“It’s not an obvious romantic comedy” Kang Ha-neul and Jung So-min’s chemistry shines in the movie ‘30 Days’ [TEN Review]

[Ten Asia = Reporter Ha-neul Lee]

*Contains spoilers related to the movie ’30 Days’.

In genre films, there are clichés that have become customary. From noirs that depict the revenge of an organization member who works like a dog and are betrayed by the boss he trusted, to westerns that kill evil villains and then suddenly leave town, to horror films that involve approaching a mysterious being hidden in the dark with curiosity and being angry. Since the birth of film in 1895, genre films divided by story and style often contain different but similar scenes.

In particular, the romantic comedy genre focuses on the plot of Tom and Jerry fighting to the death and then realizing love. Here is a work that attempted something unusual by twisting the familiarity of the romantic comedy genre. Reminiscent of Lucy (Drew Barrymore), who suffers from short-term amnesia in director Peter Segal’s film ’50 First Kisses’ (2004), ’30 Days’ tells a romance based on memory. While in existing romance movies, one person loses their memory and the other tries to regain it, in ’30 Days’ a couple about to divorce suffers amnesia due to an accident.

Contrary to his handsome appearance, his husband Jeong-yeol (Kang Ha-neul), who is dull and immature, and his wife Nara (Jung So-min), who has an upright attitude and unexpected intelligence, are in a state of incommunicado from the beginning. The first scene of the movie begins with a sighing, passionate voice saying, “I’ve been in a relationship for 6 years,” heard offscreen in a blackout screen. Next, a wedding scene is depicted and the bride Nara appears in a gorgeous dress. Even though it is a happy day, Nara, who has no smile on her face, looks uncomfortable as if the clothes do not fit her. You might have predicted that the two would get married as the wedding followed Jeong-Yeol’s voice, but Jeong-Yeol says he broke up with Nara while drinking.

’30 Days’ creates a point where the handclaps are out of sync through a non-linear structure rather than a sequential time arrangement. Na-ra, who runs away from the wedding and stands in front of Jeong-yeol, says, “Don’t be late next time,” but their timing is shaky from the start. The passion of preparing for the bar exam is caught by the word ‘unemployed’, and the sentence ‘Because you come from a rich family’ becomes a noose in a country where people used to live comfortably. Essentially, the attitude of understanding differences is erased and the repeated situation of blocking the other person’s mouth has been maintained throughout the marriage.

Let’s go back to the first meeting between passion and country. With the help of his military classmate and waiter Ki-bae (Yoon Kyung-ho), Jeong-yeol goes on a 30-second blind date with Nara. A country that ran away after being startled by the passion and unique murderous smile. Their meeting takes place in a situation where the country is screaming with something stuck in its throat, and it is spewed out using the Heimlich maneuver. A brief meeting does not lead to a relationship, because Nara falls in love not with passion, but with the doctor at the hospital. The twisted fate is reconnected by the passion of witnessing the country venting its anger while squealing on the electronic display board of the baseball stadium.

Ironically, the wedding photo torn by a baseball, revealing the broken relationship between the couple, reveals the relationship between passion and the country in three dimensions. Exquisitely, in the wedding photo, the parts where Jeongyeol and Nara are hit by the baseball are their eyes and mouth. The relationship started by removing something stuck in one’s mouth, but once again, it became an unbalanced marital relationship in which the other person blocked the other person’s mouth.

Afterwards, Jeong-yeol and Na-ra are given 30 days to mediate their divorce, and on their way back in the car, a car accident occurs. When the two people open their eyes, each other’s existence is completely erased from their memories. The fact that they are married can only be traced through photographs of their respective parents. Na-ra’s mother Bo-bae (Cho Min-soo) and Passion’s mother Sook-jeong (Kim Sun-young) begin a plan to retrieve their memories and allow the divorce to proceed as planned. Under the watchful eye of Nara’s younger sister Nami (Hwang Sein), a grand operation to retrieve memories begins. The passion that attracted them to each other from the first meeting and the past of disparaging and hating the country are put behind them and they begin to feel excited again. A time of ‘understanding’ was created where pieces of different shapes were put together one by one on a new drawing paper.

For some reason, this timing is always a problem. Jeong-Yeol, who accidentally fell after stepping on a baseball on the floor, recalls a bad memory. On the other hand, Nara is still in a state where she lost her memories. If it were a normal romantic comedy movie, Nara’s memories would come back too. Director Nam Dae-jung focuses on the changed passion and attitude of the country while maintaining an imbalance like the moment when she decided to divorce. As 30 days pass and the divorce mediation period passes quickly, Na-ra decides to go abroad to study, and Jeong-yeol moves out of the house they lived in together.

Bobae, who was saddened by the divorce between Jeong-yeol and Nara, tells her the time the plane is leaving, and Jeong-yeol leaves to catch Nara. Friends tell Jeong-yeol to think of the good moments between the two of them. In response, Jeong-yeol tries to recall his memories with Nara through flashbacks, but all he finds is a bittersweet past. Passion breaks the fourth wall and speaks to the audience. “Aren’t flashback scenes beautiful?’ There

is a saying that life is about timing. If you watch romantic movies such as ‘October Love’, ‘My Sassy Girl’, and ‘Connection’, you will see a man and a woman who are always late in responding. The heart is on time. They do not arrive, and misunderstandings and distrust pile up. This may be why Korean romance movies in the 2000s were meaningful. They used to communicate through letters or pagers, but gradually became disoriented in the delayed and gaping time. After the 2000s, cell phone communication began. With the spread, romance movies began to take on a different form, turning into romances that were bold and did not hide their feelings.

Of course, ’30 Days’ is a bit rough and loose in terms of probability. It’s disappointing that they childishly criticize each other for their lines and the point where they lose their memories and become attracted to each other again. The characters of Passion and Nara portrayed by Kang Ha-neul and Jung So-min are also realistic and three-dimensional, but lack excitement.

However, director Nam Dae-jung’s intention to add newness to the familiarity of the genre by focusing on time delay, response, and reception seems to have been clearly revealed. The surrounding characters such as Jo Min-soo, Kim Seon-young, Yoon Kyung-ho, and Hwang Se-in also show their presence and add to the fun. Maybe ‘30 Days’ asks these questions. In what kind of relationship do we arrive on time without being late, or do we regret it because it is too late?

Ten Asia Reporter Lee Ha-neul greenworld@tenasia.co.kr