Directed by: Hong Ji-young Starring: Kim Kang-woo (김강우), Yoo In-na (유인나), Yoo Yeon-seok (유연석), Lee Yeon-hee (이연희), Lee Dong-hwi (이동휘), Chen Duling, Yeom Hae-ran (염혜란), Sooyoung (수영), Teo Yoo ( Release Date: February 10th, 2021
Arriving just in time for the Lunar New Year holiday, New Year Blues (2021) is a light-hearted South Korean multinarrative drama film about love, commitment, family, and carving out new paths in life. Much like writer/director Hong Ji-young’s 2013 film Marriage Blue, her new film centers around four loosely connected couples (a la Love Actually) who are each experiencing one of the many faces of a modern day relationship as the days countdown (D-6) from Christmas to New Years day.
The Couples
Ji-ho & Hyo-young In the fourth year of his divorce, a former homicide detective named Ji-ho (Kim Kang-woo) is hoping to meet his future partner in the most natural way possible. When he’s put on personal protection duty for a rehabilitation therapist named Hyo-young (Yu In-Na), a perfectionist who requested the protection as her divorce lawsuit plays out, the two naturally begin to grow close. Ji-ho’s mundane single life brightens up as he looks after Hyo-young at the elite sports academy where she works. And when Hyo-young’s unstable ex-husband poses a threat to her safety, Ji-ho’s duty to protect her becomes personal.
Jae-hun & Jina Meanwhile, after burning out with his corporate job in Seoul, Jae-hun (Yoo Yeon-seok) finds his calling in Buenos Aires, Argentina as a local wine delivery man. When Jina (Lee Yeon-hee), a part-time worker at a Korean ski resort, arrives in Buenos Aires suddenly one day after being dumped by her boyfriend, the two of them coincidentally meet. With Jae-hun not wanting anything to do with Korean people and Jina wanting to get lost in the exotic environment on her own, they go their separate ways. But multiple chance encounters draw the two closer together as they take in the colorful sights and sounds of the city that helps to mend their wounded spirits.
Yong-chan & Yaorin The head of his own travel agency, Yong-chan (Lee Dong-hwi), is set to be married to his upper class Chinese fiancée Yaorin (Chen Duling) in the coming months. Yong-chan’s older sister Yong-mi (Yeom Hae-ran), who can’t communicate well with her future sister-in-law, is very nervous about the international marriage as she wants only the best for her one and only younger brother. Not long after Yaorin arrives in Korea, Yong-chan discovers he’s been frauded out of his life savings. With his pride and ability to provide for her damaged, his upcoming wedding and future happiness are put into jeopardy.
Rae-won & Oh-wol As a Paralympic national team member and medalist, Rae-won (Teo Yoo) sets his sights on taking his career to the next level when he hires a PR agency to heighten his profile. But his loving girlfriend Oh-wol (Sooyoung) grows unhappy with the promotion efforts as she prefers to live an authentic and quiet life out of the spotlight. The two encounter a giant hurdle in their relationship as they decide what kind of a future they most desire.
New Year Blues plays almost like a highlight reel of hallmark card moments as characters visit famous locations and tourists spots in Korea and abroad. Some of my favorite parts of the movie (at least visually) were shot in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s always great to see Korean characters in exotic locations since it is not all that common in Korean cinema. I would be on board for an entire Korean movie shot here. And while very different in tone, it was sort of like Wong Kar Wai’s “Happy Together” or “Lost in Translation” with the contrast of setting and characters playing a big part. There’s also a trip to Iguazu Falls which looks beautiful of course, but shooting naturally beautiful landmarks and cityscapes isn’t necessarily movie magic in my book. I much prefer when films are able to take the unusual or otherwise unexpected setting and make it beautiful in its own way.
We get various languages spoken in New Year Blues too that aren’t commonly seen in Korean film like German, Spanish and of course Chinese with the international marriage storyline. Coinciding with the various tourist locations on display as well as the star power of its cast, there’s a sense that New Year Blues is part of a new kind of mass marketing movie for an ever growing global audience. On one hand it is great to see this kind of expansion, but movies like this tend to take very few risks. This creates that generic and predictable quality, the opposite of everything great about Korean cinema.
New Year Blues has an overall light hearted tone but there are a few moments of genuine emotion. Being a foreigner myself in Korea, there was one scene that was particularly heartfelt for me between actresses Chen Duling and Yeom Hae-ran (Baseball Girl) concerning the international couple. When the Chinese bride Yaorin sits down with her Korean fiancée’s nervous sister for a one on one to work out their worries, all attempts at using translation software to help the two communicate fails miserably and they resort to speaking in their mother tongues to communicate their feelings. The film portrays a beautiful moment of pure human connection that transcends both language and culture as the two women are able to mutually find an emotional understanding. Having been in similar situations myself, I was glad to see this challenge portrayed so optimistically to a wide Korean audience that may help public sentiment move towards a more accepting mindset when it comes to international marriages.
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