Friday, October 19, 2012

전환

Season repeats itself but life doesn't

Season changes, so do things in life. Though a long time supporter of LG, I have since moved on. LCD TV has been changed to Panasonic and notebook to Hewlett Packard. Now, who dare say I am Korean brand bias? Ok, I confess, I just change my handphone from Iphone to Samsung Note.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

무슨 실수?

그래도 되요? 그러면 안돼요~ (Like that, OK? If like that, not OK~)
When I first saw the above screen capture in a news article, I was wondering, "Is there an error?" I knew there was because of the title says so, but I did not know what mistake it was, really.

Now that I know, it becomes laughable that I did not spot the grammatical error at the first instance. "그래도 되요?" should be written as "그래도 돼요?". I guess, I am equally capable of making such boo boo. My Korean language teacher would have shown her disapproval by saying, "그러면 안돼요~". Well, my excuse will be, "외국인이니까요." (I am a foreigner, you know.)
 
The context of the article can be found in one of the scenes in episode 18 of the SBS's Mon-Tue drama, The Great Doctor (신의), shown on Oct 9. In an attempt to cheer Choi Yung (Lee Min-ho) up after the death of his brothers, Yoo Eun-soo (Kim Hee-sun) did a sudden proposal, placard-flipping style. In order of sequence:

괜찮아요. (It's OK)
옆에 있을게요. (I'll be by your side)
그날까지 (Until the end)
그래도 되요?" (Is that OK?)

To rub it in, Oct 9 was Hangeul Day. Anyway, don't be too hard on a silly mistake. As the Korean proverb says, "원숭이도 나무에서 떨어질 때 있다" (There will be a time when monkey also falls from tree). At the end, it's always the heart that counts.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

첫사랑 보관소

Archive First Love (첫사랑 보관소, 初戀保管所) is a 20-min 3-D Korean short film which explores the universal theme of first love. It makes its premier at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) 2012.

Synopsis: One day, out of the blue, writer Hyun-woo, started receiving parcels at his doorstep. The parcels contained items and memories of someone else's first love. Initially, he was at a loss of what to do with the stuff. Since he could neither throw away nor return them to their respective owners, he decided to set up an archive and be their keeper. He labelled and arranged each item neatly in his little archive so that their owners, if they want to, are able to retrieve them one day. However, little did he know that his first love's memories would soon occupy a place in his own Archive of First Love. 

 
Short film "Archive First Love (2012)" - 2D version 

First love always comes with inexperience and clumsiness. There will be many minor misunderstandings because everyone is only starting to love. As much as each first love is unique, they have a common point, that is, they give you pain. When first love has to end for the sake of a new-found love, the latter will never be as pure, as passionate and as painful as the former. 

There are a few scenes in the film I like:

Scene 1: Hyun-woo 'listening' to other's memories with a stethoscope

The 'voices' which Hyun-woo seems to hear:

M: Do you mean, all the things I did for you are meaningless?
F: You didn't do anything for me. You're only doing them for yourself.

F: I don't want to see you anymore.
M: Can't you think it over again?

M: You're right, it seems like you were not happy when you were with me.
F: I'm sorry, I was rash. I want to restart over again. I miss you.

These are conversations which we would also likely to hear prior to a break-off. 


Scene 2: Hyun-woo talking to his grandma about her first love

Hyun-woo: Grandma, that's nice music you're listening to.

Grandma: It's the music I listen to whenever I think of my first love.

Hyun-woo: I didn't know grandma also has first love. It seems like grandpa is not the one.

Grandma: Where do you find someone who doesn't have first love? Even now, when I think of that person, my heart aches... and... I miss him.

Hyun-woo: You still think of that person... even after all these years?

Grandma: I have never for once forgotten about him, although it's natural that with time, things fade away and people grow old. Do you know what is the hardest thing to endure with the passage of time? Your body ages but your heart doesn't. There is no way you can erase away those memories that are in your heart. Especially, those that were already there at the beginning.


Scene 3: Hyun-woo talking to his girlfriend prior to their break-off

Hyun-woo:  A man would just focus on the things he does for his woman. A woman could decide to leave her man without even knowing his feeling for her. Why is it that woman can't sense a man's feeling without him saying it out?

So-ri: Oppa, a woman cannot sense everything by just "I love you" alone. If you don't say it, there are many things that will not be known.



If you can't get enough of first love's story in this short film, you can enjoy more of it in "Introduction to Architecture" (건축학 개론, 建築學 槪論). But do take note, the pain in the movie may resonate in you even though you are just an audience. It seems, people are more alike than different when it concerns matter of the heart.