A young, pure, innocent love in elementary school. It's one of the romance stories that I always try to find, yet it is always in vain and if I had found one, it always ends up in disappointment because of its unrealistic elements. However, Sonagi, or more popularly called 'The Shower', is one of those rare gems that truly depict the love story that most, if not all, had experienced as a kid.
Adapted from a short story written by Hwang Sun-won (also titled Sonagi), it highlights the event of a boy named Suk-ie (Lee Young-soo), who lives in a countryside, and Yeon-ie (Jon Yun-suk), a girl who just moved from Seoul in a middle of a road. Through what seems like fate, they both developed a rivalry that slowly blossoms into an innocent love story.
This is not a story where misunderstanding took place, competition with others to win the girl or a final realization that set the main character to chase their romantic interest to disappear forever. NO! There is no made-up scenario to raise the stakes and tension. Instead, it just presents a plain, yet amazingly realistic love story. The characters here just performing their daily routines every day; going to school, playing at the lake, doing chores, etc. And coincidentally the main character just found someone that made the character's heart pound and how it changes the character's daily routine.
The characters are also what made the film flow perfectly. They are not fabricated to stand out in the crowd, but instead, to be relatable to the audience and their daily lives. Suk-ie, for example, is short-tempered; however, spending time with Yeon-ie pacified him because he does not want to look bad in front of her. This is something we've done before when we're in love, becoming someone that's not our true-self (or the opposite sometimes) and how Young-soo and Yun-suk innocently perform these scenes are very subtle that will make us chuckle, reminiscing our own experiences.
Technical wise, Sonagi had achieved near perfection on its era This is notably thanks to cinematographer Lee Seong-chun, who perfectly captures the countryside beautifully with its perfectly composed framing and color. Furthermore, the movie did not forget to capture that warm and fuzzy love feeling between Suk-ie and Yeon-ie through its simple yet sincere moments. Director Go Yeong-nam also managed to make the coming-of-age film filed with metaphoric imagery. There are many visuals Yeong-nam included related to the story foreshadowing scenes but also offer in-depth meanings to the movie. Notably the shower scene, which symbolizes the short but memorable moments of love; it became one of the best scenes in romance film thanks to all of these aspects.
Sadly, the movie is not without its flaws. I felt the characters are too hard to be relatable at first. Yes, they are kids and it is hard to understand their thoughts (which perhaps was the intention). However, the characters could grow annoying sometimes with their repetitive childish act that are quite rarely being found in reality. Then, without spoiling anything, I believe there's one moment that really ruins the film. For me, it just ruins the tone and momentum the film holds as a whole.
So, is it the best romance film of all time for me? Yes, if only that moment being modified. But do I enjoy it? Obviously. It's been so long since I've felt a heartfelt romance film that could shake my heart. Even with its flaws, I highly recommend you, readers, to watch this film. You could search it on Youtube with the channel name of Korean Classic Film. Seriously, It's those rare gems that modern romance film lose their essence in these days.
