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.

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.

This love story is quite engaging. It portrays relatively simple, but very touching characters. There is an aura of innocence and naive charm that transpires.

The story itself is sweet. It deals with the themes of typical teenage romance (teasing, awkwardness, tension, comfort, confusion, initial steps into sexuality) and of deeper love (transcendence, bond, implicit connection, sharing, understanding).

The begging is excellent and shows Seo In-woo and In Tae-hee fall in love and figuratively leap together towards the uncertainties of life. They form a bond of heart-felt love, trust and appreciation. The cinematography and the dialogue of their sequences in the rain are magnificent. The right mixture of simple and grand. They're intimacy is also very well expressed and we feel like we almost fell in love anew as a viewer. Quite marvellously done.

After this exquisite prelude, the story then fast-forwards to a few years in the future, when Seo In-woo is now a professor. Little by little, we start to understand what has happened during the time gap and how the professor's inner world is resurfacing. It slowly comes back in a very interesting, non-conventional and unpredictable way.

While the characters remain simple, even if in conflict, the story then intensifies and reach a level of complexity and maturity that is truly exemplary.

The cinematography is again allowed to shine when we leave the classroom and even the interior scenes in Seo In-woo's home (or the earlier motel scene for that matter) are perfectly shot. Calculated, warm and poignant. The landscape, the window shots, the contrasts of light and colours are all top-notch. Picturesque. Incredible craft.

The dialogue is also very perky, often funny, and keeps the story moving along with ease. When it's not funny, it's deep and intense, allowing the actors to shine.

The resolution of the movie is at once unnerving and soothing. Unbelievable, but also fitting and true. We realize that it could not really have been otherwise. We are not sure if we approve or not, but we can somehow nevertheless understand. Life is also as such: we don't always agree with it, but in the end we have to accept 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.)

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)