Stream K-Dramas at OnDemandKorea

'S Diary' takes a comic shot at romance

There is a perception, or prejudice, that women are more likely to ask the question ("Do you love me?") almost on a daily, if not hourly, basis, and get relieved whenever they get the right answer ("Sure, I do, honey").
There is also a perception, perhaps closer to truth, that many bored men respond to the do-you-love-me question with a perfunctory answer. The real question is, do men really truly love their girl friends as they profess so confidently?

"S Diary", opening this Friday, latches on to the lingering suspicion that men's primary concern in relationships is not about real love but animalistic sexual desire.

Jini (Kim Sun-a), a 29-year-old publishing house staff, breaks up with her handsome boyfriend against a backdrop of a melodramatic setting - drizzling rain at a rail station in a remote, mountainous area.



While struggling not to collapse, Jini gets a piece of advice from the departing man: "I'm sick and tired of you. Please check whether your former boyfriends really loved you".

Though the breakup is heart-breaking, Jini finds the advice intriguing. She dated with three men before, and is now curious about whether they really loved her or pursued their sexual desires only.

In the name of checking up on her old flames, the movie, directed by Kwon Jong-kwan, recounts Jini's former romances through her diaries that contain embarrassingly candid details.

Her first love was a handsome and religious boy named Ku-hyeon (Lee Hyun-woo-I). At the tender age of 19, Jini had a crush on the boy, who was the conductor of the church choir.

Ku-hyeon happened to become a tutor for Jini, and somehow they ended up studying together when there was nobody at home except for the two curious youngsters.

As expected, something happened on that day. Instead of Ku-hyeon taking responsibility for their one night stand, he turns to prayer to seek forgiveness, which means nothing to Jini, who expected something better than that, something like a real relationship.

One day, Ku-hyeon left Jini without any notice, brining her puppy love to an abrupt and disappointing end.

Her second love encounter was no less dramatic and heart-wrenching. In college, she met Jeong-seok (Kim Soo-ro), a self-styled tough guy who was obsessed with his motorbike. He constantly exercised in his dirty rented house and dreamed about a dramatic change in his life.

Unfortunately for Jini, the change finally came when he met and married a rich girl in a hurried fashion. He left a pathetically cheesy note: "What's important for me is a stable life". So much for true love.

The third man was Yoo-in (Gong Yoo), a freewheeling street painter who was, well, younger than Jini. They had passionate times in his studio-cum-house. Jini felt extreme happiness in the initial stage, but she soon realized he's too immature and wayward to become her true boyfriend. She decided to leave him on her own initiative, as she knew she had no other choice.

For all the bitterness and heartaches, Jini cherishes the memories created by the relationships with the three men. And she meets up with them one by one to ask whether they really loved her, at least why they wanted to date her in the first place.

Yet the answers couldn't be more disheartening. Ku-hyeon, who is now a Catholic priest, gives her a stern statement: "That was purely a sexual desire for me". Jeong-seok, who is now a policeman, keeps spitting out four-letter words at her, assuming that she attempts to revive the relationships. Yoo-in, still an immature jerk, throws a punch at Jini by declaring that her sudden visit is nothing more than a longing hidden desire to see again his "great body".

Deeply disappointed by the revelations, Jini devises a scheme to get revenge on the three "callous" men. She sets up a series of traps and forces them to pay for all the "you-know-what" services she provided during their relationships.

From this point on, the film swerves into a slapstick comedy. Some scenes are hilarious (what if a policeman puts on embarrassingly tight pants, or a priest drugged with Viagra has to preside over mass). Other scenes are simply childish. (Jini attempts to kidnap her third boyfriend's dog, taking it as a hostage.)

Saving the movie from becoming a ho-hum slapstick comedy is an impressive performance by Na Mun-hee, who plays Jini's progressive and open-minded mother. Na shows how a veteran actress can set a balance with sophisticated acting and graceful style.

The movie largely revolves around the true love vs. lust question, but director Kwon eventually settles with the theme of a learning experience many woman go through. This is a sensible choice because a candid answer from the pathetic men in the film is unlikely to be satisfying.

By Yang Sung-jin

Advertisement

❎ Try Ad-free