Se-hoon.

{The two become a couple}

 

This was a romantic comedy that showed much of Korea’s culture. From Fried Chicken Restaurants, to high school gang fighting, to amusement parks, the film showed a wide range of the culture that the Koreans are very fond of. To this day, many people remember this movie as one that had an unique plot and a twist at the end.

{Koreans' favorite late night: Chicken and Beer!}

Movie: 200 Pounds Beauty (미녀는 괴로워)

{Movie Poster: 200 Pounds Beauty}

200 Pounds Beauty is a 2006 South Korean romantic comedy musical film written and directed by Kim Yong-hwa. He based the plot on the Japanese manga Kanna’s Big Success, in which an overweight ghost singer who becomes a pop sensation after going through a full-body plastic surgery. 200 Pounds Beauty hit a commercial success and won the third best-selling domestic film of in the year.

Plot Summary:

Han-na, the main character, is an overweight phone sex operator and a ghost singer for Amy, a famous pop singer who actually lip syncs to hide her inability to sing well. 

{Han-na's usual day as a phone sex operator}

Han-na feels neutral about her position until one day when Amy humiliates Han-na  in front of the music company director, Sang-jun.

{The woman on the left is Amy and right, Han-na}

Because Han-na has a huge crush on Sang-jun, the humiliation drives to attempt suicide but is interrupted by a phone call from one of her phone sex regulars who happens to be a top plastic surgeon. Therefore, she decides to get head-to-toe plastic surgery instead.

{The plastic surgeon and Han-na on the surgery bed}

Because Han-na has a huge crush on Sang-jun, the humiliation drives to attempt suicide but is interrupted by a phone call from one of her phone sex regulars who happens to be a top plastic surgeon. Therefore, she decides to get head-to-toe plastic surgery instead.

{Han-na's result of successful head-to-toe surgery} 

Sang-jun is not only impressed with this new girl’s talent but also her stunning looks. Receiving Amy’s envy, “Jenny” quickly makes her way up to her stardom while meticulously hiding her identity. In the meantime, Amy, oblivious just like everyone else of Han-na’s new identity, is afraid of a possible competition with Jenny for her album sales and distressed to find Han-na to finish recording her album. Hoping to find Han-na, Amy volunteers at Han-na’s grandfather’s hospital to find out where she could find her. The grandfather has a mental problem—possibly Alzheimer’s. Unsuccessful at getting clues to Han-na’s whereabouts, Amy decides to stop volunteering at the hospital.

{Han-na's Alzheimer Patient Father} 

Meanwhile, Jenny’s debut single “Maria” becomes a hit and the recording company holds a party to celebrate its release, pushing Amy even farther away from her stardom. 

{Jenny's debut hit}

On top of that, the romance begins to blossom between Jenny and Sang-jun, but whenever he tries to get close to her and make a move on Jenny, Jenny pushes him away because she is afraid he might find out her identity. Sang-jun becomes suspicious of her actions, but his hunch is quickly blurred by Jenny’s beauty. 

{Sang-jun making a move on "Jenny"}

However, Amy finally stumbles across a critical clue from the grandfather that she ascertains that Jenny and Han-na are the same person. The grandfather unconsciously slipped out a phrase that he uses often and Amy had recalled Jenny reciting the same phrase to her previously. Exhilarated and furious at the same time, Amy schemes to reveal Jenny’s identity to the world. Amy writes on Jenny’s van, “You are so FAKE” for all her fans to see. 

{Infuriated Amy}

She even brings Han-na’s grandfather to her concert. When the grandfather recognizes his daughter’s singing voice, he approaches her; however, Han-na claims to have never seen the man. Han-na’s heart breaks as she watches her grandfather get arrested for attempting to touch his daughter.

Unable to pretend to be someone else anymore, Han-na decides to stop her show and be truer to her fans, her grandfather, Sang-jun, and herself. During one of Han-na’s stage performance, she asks Sang-jun to put up her picture of her past-self behind her.

Her fans’ jaw drops as they listen to “Jenny” revealing her true identity. She was a 200 pound ghost singer! The audience is startled at this news, but one of the men from the crowds shouts in encouragement. This man had an appearance previously in the movie; mesmerized by Jenny’s beauty, he unintentionally stalked her. When Sang-jun tried to call the police on the stalker, Jenny stopped him by saying that she understands the man’s innocent intention. Ever since, the man has been in love with Jenny’s looks and warm personality.

{Jenny's number one fan/stalker in the past}

Along with the man’s cheer of encouragement, the crowd chants, “It’s Okay” because they are moved by her sincere confession.

In the end, Han-na rekindles her relationships with her father, continues her romance with Sang-jun, gains even more fans, and most importantly, changes her name back to “Han-na”.   

Although this movie does not have involve much of Korean’s history or literature, it remains as an innovative and touching film as it put an importance of having true identity in the lives of many Koreans. Also, it would not be an exaggeration to say that almost everyone who watched this movie knows the song “Maria”(Jenny’s debut single) because it was that powerful.