My Dear Enemy - Opening Night Film

Meotjin haru

(South Korea | 2008 | 123 mins | 35mm)

35mm

North American Premiere

Exec. Producers: Jo Eun-woon
Producers: David Cho, Jo Gwang-Heui, Oh Jeong-wan
Writer: Lee Yoon-ki, Park Eun-yeong
Cinematographer: Choi Sang-ho
Editor: Kim Hyeong-ju
Sound: Kim Seong-dal
Music: Kim Jeong-beom
Cast: Jeon Do-yeon, Ha Jung-woo, Oh Ji-eu, Kim Hee-soo

To purchase combo tickets for Opening Film + Gala Reception, please click here.

A breezy, pitch-perfect ride through the streets of Seoul and into the unsuspecting world of two ex-lovers, Lee Yoon-ki's marvelous MY DEAR ENEMY brims with warmth and possibility while mining the magic, mystery and foibles of human relations. Winding its way through back alleys just as it twists through the intricacies of the heart, Lee's fourth feature is a jazzy, city-symphony road trip that sparkles with remarkable performances and subtle gestures.

ENEMY pairs two of Korea's most talented actors: Jeon Do-yeon, winner of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival best actress award for Lee Chang-dong's SECRET SUNSHINE, and Ha Jung-woo, who made his U.S. debut in Gina Kim's NEVER FOREVER (SFIAAFF '08), and also stars in this year's THE CHASER.

Ha is Byeong-woon, a happy-go-lucky fellow, talkative, charming and broke, a lover of ladies and life. When Hee-su (Jeon), a long-lost girlfriend suddenly appears, angrily demanding the $1000 she lent him years ago, the two embark on a dawn-till-dusk odyssey, journeying through Seoul as Byeong-woon calls upon favors to repay her. The two could not be more different: his carefree attitude is countered by her guarded measure, while her pained reluctance to let him out of her sight collides with his enjoyment of their awkward interactions. As day turns to night, however, slight fissures appear in Hee-su's wary façade, and their exchanges begin to take on an easier, more relaxed tenor....

Lee's Seoul is Woody Allen's New York or Richard Linklater's Paris in BEFORE SUNSET: home to a million stories, where the interactions of ex-lovers can form a microcosm of the city's soul-restive, full of history and memories, but exuberant all the while. From the film's extended opening sequence, where we are placed in Lee's assured storytelling hands, to its brief, delicious coda, MY DEAR ENEMY achieves a lightness of being that is as deeply satisfying as it is charming. Ha and Jeon's irresistible chemistry- tense and playful, nuanced and natural-is something to revel in, like the wash of relief and pleasure when a held smile is finally released.

-- Chi-hui Yang

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