Yeon-ae-dam

'Our love story' feels refreshing. True, I think the onset of the relationship between the main characters seems inorganic and unconvincing - but then, I suppose there's something to be said for how messy such interactions can be in real life, too. And that's really the key: the narrative comes across very much as a down-to-earth, quiet portrait of the connection between two people. Film-maker Lee Hyun-ju doesn't employ the sort of tropes we commonly expect in films centering lesbian characters - there are no overtly romantic flourishes overlaid to embellish the feature. This is much more about the simple trajectory of a relationship, with all its ups and downs, and the personal difficulties that flow from and contribute to such turmoil.

Stars Lee Sang-hee and Ryu Sun-young are both fine actresses who capably realize Yoon-ju, Ji-soo, and all their complexities. They are great scene partners, and whether individually or together make every moment of love or angst very believable. From the beginning the characters appear very dissimilar, but as the film rolls on and they both struggle through varied, conflicting emotions, we see how very alike they actually are. This includes not least of all the hardship that comes from the pressure to be discreet - homophobia presents subtly, with the same air of disapproval as though of any disfavored relationship. But it's nonetheless unmistakable as a partner to dominant cultural heteronormativity that's projected throughout, a theme that looms like a pale specter over the story.

The technical craft is superb, and I quite enjoy the soft, sparing music that dots the soundtrack. If not the most captivating screenplay in the world, Hyun-ju has written a solid, complete tale, actualized as a lovely, low-key picture. It's unfortunate to read after the fact of the filmmaker's tawdry history - it rather puts a blemish on such a broadly satisfying feature, a strong debut that indicated great potential. Even so, the title stands on its own merit: 'Our love story' is a testament to swell writing, directing, and acting - a breath of fresh air in a genre where one feature commonly echoes another. Any viewer seeking a purely robust, invigorating lesbian romance may be put out, but an audience receptive to more subdued, thoughtful experiences will be right at home. This is a very well made movie that's worth checking out.

'Our love story' is far from boring, it's real. Both women fall in love while being partially closeted. I'm glad this movie was made.

As I stumbled upon the 2016 South Korean romantic drama titled "Yeon-Ae-Dam" (aka "Our Love Story") here in 2022, I had to sit down and watch it, solely on the account of it being an Asian movie that I hadn't already seen. Sure, I had never heard about this movie from writer and director Hyun-Ju Lee prior to watching.

Well, I will start out by saying that the acting performances in the movie were good, despite of the fact that the storyline was pretty weak. Especially Sang-Hee Lee (playing Yoon-Ju) stood put in the movie with her performance.

However, I found "Yeon-Ae-Dam" to be a slow paced movie. In fact, it was so slow paced that the narrative had no chance of ever taking flight. And it didn't really help much that the storyline itself was lacking interesting contents. The whole narrative felt flaccid and monotonous.

Sure, you get somewhat drawn in by the characters, because the character gallery in the movie is actually rather nice, and they had cast some good actresses and actors for the various roles. But the movie just felt weighed down and held back by a slow paced narrative that didn't offer much of any overly dramatic moments or enjoyable moments.

"Yeon-Ae-Dam" was sort of a disappointing movie experience, to say the least. Perhaps I just wasn't the right target audience for this.

My rating of "Yeon-Ae-Dam" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

Our love story is a great Korean film that was refreshing. The main character did a great job in her role. The movie is slow at first but if you give it a few more minutes it will get going. I really enjoyed it from the beginning. I wanted more character building, but it managed.

It has very realist moments in the movie which helped me engage in the film more

Still, the ending could have been fifteen minutes longer to show us how the plot played out. Many people would agree with that. At the same time I did see what the makers of the film where trying to go with the artistic direction and letting us put the pieces of the ending together. Great movie and I'm glad to had the chance to see it.

This was a great movie. It was real and endearing. True to its name, the love story of Jisoo and Yoonju takes us into their lives. I found myself so sucked in their emotions, unable to function normally for couple days. It's not common to have a Korean movie about lesbians, and I truly appreciate this chance to relate to the characters. Just the fact that it's a queer movie is fantastic, but Our Love Story is also extremely well-made and delightful.