Sunny is all about the feeling of nostalgia done right, it's not depressing in any way despite the circumstances some of the characters find themselves in. It’s full of heartwarming moments between a group of girls who are trying to survive as one, in a period of violence and repression (the 70s and 80s in Korea), but also the same group of girls who are trying to bring back that lost solidarity in the modern world where all of them are going through some sort of personal crisis. The story jumps from the present to the past, but the transitions are done so smoothly and cleverly that it won't feel out of the place, in fact, I could say that this is one of the best transitions I've seen in Korean Cinema.
Moving on to the actresses and actors, They all did a brilliant job, and I would like to thank the casting director who did a wonderful job at choosing Kang So-Ra to play the younger self of Ha Chun-Hwa while Jin Hee-Kyung to play the adult version, that hair is on point! Beautiful!
Apart from my obsession with hair, I loved this movie for its use of comedy in places where one might say that comedy is not suitable, for example, the scene where our girls and a rival gang have a fight at the same place where the police are busy crushing a group of anti-government activists. This is definitely one of my favorites because there, for a moment, I did not see a difference between a group of teenage girls fighting to a group of adult men fighting, both parties are driven by almost the same reason, which is to the gain upper hand or in other words power.
These are just a few examples to why I love this movie so much, and although the plot itself might not be perfect (there were some unexplained potholes that kept me wondering for some time) but if you ignore those, this is a rich coming-to-age movie that celebrates girl friendship, and girl power. Honestly, it’s a reminder for all us girls, to value the friendship that thrives through hardships in life because often media portray girl friendships as weak and fragile which we sometimes tend to believe in, but that’s not entirely true. Sunny is a reminder that female friendship can indeed be something beautiful.
Bonus points for all the 70s and 80s pop songs!
‘Sunny’ by Boney M and ‘Touch By Touch’ by Joy are some of my favorites!
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