Christmas In August (DVD)

Jung-won is a seemingly ordinary man. He runs his own photo business and has healthy relationships with family and a number of friends. Unfortunately, he has an illness that is slowly killing him. Apart from his family, no-one else is aware of his illness and he prefers to keep it that way. However, when he meets Da-rim, a beautiful traffic warden who visits his shop one day, his desire to keep his illness within his family is pushed to the test. ...
...course? Or will he cut his ties with her to avoid her heart-ache?

Jung Won is played by well-known Korean actor Suk-kyu Han. Having previously seen him in The Gingko Bed, a film I didn't particularly enjoy, I didn't have particularly high expectations of him in this one. However, he did a really superb job of portraying a man at odds with himself and his friends. I truly believe that less is more when it comes to acting. Han's performance ... more

Jung-won is a seemingly ordinary man. He runs his own photo business and has healthy relationships with family and a number of friends. Unfortunately, he has an illness that is slowly killing him. Apart from his family, no-one else is aware of his illness and he prefers to keep it that way. However, when he meets Da-rim, a beautiful traffic warden who visits his shop one day, his desire to keep his illness within his family is pushed to the test. Will he let his relationship with Da-rim follow its natural course? Or will he cut his ties with her to avoid her heart-ache?

Jung Won is played by well-known Korean actor Suk-kyu Han. Having previously seen him in The Gingko Bed, a film I didn't particularly enjoy, I didn't have particularly high expectations of him in this one. However, he did a really superb job of portraying a man at odds with himself and his friends. I truly believe that less is more when it comes to acting. Han's performance really takes this on board and then some. There is very little conversation in the film. We never hear Han talk about his illness. Instead he lets us interpret his feelings ourselves, with only his expressions giving us a glimpse as to how he is feeling. There are few actors that can express so much without putting it in words, but Han is certainly one of them. This is a truly magnificent performance; one that had me in tears because of what is not said rather that was is said. An example of this is when Jung Won is trying to show his father how to use the television. Knowing that his father will soon have to do it on his own, Jung Won becomes impatient with his father's inability to pick up what Jung Won is telling him. Yet, his feelings are still not put into words and we are left able only to guess at the pain both father and son must be feeling.

Eun-ha Shim plays Da-rim. Her performance is also very under-stated, although this is mainly because she has less screen-time and we find out much less about her character and background. I thought she did a good job, although it took a while to work out that she was a traffic warden and not a schoolgirl - her uniform and ankle socks looked more like a school uniform than anything else! She also looks heart-breakingly young.

My initial foray into Korean film was largely because of the number of horrors/thrillers that have flooded the film market in recent years. However, thanks to recommendations from my DVD rental company, I've started watching more ordinary Korean films and have found that they are generally very good. I certainly enjoyed this one very much, I think because it makes such a refreshing change from the very polished, often overly schmaltzy Hollywood films. Someone diagnosed with a terminal illness is the topic of many many films, most of which are gushy tear-jerkers. Whereas this one did make me cry, it was a much more noble way of dealing with death, and I preferred it. However, we all deal with death in different ways, so I appreciate that it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

I thought that the film could only end in two ways; either Jung Won tells Da-rim that he is dying or he just disappears from her life without a reason. However, there is a twist right towards the end that I certainly didn't see coming. It isn't a jaw-dropping twist, just a gentle one, but it finished the film off beautifully and seemed to suit the mood of the whole film.

Whereas there was nothing bad about the direction of the film, it certainly wasn't particularly arty and there weren't any of the clever camera shots or flashes of colour that I have become used to with Asian films. Instead the setting, which varied from Jung Won's photo shop to his home, the hospital and the place where Da-rim works, is rather drab and unexciting. Again, though, this seemed to suit the atmosphere of the film and it drew attention to the important thing - Jung Won's struggle to come to terms with the fact that he is dying. Yet although this seems like the basis for a deeply depressing film, it somehow isn't - there are sparks of humour throughout that lift it.

Because, of course, the film is a Korean one, there are subtitles throughout the film which may put some people off. However, because of the long periods of silence, there aren't that many subtitles to deal with and those that there are are very clear, so I think it would be a shame to avoid watching simply because of the subtitles.

A film about someone dying is never going to be a bundle of laughs, but I liked the way that it was dealt with in this film. Coupled with a superb performance by the lead actor, this makes for a very watchable film, and one that everyone will find something with which to identify. Give it a try, I think you will be surprised at how much you get out of it. Just don't confuse it with the Japanese film of the same name which is based on the Korean one. Recommended.

The DVD is available from play.com for £9.45.

Classification: 12

Running time: 95 minutes 

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