Bungee Jumping of Their Own

This film is simply innovative and beautiful. It leaves you such a warmth in your heart that you will appreciate more as whole. The plot contains full of witty and touching moments; it is a romance/fantasy genre between two soulmates in college with the amusing twist. I don't want to give out much details on the storyline, because they have almost the same effect, yet in a very comical way of what 'Sixth Sense' did in the ending; you dont want to know that Bruce Willis is already dead in the first place. Do you? You will find out when you see the movie. The script is perfect; it's got none of useless parts, and the actors give great lines with it. The cinematography is beautifully shot in clean and soft touches that fits to the theme. Just watch this one; I assure you it is different.

A hot chick meets a cute guy at a bus stop, and they fall in love just like that. 17 years later, the cute guy is a teacher. Gradually, we learn more about what happened 17 years ago (thanks to some flashbacks), as events take a surprising turn in the present.

"Bungee Jumping Of Their Own" has to be one of the strangest movie titles of all time, and doesn't make the slightest bit of sense until the very end of the film. Extreme sports fans, I'm sorry to report than Bungee Jumping is *not* a major part of the film. Also, despite the sappy dvd cover that put me off watching the film for ages, it's not some kind of girly love story either. Yes, it is a love story, but a strange and interesting one.

It's not often I stoop to watch a drama, especially a love story, but I'll generally make an exception for Korean films as they are so often very well done, with an intelligence and depth that you are unlikely to find in Hollywood or Hong Kong for instance. Bungee is no MY SASSY GIRL, but it's a fine piece of film-making. The production values are excellent - beautiful cinematography and soundtrack and well written script, but the big stand-out is the quality of the acting. I don't think I recognised any of the actors, but they all gave superb performances full of depth and emotion.

I'm in a phase at the moment where I'm kind of bored of cinema - seen so many movies they all kind of blur together and few films leave lasting impressions. Bungee Jumping Of Their Own stands out because of the unexpected places it goes, the intelligence and the technical virtues, and will certainly stick in my mind for a while. I'd expected to put it up for trade once I'd seen it, but it's definitely a keeper

Strongly recommended.

BUNGEE JUMPING OF THEIR OWN (Beonjijompeureul Hada)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Dolby Digital

A high school teacher (Lee Byung-hun) suspects that a teenage boy (Yeo Hyun-soo) is the reincarnation of a girl he loved and lost 17 years earlier - and begins to fall in love with him...

The Korean movie renaissance continues apace with this extraordinary film from debut director Kim Dae-seung, working from Ko Eun-nim's equally extraordinary script, which tackles the universality of love in all its myriad forms. Hoping to spring a surprise on the film's notoriously conservative domestic audience, the distributors omitted virtually all references to the 'gay twist' from advance publicity materials, promoting the movie as a story of enduring love (the opening section is no different from dozens of other romantic dramas produced in SE Asia every year), headlined by some of the country's most popular actors.

Korean superstar Lee Byung-hun (JOINT SECURITY AREA) is utterly charming as the beleaguered protagonist who stands to lose his friends, family and livelihood because of a sudden, inexplicable identity crisis (he isn't 'gay' in the true sense of the word, he's simply found his soulmate in an unexpected place), and he makes a startling transition from gauche youth to confident adult, touched by eternity; his emotions are palpable, and deeply affecting. Lee Eun-ju is strong in a largely thankless role as the woman who captures Lee B-H's heart (sadly, the actress took her own life in February 2005), while rising star Yeo (BIRTH OF A MAN) holds his own as the young man caught up in circumstances beyond his control.

A romantic melodrama in the true sense, Kim's remarkable film balances magic and realism with exquisite grace (look out for the 'waltz at sunset' sequence, guaranteed to warm anyone's cockles), though the climactic descent into darker territory leads to an unexpected finale which is both sad and liberating, all at the same time. Unfortunately, the film has been saddled with an appalling English title which makes it sound like some kind of comedy, and prospective viewers are urged to look beyond this minor blemish. Brave, emotional, and played to perfection by a sterling cast, this is transgressive cinema at its most compelling.

(Korean dialogue)

This film is about a young man falling in love with a girl he meets on the street. She then disappeared without a trace. 17 years later, he is convinced that his girl reincarnated as his male student.

I did not know a thing about the film before I watched it, and I was completely blown away. The plot is amazingly well written. It is a very well told love story. The past and present are intertwined, and the past is revealed only when it is relevant to the present. The relationship between the young couple is well built, setting a great scene for subsequent developments.

The second part of the film portrays a forbidden relationship. They face a lot of self doubt and pressure from others. It exemplifies how hard it is to live an alternative life. And to think In-woo is doing so because he "knows" Hyeon-bin is special makes me wonder what price people would pay to love, and to honour previous promises. The little signs that In-woo uses to make up his conclusion is well planned and well placed throughout the film. I was amazed by it, as every scene shows its significance later on in the film.

Hyeon-bin and In-woo's relationship is a double taboo, and I congratulate the filmmakers for having the courage and determination to make this film. "Bungee Jumping of Their Own" is captivating and touching. It is like no other film. and I certainly recommend it.

Director Kim Dae-seung's debut feature, "Bungee Jumping of Their Own" (2001), screenplay by Ko Eun-nim, is not just another teen romance story - it's THE love story defined. If you think "Romeo and Juliet" is the all-time greatest of love stories, wait till you finished watching this film. True love knows no bounds, irrespective of what others may perceive or say.

For viewing appreciation, it's best not to read/know much about the film and simply let the story develop and unfold before your eyes. Have patience with the pair of young love getting upset and making up, apart and together. Those rainy scenes of walking, drenching, standing, with or without umbrella, are heartbreaking, cold and warm all at once. In-woo (the young man who became the teacher years later - central role) and Tae-hee (the young lady he helplessly loves) are clearly inseparable lovebirds. Director Kim presented the situations in the most natural way. Little details are revealed as the story progresses, and as we see In-woo teaching a class of high school boys, cut to at home he's talking to a little girl - so he's married with a daughter. Is it Tae-hee? Gradually, more periodic flashes of memory occur, and little observations like student Hyun-bin's drinking with little finger up, or asking a familiar question déjà vu.

The imaginative, thinking out of a box, approach in presenting the crux of the story is a bold directorial decision. Reincarnation has been done before, but this is "Heaven Can Wait" from a different perspective, and why not. You might say it's 'heaven can't wait'. A latter flashback key point reminds me of Spanish writer-director Julio Medem's (1998) "The Lovers of the Arctic Circle" - a film which is also about two inseparable lovers. The 'love only one person' theme (and a teacher role with wife and children) was tackled in the Hong Kong director Ann Hui's (2002) "July Rhapsody" (aka: Laam yan sei sap). I can't help but also think of Argentinean writer-director Eliseo Subiela's (1995) "Don't Die Without Telling Me Where You're Going," which has Subiela's trademark philosophical tones and exchanges besides fascinating storytelling.

The acting is sensitive and convincing; the cinematography is skillful and impressive (the beginning aerial sequence gives one a breezy feel); and the music has a calmness to it; also editing and sound (like the brief playing of "When I fall in love" just loud enough crooning in the background) - all fittingly complemented the script. It is refreshing to believe what happened or could happen to the central characters (three, essentially two) in "Bungee Jumping of Their Own." Is it possible? Seems logical. Why ever not?

I saw this film on a Region 3 DVD in Korean with English and Chinese subtitles options. (An All Region DVD player is a worthy 'investment' for 'serious' DVD film viewing.)