200 Pounds Beauty

200 Pounds Beauty

Released: December 14, 2006

Directed By: Yong-hwa Kim

            200 Pounds Beauty is about a young talented girl, Kang Han-na (Ah-jung, Kim), who is a voice cover for Ah-mi (Seo-yun, Ji). Ah-mi cannot actually sing, but she has the visuals of singer. On the other side of the spectrum, Kang Han-na has the voice but not the beauty. The director, Sang-jun (Jin-mo, Ju) of both characters seems to lean more toward Kang Han-na. In the opening scene, Kang Han-na is singing a voice over for Ah-mi. Kang Han-na begins to dance her stage, which is made of wood planks. She falls through, cutting the audio for Ah-mi. Sang-jun is then seen frantically calling for Kang Han-na, who eventually pulls herself up.

            After this event and several others in the film, Kang Han-na begins to feel she could be better. She visits some plastic surgery doctors, before finds the doctor, Lee Kong-hak (Han-wi, Lee) called her about advice on his wife the day she tried to kill herself. Kang Han-na even recorded the message and brought this to him. Kang Han-na ends up getting plastic surgery from him and she transforms into a new person. The film is very emotional; however, the message of the film is somewhat sad.

            There are a lot of plastic surgery business in South Korea and some may be cheaper than others. The film seemed to not only entice plastic surgery, but even in the film, the doctor’s business began to bloom. When you go from someone thinking they are “ugly” to what one thinks is “beautiful,” it definitely felt like the person was not comfortable in their own skin and did not have the courage to be confident. It truly is sad, to see a film, with such a powerful statement on how many South Koreans go to plastic surgeries, but also it gave the message that if you look like Kang Han-na looked, it is okay to get plastic surgery.

Compared to Western beauty standards, people use makeup to look older. South Koreans want to look younger. These are two very different images. People will use makeup to cover up acne or blemishes on their face, while other people do not care what they look like. In South Korea, it seems to be more opposite. At a certain time, parents are encouraging their kids to get plastic surgery, when more on the Western side, kids are asking their parents to buy makeup. 

Northern Limit Line

Northern Limit Line

Released: June 24, 2015

Directed By: Kim Hak-Soon

Based on a real story, Northern Limit Line shows the Second Battle of Yeongyang and the destruction and horror it caused on the South Korean patrol boat Chamusuri 357. The battle occurred on June 29, 2002, when a North Korean patrol boat crossed the border to surprise the South Korean patrol boat with an attack. This attack took the lives of six people and injuring 18 more. This whole battle also took place as the 2002 FIFA World Cup championships were happening.

With integrated pictures and videos of the real event, the film become much more real. Especially at the end of the film, the memorial service could bring viewers to tears. Historical films can be hard to film because it needs to be accurate, otherwise it could be seen as an event that was a joke or never happened.   

This was the second time I watched this film. I first came upon this film after watching the drama Descendants of the Sun, because the actor Jin Goo was the main character in that. In Northern Limit Line, he plays the role as Sergeant Han Sang-gook. I enjoyed his acting in Descendants of the Sun, so I figured he would also be really good in Northern Limit Line.