A Millionaire's First Love (2006)

I initially pulled open "A Millionaire's First Love" based on a description on some website that described the story line as more of a romantic comedy. Initially, I thought the plot development was a bit slow for a movie made in the 21st century, where viewers favor a quick and exciting entertainment high. However as the plot began to unfold, I found myself becoming enthralled by the blossoming love between two souls. I only wish I could more accurately describe how much I love this movie (but if I try any more it will just turn out as unintelligable babble). By the time the credits rolled, I was a mess. I had begun tearing up about half way through the film, so I'm sure I was quite a sight to behold. Eyes red, puffy, and overflowing with tears, runny nose, the works. "A Millionaire's First Love" is a beautiful work about how the act of loving someone can change one's heart for good.

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The good:

There are two things about this movie that I really loved. The first is the scenery and cinematography. The second is the exquisite acting.

A small country-side town showered in autumn light, roads sprinkled in blustering, fallen leaves and dreary, rain-soaked scenes under a cloudy sky... This movie showcased the seasons like a beautiful painting or poem. The way the film is shot transported me into the scenes with the characters. I could almost smell the cool, fresh autumnal air and feel the achy dampness of the rain.

Hyun Bin and Lee Yeon Hee portrayed their characters emotions convincingly and beautifully. Personally, I have seen Hyun Bin in three roles now. I’m not sure if he just so happens to be type-cast or if he chooses these roles, but it seems he consistently plays the same character-type: rich bad boy turns softie after falling in love with unlikely heroine. Well, with so much practice, he plays the part extremely well. Lee Yeon Hee on the other hand (who, coincidentally, I’ve also seen in three roles) has a more diverse portfolio, and I am quite impressed with her range as an actress.

The bad:

The plot of this film is unoriginal, sappy and at times very brusque. Emotions seem to unfold suddenly and without pretense, which left me feeling a little... WTF’ish. My train of thought during the early part of this movie went something like this:

“Gah, stop being so mean to her...Oh, you like her now?... Love her??... What!?... How did you get in the room????.... You want to take care of her?...No? Wait wait wait, now you *don’t* like her??....*utter confusion*”

By the time the plot smoothed itself out, I found I’d just accepted the way I was *supposed* to feel and just went with it--which isn’t necessarily a good thing. As a viewer, you know what the director wants you to feel. As such, I just threw my hands up and gave in, as if to say, “fine director, I’ll accept your sappy and rushed love story, sheesh.”

Not a bad movie overall. In a way, I suppose it breaks even--balancing a predictable and choppy plot line against great acting and gorgeous scenery.

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Two years back, I found this movie on one of those Facebook questions in which are like polls and it had lots of votes for the "Most romantic movies" and plus it was Korean (before this I had watched A Moment to Remember and Classic, so I was really looking forward to another Korean romance). When I watched it, I instantly loved it. At that point I did not know it was Hyun Bin playing the lead guy. A few months later I watched Secret Garden and fell in love with him, without knowing he was the guy from A Millionaire's first love. Months went by stalking him on the net and, one day, on one of those Facebook fan pages I read a comment saying "Loved him in A Millionaire's First Love" AND I SWEAR MY MIND WAS BLOWN. I went back to check if it was really him and indeed it was and this whole situation made my love for this movie grow deeper and now I can safely say this is my third favorite Korean movie after A Moment to Remember and My Sassy Girl.

Now some might say this movie is very unoriginal and depicts A Walk To Remember and honestly, it sort of does. But it's still a very good movie with very sweet and very funny moments. If you liked Hyun Bin's rich brat character in Secret Garden, you should definitely check this out ;) And even if you hate Seo Hwa in the first 2 episodes of Gu Family look, you should check this movie out, because Lee Yeon Hee is really good here.

The music is an added bonus and I have watched it 3 times (two times when I first discovered it and the third time when I was trying to confirm whether Hyun Bin is the lead guy) and the fourth time is on it's way. So yeah, the re-watch value is pretty good for me. lol.

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I give this movie an overall 4, but not because it I thought it was generally really bad - I thought some aspects were excellent, while others were pretty much terrible, which is why I figured a more detailed explanation was in order. Other people will opine on the actual plot, so I'll mention some things that were more important to my experience of the movie:





The visuals are great, both in terms of a pretty cast and gorgeous cinematography. This is probably my favorite part of the whole movie - visually, I absolutely adored the feel of it. Also, I don't know how qualified I am to say this, seeing as I generally won't call acting bad unless the actors look like grade school students putting on their first play, but I thought the acting was pretty good. The fellow students in the rural school were rather endearing, as was Lee Yeon Hee. However-



The movie does not flow at all. The editing is frequently jarring - especially when poignant scenes are cut before their full emotional impact could be felt. Character development - in fact, development of any sort - is really jumpy. I still have no idea when the main guy suddenly fell in love with the girl, or when there were any developments in their relationship, because all the viewer sees is that in one scene they feel one way about each other and in the next they feel completely differently. Major aspects of the story, like the lost mother storyline or the boy's grandfather's story, are left awkwardly underdeveloped. I also feel that the supporting cast and their stories are severely underutilized/developed.





The result of all this is that it frequently feels like the actual movie is happening between the scenes we get to see. The sense of "Wait, when did that happen?" or just "Wait, what?" steals some of the poignancy from the scenes that individually are really well done. What we do see could have been part of a really great movie, but that movie was never made. Perhaps if it had been a drama instead and had more time to develop things - or if everything had just been better developed in this shorter time frame - it could have been much better. As it is, though, it's pretty disappointing.





That being said, I do have a soft spot in my heart for this movie, mostly thanks to its vibe and its potential [and those endearing characters], which is why I couldn't rate it poorly without an explanation. Also, while I totally wouldn't mind rewatching certain scenes, I would never watch that whole movie again.

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When watching this types of movies I recommend watching it with little to no knowledge of the plot... Let the movie itself tell you the story instead of reading it off of someone else's synopsis or review..

I watched it without knowing anything about it.. and it was the best way to watch this movie..

i was fully captured by the characters and what they have to go through...

I love the whole story... At some point you may be able to predict what will happen but that doesn't stop you from hoping you are wrong or does it take away from the interest to to the movie..

Even the ending gave closure to the story unlike most movies which keeps you thinking " That's it?"

Would have given 10 for rewatch value because it is really good but, for me, this is one of those movies that you want to give sometime before rewatching just so you can give in to the story again like you are watching it for the first time..

Will keep on recommending this to all my friends..

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A Millionaire's First Love is a tear jerker. From the very beginning I was absolutely intrigued by the story. Many of the tragedies I have seen wait until the very last moment before revealing the sad part of the story, but in this movie it was made obvious from early on. There were no other twists or turns in this movie, it just had the main point; the love between two people that ends in sadness. The love between the two leads was beautiful, and very endearing.Seeing how the characters looked at each other and treated each other was what made this movie worth watching. The only complaint I have is that I didn't see how the two leads fell for each other. In one scene they barely said a few words to each other, and in the next they were confessing their love, so I couldn't see how the feelings they had for each other emerged. What was great was after the confession, how they loved each other. Hyun Bin did great, and I could really feel the emotion his character was portraying. The few songs in this movie were beautiful and went along well with the emotion of each scene. I don't get all teary eyed watching tear jerkers, so I didn't cry, or get upset while watching this movie, so I would easily be able to rewatch it right away, since it was so good but, if you're someone who can't handle sad movies and such, you probably wouldn't be able to rewatch this right away. It's a great movie, and has a ton of emotion involved. I enjoyed watching it, and will watch it over again, and again in the future.

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Story: At first I thought this was going to be a comedy. Mostly because it’s a rich boy living in a penthouse who is told he has to live in a run down house in the country. Furthermore he hates school and is now forced to graduate in order to keep the money. It is a little funny, especially with the situations he is forced into because of Eun-hwan. Her character is caring and kind despite her painful secret. Without realizing it she brings out the best in everyone around her, even arrogant city boys.

You don’t even realize it yourself, but she is teaching you, the viewer, as well. It’s all subliminal. She doesn’t say anything outright like, “Enjoy life, it could end at any moment,” rather than showing us how precious life in and how a romance can save you from the beast inside of you.

One of my favorite aspects of this movie was the beautiful scenery. The autumn light sparkling around the town, leaves falling around everyone, rain pouring down during an intense scene and snow falling in a way that makes you want to cry. It was all done so poetically and in a way that you aren’t overwhelmed with only scenes from the town. This all takes place during important scenes. It not only adds to the story but makes you wish you were really there.

The romance, oh god the romance. There wasn’t that much kissing and there wasn’t a sex scene. But none of that mattered. They fell in love so hard and so fast that there wasn’t much time for them to prepare for what was going to happen. These two actors had so much chemistry that I believed in their love. This story reminds me of Nicholas Sparks, a noted romance novelist. It’s that good.

Music: So beautiful. The scenes alone are emotional but it was because of the music that the tears in my eyes overflowed and had to find tissues. Like A Tale of Two Sisters, the music only adds to what is going on. It’s not just there like some dramas where the characters are shopping and you need filler music. The music serves a purpose: to make you feel what those in the movie feel.

Cast/Acting: Every part was played wonderfully. I really believed in their romance and really believed in Eun-hwans secret. You can really see him changing for her and trying to be who he is supposed to.

Rewatch Value: 10

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