Jan
22
2007
Ad Lib Night
Posted by luna6
Movie : Ad Lib Night / Aju teukbyeolhan sonnim / 아주 특별한 손님
Year : 2006
Country : South Korea
Director : Lee Yun-Gi
Starring: Hyo-ju Han (Lee Bokyoung), Kim Young-Min, Kim Jung-Gi
Runtime : 99 Minutes
Rating : 7.0
(12 Votes, User Rating: 8.92)
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Plot Synopsis : A girl is standing alone, near a park somewhere in downtown in Seoul. Two men are watching her, as they discuss whether she is the girl in the picture that one of the guys has in his hand. Then they walk up to the girl and asks if she is Ko Myungeun. The girl politely says no. The guy repeatedly asks her if she is sure and the agitated girl then walks away.
The two men talk among themselves again, before they catch up to the girl walking away. One of the guys asks for a moment so he can ask her for a favor. He explains that the girl in the picture is a runaway from a distant rural town. Her father is in the late stages of lung cancer and could do die at any moment. The two men came to Seoul to find the runaway daughter, but they do not have much time left. They ask if she would be willing to go back with them and pretend to be the dying man’s daughter forjust one day. Initially, the girl says no, but as they plead some more the girl surpisingly says “yes.”
Movie Review : Having seen Lee Yun-Gi’s prior movie Love Talk, I can say that I was apprehensive in watching Ad Lib Night. Apprehensive, because Love Talk was one of the more disappointing movies that I have seen in recent memory. That movie was centered around Korean-Americans living in Los Angeles and the film was bad in just about every way possible. Fortunately, Ad Lib Night, is nothing like Love Talk and provides genuinely intriguing moments in the beginning of the film and very poignant moments towards the end of the film.
Ad Lib Night is actually an adaptation from a Japanese short story by Taira Azuko. The film was shot with HD Cameras in only 10 days and has a decidely low budget indie film feel to the movie - which I loved. As stated earlier, the first ten minutes or so of the film provides for some genuinely intriguing moments, that grabs your attention immediately. After the opening sequence, I really had no idea where the movie would go. Would the family in the country turn out to be the crazy kind of folks as shown in A Bloody Aria, or would the guys driving her out to into the country turn out to be murders like Memories of Murder, or would the girl turn out to be the actual daughter of the dying father in a surprise twist?
The film actually takes none of these paths, and focuses more on the dynamics of death as it effects close family members and even strangers. Although the family members never came out and said such things, most of the family members seemed to be there mainly to receive an inheritance. The sooner the man passed away, the better it would be for them as they could get on with their lives. The ensemble cast of family members were portrayed in a realistic manner, often bickering among themselves over things that family members normally bicker about. They also never truly grieved for the dying person, as one would think family members would do.
In fact, the one person to grasp the profoundness of the situation would have been the girl that agreed to stand in for the runaway daughter. Her identity was a mystery during most of the film, as well as her motives for doing some of the things that she did. When she was in the runaway girl’s bedroom, she would slip on the missing girl’s socks over her own. When the father died, the girl would walk over to the dead man and hold his hand, while whispering a few words into his ear. The reasons why she did these things were explained during the closing moments of the film. Once these facts are known, her actions seemed even more heartfelt than before.
One small complaint with Ad Lib Night would have been the slow pacing of the film during the middle portions. Although the portrayal of the family members were realistic, that entire section felt like it could have been shortened or at least have a few more dynamic elements added, to make it as compelling as the beginning and ending portions.
Besides that one complaint, I did really enjoy the movie. Ad Lib Night is the type of movie that will appeal to the viewer even more once they finish watching the movie. All the details are not given out until the film’s resolution and once these facts are known, you can replay the events of the movie in your mind and appreciate the actions by some of the characters even more.
2006 Movie Reviews, Movie Reviews |
Comments
7 Comments so far
Luiz I too loved “Flower Island” that was one of the first films to really turn me on to Korean Cinema. Keep your eyes out for the new film “Hers” which stars Hyena Kim (the young punkish girl in Flower Island). Cheers.
I just finished watching it, and it was quite enjoyable! The way it it filmed looks a lot like Flower Island, although i prefer Flower Island, this one is also an excellent movie. I’m impressed with the quality of these low budget Korean movies.
You know, I’m kinda addicted, it is like a good book, once you start reading the real good ones you just can’t go back to the usual crap.
YesAsia seems to be out of it, but HKFlix still has it if somebody wants it:
http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.541236/qx/details.htm
Thanks a lot for the suggestions/reviews. Even when i don’t agree about the high rating the movies are still worth watching.
where did you guys watch the film? youtube, or did you download?
Umm…I am of “Korean descent” so you can say I have some kimchi in me, but my verbal skills are very rudimentary. I usually rely on subtitles as well, so I’m not sure if the subtitles got lost in translation. I can say that for people unfamiliar with Korean traditions/culture, the whole middle portions may have gotten lost in translation. Those scenes depicted accurately how Korean families interact…especially when an elder person is near death. Yet being realistic doesn’t necessarily translate into being interesting, and I did find the middle portion boring. Nevertheless I was really impressed with the beginning and especially that ending.
Also thank you for reading the website as well. Always interesting to read up on other people’s opinions as well.
Thanks, yes that helps. Quite a detailed reply!
I agree with you on some points for sure. One thing I wonder is do you know korean? I have to read subtitles, so I wonder if somethings were lost in translation.
On another note, thanks for your reviews! I quite enjoy reading them.
Hmm…I hate to give spoilers away, so anybody that is reading this and plans to watch the movie in the future don’t read any further.
***Spoiler***
At the end of the film when the girl was being driven home…she just felt like telling someone about secrets that she held inside and that person happened to be the former boyfriend of the missing girl .
She told him during that drive, that the person she was waiting for (at the beginning of the film), was a client set up by a prostitution agency. She also informed him that she did this out of her own free will. She thought it could give her independence. Then she looked out of the car window and cried to herself silently. That scene was very profound and even more so because of the camera work and the lack of any over the top melodrama that can be found in similar movies.
Although the movie doesn’t expain everything in detail, judging from her reaction in the car you could surmise quite a bit about her past. There had to have been problems at home and she probably lived a life that her parents knew nothing about - very similar to the runaway girl. Her opinions about her own life, was expressed clearly in only a few words, when she was in the missing girl’s bedroom with another younger girl. That younger girl expressed admiration that she lived in a big city like Seoul by herself. She responded in almost a lifeless voice that “it’s not as cool as you think…the freedom means you have more to cope with .”
When the younger girl left the room, she then looked around the bedroom more carefully. The room was kept in perfect condition by the parents, in hopes that the runaway girl would return. I think this was around the time that she could truly understand how much the parents cared for the girl and also how the missing girl felt at the time she ran away. The other family members would remark that the girl always seemed depressed and perhaps a little strange. These were words that I think a person in a similar situation could identify with.
When the father finally passed away that evening, I’m sure the girl could understand the profound loss on both sides. The missing girl would one day return to find that her father has passed away and the dying father would never have the opportunity to see his daughter again. This could only bring about thoughts & feelings toward her own father in Seoul. At that moment she could probably see herself and her father in a similar situation like that in the near future and how the magnitude of that loss would be felt by both sides. I do believe thats why she went to up to the deceased father and held his hand (as he wanted his daughter to do) and whispered “I’m Sorry, Dad” - for the missing girl that would never have the opportunity to say those words.
Finally when she was dropped off the next morning, the first thing she did was call her mom out of the blue to say hello, ask about her father, and wish her mom an early happy birthday.
Hope that helps.
I just saw this movie after reading this review. I must say, I have to be missing something, because this movie made very little sense. Why did the girl do those things? I don’t feel it was explained well at all.