Korean Film Review: Beautiful 아름답다 (2008)

I bought this korean movie on DVD a few weeks ago and decided to convert it to MP4 and watch on my iPhone while I was in Japan this last weekend. (I've been doing this a lot recently).  So basically I mostly watched it while riding the train in Tokyo. :-P

I knew nothing about it except for the fact that the girl on the cover looked like Jun Ji-hyun (but it actually is actress Cha Soo-yeon(차수연))... its aptly titled 아름답다 , 'Beautiful' in English (apt in that Cha Soo-yeon IS quite beautiful). Directed by Juhn Jai-hong(전재홍).  

Its a hard movie to describe actually.  Basically the story is about a woman who is amazingly beautiful - which initially seems like a tremendous blessing,  she is mistaken for an actress or model often, gets guys chasing her and people trying to give her stuff just to get close to her.

But is it a blessing or a curse?  I don't want to give too much away,  but consider the downside... unwanted advances, creepy guys everywhere all the time, friends get jealous, etc. 

The film has some levity in the beginning but takes a dark turn rather sharply...  in this case perhaps its an exaggeration of how beauty can be a curse, but it still very eye opening.  I wouldn't recommend it to people who are paranoid or have stalker issues.. in fact,  I feel almost like a stalker for even watching the film...

Gets pretty creepy and dark towards the end... 

I wouldn't say the movie is necessarily Oscar-winning material itself, but Cha Soo-yeon obviously put a lot of hard work into a very difficult and physically demanding role.  I hope she gets some award recognition for the performance,  its quite amazing to see a top 'beauty' star like her do a film like this actually - one that challenges the Korean view of beauty and the female identity in modern Korean society...

anyway, check it out if you want to see a creepy stalker film with a strong performance by a talented actress. 6/10 for the film,  9/10 for Cha Soo-yeon.

For more info:

Cha Soo-yeon info and pictures

Beautiful info, images and news

EDIT:  On second thought let me be a bit more clear:

This movie does NOT have a happy ending at all.  its pretty dark and features violence against women, and creepy and obsessive behavior.  Be forewarned!