Directed by: Kang Hyeong-cheol (강형철) Starring: Shim Eun-kyung (심은경), Kang So-ra (강소라), Kim Bo-ra (김보라), Yoo Ho-jeong (유호정), Jin Hee-kyung (진희경), Kim Minyoung (김민영), Park Jin-joo (박진주), Nam Bo-ra (남보라), Go Su-hee (고수희), Hong Jin-hee (홍진희), Chun Woo-hee (천우희), Lee Yeon-kyung (이연경), Min Hyo-rin (민효린), Kim Seon-kyeong (김선경) Release Date: May 04th, 2011 / Director’s Cut: July 28th, 2011
Sunny is undoubtedly a nostalgia film. It opens with a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s memorable love song “Time After Time” as the hard-working mother, Nami (Yoo Ho-jeong), gives a good day’s send off to her family. Her husband heads to his high paying corporate job on a full stomach and her teenage daughter will make it to school on time thanks to Nami, as is her daily routine. Even if the word may be falling out of fashion, Nami is a typical Korean housewife carrying out her expected duties. Seemingly content with her life, her husband showers her with cash and she’s able to buy expensive luxury goods for herself and her ailing mother while enjoying large amounts of free time after she finishes house chores. But the repetitiveness of it all has grown somewhat boring, and Nami begins to think back on the exciting glory days of her youth and all the liveliness created by her tight group of friends, nicknamed “Sunny”, that she no longer gets a chance to see.
Later, Nami runs into an old friend from the “Sunny” gang, Chun-hwa, who is dying of cancer in the hospital. The two reminisce on the past before Nami drops her husband off at the airport for his two month long business trip. On her way home, Na-mi drops by her old all-girls high school where she recalls her first day as an awkward transfer student after having just moved to Seoul from the countryside. Her classmates laugh as she speaks with a funny dialect and she gets off to a rough start. Luckily, a top ranked fighter at her school takes a liking to her since they both share the names of trending pop singers and she’s soon introduced to a few other girls who will become some of the strongest and most memorable friendships of her life.
Sunny cuts back and forth from the two timelines (2010’s and 1980’s) where we see the young girls form their bonds of friendship, enjoying their triumphs and struggles together as they fight through teenagerhood during the tumultuous 1980’s in Korea. Meanwhile, the adult Nami begins to reunite the old gang in order to give their dying friend Chun-hwa a “Sunny” send-off worthy of their unforgettable times together. But Nami will be in for a few surprises along the way as her best friends’ lives have turned out somewhat different than she had imagined.
The girls and women of Sunny are so well defined by both their personalities and styles. Chun-hwa (Kang So-ra/Jin Hee-kyung) is bold and fearless, Jin-hee (Park Jin-joo/Hong Jin-hee) is a master of swear words, Geum-ok (Nam Bo-ra/Lee Yeon-kyung) is a nerdy bookworm who carries a big stick, Bok-hee (Kim Bo-mi/Kim Sun-kyung) is cutesy and sees herself as a future Miss Korea, Jang-mi (Kim Minyoung/Go Su-hee) is big and defined by her bottomless appetite, and Su-ji (Min Hyo-rin) is too cool for school.
In other Korean films about friendship and adolescence during the late 70’s – mid 80’s such as Once Upon a Time in High School (2004) and even Friend (2001) in parts, present the then strong authoritarian central government as an often tense environment to grow up in. But more interestingly, the setting becomes something like a side character that indirectly applies pressure on the main characters both at school and in the home that casts a dark shadow on everything. We see this through the harsh disciplinarian attitudes of the school faculty and parents towards the young adults in an effort to steer them on a path towards success, perhaps because many the adults during this time had first hand experience of what poverty and hard times really looked like after having lived through the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Sunny, however, stays true to its title by remaining brightly lit as it often comically spins the tense atmosphere of the times into a nostalgic joy ride. Of the positive developments during the authoritarian regime of the 80’s, Korea saw its economy and workforce grow at record setting speeds that created a large and prosperous hard-working middle class. These were not entirely sunny days in general per say, as we get glances of pro-democracy protests that include riot police in the streets as well as tough corporal punishment in school.
The bright spin on the times comes, for example, as riot police wait quietly in the dark for a protest to erupt suddenly burst into a cheer after overhearing the boy Nami likes advise her to inform the school bullies that he’s her boyfriend so they won’t bother her anymore. Or when the “Sunny” gang has a school brawl with their rivals amidst a giant clash between pro-democratic protestors and riot police, it reminds us of the time period’s difficulties yet refuses to let it dampen the girls’ spirits. Like this, Sunny provides a fun and colorful portrayal of a tight-knit group of blossoming young women having the time of their lives no matter what their external circumstances may be. That is the power of youth. The ups, the downs, the heartbreaks, the battles. They’re all covered here.
Sunny is loaded with laugh-out-loud moments too. Whether it’s the incessant curse words from Nami’s aged grandmother with dementia, or the adult “Sunny” posse with going after a gang of bullies tormenting Nami’s teenage daughter, there are so many priceless moments like this that separate Sunny from the pack. And despite Sunny revolving around a large group of girls and women, it appeals to all genders with fantastic comic timing and an irresistible sense of energy that has the power to touch anyone willing to take a look backwards.
As a nostalgia piece, I appreciate that Sunny doesn’t lament getting older or worship the youthful days either. Instead, Sunny celebrates life by treating all stages as equally important ones that can be cherished and celebrated in their own ways. It’s okay that life doesn’t always go as planned. Sometimes things turn out for the better and other times they don’t. Sunny is one such films that reminds us to put a little perspective on everything and appreciate the fleeting nature of time as it presents us with moments that we can choose to make lasting memories out of.
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