CAST:
Jo Insung as Kang Ji-suk (he has 3 different hairstyles in this movie!)
Shin Mina as Lee hee-jin
Park Jung-ah (of Jewelry) as Sung-hae
a girl from My Love Patzzi
SYNOPSIS:
The movie starts when Kang Ji-suk goes to salon where Lee Hee-jin works. Ji-suk is a goodie-goodie aspiring writer who delivers papers in the morning as a part-time job while Hee-jin is a spunky and liberated hair designer. HEe-jin recognized him so when she was cutting his hair, she tells him that they play a game. If Ji-suk could identify who she is until she finishes with his hair, the haircut is on her but if he doesn’t, he’ll play double. In the end, Ji-suk guessed that her name is Park Hee-jin which is wrong because her surname is Lee, not Park. They went to the same school in Busan, when they were in the 9th grade, Ji-suk was the class president.
From then on, they start running into each other all the time. One morning, HJ joins JS in delivering papers. On their way home, HJ suggests that they should date. JS tells her that he’ll think about it. Hj gives her until they get home to think. When they got home, HJ thinks of something else, they have an arranged romance for a month. There are conditions: they have to be 100% honest with each other, no saying of “let’s break up” within the month and 3 they part grandly after a month. She jokes that after a month, he’s surely be in love with her. JS asks what if he does, HJ tells him then tell her and she’ll consider it. While being together, they learn how each one lives his/her life. JS had his hair colored and starts playing computer games while HJ begins reading books.
One night when they were at an internet café, JS receives an email from an old classmate, Sung-hae. She tells him that if she wants to catch up, he should go to this club where she’s performing with her band. So they get reacquainted and she invites him to their class’ reunion, during the course of their conversation, she asks him if he has a girlfriend and he says no. At the reunion, HJ tags along but they don’t tell their classmates that they’re kind of dating. JS and SH acts chummy but HJ could just look on. HJ and SH goes to the bathroom at the same time and SH asks HJ if she thinks JS has s girlfriend. (She thinks she might know because they arrived together.) HJ tells her that she doesn’t know. While SH and JS are dancing, another classmate tells HJ that SH used to have a crush on JS. JS and HJ go home together and riding the subway when HJ asks him about SH. They promised to be 100% honest with each other and whatever it is, she can take it. So JS tells her the story. When they were in the 9th grade, SH had an appendix operation and missed school. As the class president, he lent her his notes and when she returned the notebook, there was a kiss mark on the back page. That night, he couldn’t sleep, so he took out the notebook and put his lips on the kiss mark. That was his first kiss. Back to the present, HJ promised that she can take it but she couldn’t control herself and gets mad. She got mad because JS told SH that he doesn’t have a girlfriend.
One day, she gets nauseous and finds out she’s pregnant with her ex-boyfriend’s baby. He doesn’t hear from her a long time so he sends flowers to her house. Finally, she calls to see a movie. She’s still crying even though the movie is over. After the movie, JS apologizes about everything and HJ decides to tell him that she’s pregnant (thru text but they’re just sitting side by side). HJ tells him that their romance deal is off but JS slaps her with the 2nd condition – they can’t break up until the month is up. HJ is going to Busan and JS volunteers to come with her. HJ asks him why he’s being good to her after she tells him she’s pregnant and he answers, “Because you’re my girlfriend. They see SH who’s going to Busan with her band. They ride the same train and there, it becomes clearer to HJ that JS and SH are more alike than JS and her. They spend time in Busan and he tells her that when she goes to the hospital to have an abortion, he wants to come with her. Before parting, JS tells her that they meet in the station the following day. HJ goes to a hospital in Busan alone but at the last minute, she couldn’t do it and decides to keep the baby. Back in Seoul, JS goes to HJ’s house but HJ’s roommate tells her she’s still in Busan but she’s actually inside. She’s avoiding him.
One time, he goes to the library to return the books but he’s missing one book, the one he lent HJ. When he came out of the libe, he sees HJ with the book. They take a walk and tells each other they learned a lot during the one month they’re together. HJ gives him flowers, turns out their one month is up so it’s time for them to break up. JS wants to tell her that he’s falling for her but she stops him by saying that she’s having the baby.
HJ’s friend tells her ex-boyfriend Junho about the baby so one rainy night, he goes to her salon and forces her to come with him and have the baby aborted. HJ doesn’t want to so she tells him is not even his. She gets off his car and walks under the rain. She goes to her house but she couldn’t get in because her roommate has company, she goes to the salon but it’s locked, last, she goes to JS’ and there, she fainted. He carries her on his back to bring her to the hospital but they couldn’t find a cab and HJ is tremendously bleeding. JS can’t waste time so he ran to the hospital as fast as he could, with HJ on his back. HJ lost the baby.
At HJ’s home, she looks at the tissue her roommate just used to test the shade of her lipstick and remembers something. Back in 9th grade, she was trying on a shade of lipstick in front of her friends but they find the color yucky. She sees a notebook resting on the desk and tries it on the back page. (So she’s JS’ first kiss!!!)
Later, JS goes to HJ’s salon to have his hair colored. He asks her if it will be less painful this time. But HJ tells him that it might be more painful this time. So JS asks her if the two of them could try again, start all over.
FAVE SCENES:
1. when they had their first date, HJ was 40 minutes late…
HJ: “you must really love me to wait for 40 minutes.”
JS: “then you must really hate me to make me wait for 40 minutes.”
HJ: “no, I’m usually an hour late during a first date, I’m 20 minutes early.”
2. when HJ borrowed JS’ thickest books, he thought she wants to read it but she only used it as a pillow.
3. when HJ proposed that they date, JS asked her to give him time to think about it, she gave her until they get home to think. (nice..like that’s long…)
4. when HJ was coloring JS’ hair, he was complaining that it stings too much. HJ tells him that he has virgin hair (never been permed or dyed), it’s really like that during the first time but it’ll sting less the next time.
5. when they were biking in the rain…
HJ: “you think biking in the rain is romantic? Please don’t write a love story.”
JS: “I’m writing one right now.”
HJ: “well, edit this scene out.”
6. whenever they’re just sitting side by side but they would talk through SMS. HJ actually told JS that she’s pregnant that way.
7. after HJ told JS that she’s pregnant, she told him to forgot about their one month deal but JS told her that part of their conditions was they cant break up until the month is up.
8. when they were at the bus station to Busan and HJ asked him why she’s being nice to her, he answered, “because you’re my girlfriend.” Ahhh…
9. after JS went to her house but she pretended not to be there, he drew a smiling face using plaster strips on her door. (reminds her when they were in Busan and she cut her finger, boy scout JS had plaster strip to cover her cut.)
10. during the rainy night when HJ fainted, he piggybacked (I’m inventing words!) her, thye couldn’t fins a cab but she’s bleeding a lot and they cant waste time so JS ran to the hospital as fast as he could, yep, with her on his back.
11. the big twist: when HJ found out that she was indeed JS’ first kiss.
WHAT I THINK:
I like all 3 actors – Jo Insung, Shin Mina and Park Jung-ah – but the movie is average. The keyword is “medyo”. Medyo matatawa ka. Medyo maiiyak. Pero hindi todo. The ending was so corny like, “that’s it?” But Jo Insung is so cute that you wouldn’t even care. (hehe) I just thought “Madeleine” would be meaningful in the end. “Madeleine” is a kind of pastry, JS told a story about a character in the book who ate Madeleine and made him remember his childhood memories. Yes, that’s the only significance of Madeleine in this movie. It doesn’t even connect with any of the events. I dunno why they made that the title. I thought Shin Mina looks a lot like Shu Qi, but she looked too young to play a 25-year-old woman. I like her outfits though. I think this movie could’ve turned out better because the storyline is okay. But I dunno, something’s lacking so it was not salvaged.
NOTES:
Abortion seems to be so common for them; they even offer it in hospitals. But here in the Philippines, abortions are done clandestinely. Or maybe we’re just too plastic. I did a debate about abortion in high school and our argument is for it to be done legally to minimize bad cases. If it’s done in hospitals, then the apparatus and medicines would be safer. Shucks, maybe we should follow Korea then.
The classic ba ito?? Hehe. Similar scenes eh.
KOREAN WORDS I LEARNED:
+ Yae-soo means jesus
+ eun-hae means blessing
+ I learned how to write some Korean surnames and names like kim, jo and ah. ( I wanna learn how to write jung!! Cause that will be my future surname, hehe.)
