I once saw trailer of this movie, and thought I'll watch this when I am in the mood. A year or so passed and I forgot about that. Somedays back I was going through a list and thought I'd watch this, but the IMDB rating was not that great. Since I love tragedies and this one had that vibe, I thought of watching this last night. Why is this so underrated ? This one is a gem of a movie.
Spoilers:
Soyool and Yoonhee are best friends since they were little and they are training to become gisaeng in times of Japanese-Korean war. They both love pop music but are training to sing traditional songs. Soyool has a boyfriend (Yoonwoo) since they were young and they love each other. Yoonwoo is a famous song writer and wants Soyool to sing as a pop singer so that everyone can listen to her voice rather than singing traditional songs only for the high end people of society. Soyool wants to sing for the common people too, but she cannot leave her agency (her mom runs it) but she promises to sing one song for him. Yoonwoo then meets Yoonhee and he loves her singing style, and thinks she is fit to sing for his new album. He convinces Yoonhee to sing for Joseon's common people and be Joseon's Heart (which is what he said to Soyool as well). When Soyool confronts Yoonwoo, he says that he loves Soyool only and will write hundred of songs for her. He assures her of her love for her and tells her that this is only a professional album with Yoonhee. Yoonhee leaves agency and is singing for Yoonwoo and co. when Yoonwoo and Yoonhee fall in love with each other, fully knowing that they are the 2 most important people to Soyool and just how hard it was to just let them be. BUT they don't care, they are in LOVE. lol. What a joke. After all this, they pretend as if they did no wrong and continue dating. When Soyool decides to take revenge (pretty sad affair, you can feel her heartbreak) they don't even bat an eye and tell her the truth. Ugh.
I feel so bad for So Yool, and did not understand why the other main characters thought they were in the right. She was cheated on by the two people she loved and trusted the most. Admittedly she should not have asked the Commissioner to reject Yoonhee's album and should not have sent her to that bar, not saying any of this was right. But people should know that their actions have consequences. If you choose to destroy someone's life, you might be forgiven or you might be punished for it. Humans are not God, they can make your sure you live in hell if you mess them up real bad. Soyool loved them and they cheated on her, stabbed her in the back and even when things went south, they did not tell her the truth. When they get to know that she orchestrated all this, they feel betrayed and sad but they never once feel remorse for their own actions. Their emotions, their lives and their separation matters to them but none of them regrets what they did to her. Poor Soyool. She is the one who suffers till the end of her life because even though what she did was horrible, she knows that, she admits that and also wants to protect those cheaters.
Anyhoo, the movie in itself is amazing. The acting, OST, cast, production, everything is perfect. Beautiful, tragic, heartwrenching and raw. Anyone looking for something to pull on your heartstrings should watch this.