The movie starts off with Seung-keun Kim (Jae-yeong Jeong) standing on the ledge of an overpass bridge above the Han River. He’s in way over his head in debt and he’s ready to end his life right then and there. Mr. Kim then jumps off the bridge, but due to his own misfortune or good fortune, he ends up washed ashore on a small nearby island. At first, Mr. Kim looks for every conceivable way to get off the island – which is in plain view of several nearby high rise buildings and apartment complexes. After a few days, Mr. Kim becomes acclimated to his solitary existence & he even finds comfort in his primitive surroundings.

Meanwhile, a young reclusive lady named Jeong-yeon Kim (Ryeo-won Jeong) sits in her room addicted to the online world of “Cyworld.” She hasn’t left her apartment in three years and she doesn’t plan to leave her room anytime soon. In the evenings, when Jeong-yeon is finished updating her Cyworld home page, she dabbles in her other hobby which is photgraphing the moon. During one of those evenings, when Jeong-yeon is taking shots of the moon, she notices a “HELP” sign scrawled into the sand of a nearby island. She then notices a strange man walking around the island and Jeong-yeon starts to think of this man as her own personal alien.

As you might guess by now, “Castway on the Moon” turns out to be a good ole fashion love story told from an unusual vantage point. Because of the distance between the main characters the pair rarely communicates in real time. This allows the film’s director, Hae-jun Lee, to integrate several charming vignettes on Mr. Kim’s plight as a castaway and Ms. Kim’s plight as another type of castaway. The heart of the story really unfolds in the third act once the pair makes overtures to meet face to face. Unlike most commercial Korean films, Hae-jun Lee leaves excessive melodrama alone and gives the actors room to bring about emotions more naturally. Kudos goes out to Jae-yeong Jeong for turning in his best performance since “Someone Special” and Ryeo-won Jeong for exhibiting more of her unique charms that she already displayed in “Two Faces of My Girlfriend.”

“Castaway on the Moon” is a charming & highly unique film – especially considering its origins as a mainstream Korean film. The film elicits a surprising amount romance (one that’s geared especially for lovers of oddball & misfit characters) and also judicious amounts of smiles & laughter. Not sure why, but “Castaway on the Moon” did flop at the Korean box office this summer, selling only 700,000 tickets. But don’t let this little fact deter you. Take it as more of a confirmation that majorities don’t always know best.