2009 film Hello My Love starring: Jo An, Oh Min Seok and Ryu Sang Wook deals with unusual subject matter for Korean audiences. This movie deals with homosexuality and maybe even polysexuality which is quite difficult to swallow for most people in Korea.The country we know today as South Korea is more or less a conservative nation, so talking about homosexuality and beyond on the big screen is a bit abnormal and I found this refreshing in a way. I initially found this film just on a whim while searching for movies with gay themes, if there is such a thing. My curiosity about “Korean gay movies” got me to go on an ultimate search on Google and I was able to pull up a nice organized list of the so called Korean gay cinema. I looked at the list and somehow I was attracted by this feature called: Hello My Love and I was even more happy when I recognized few of the actors. I was especially glad to see Ryu Sang Wook since I have seen him in another drama previously. Let’s dissect this movie now shall we?

Kim Ho Jung (Jo An)  was a radio DJ trying to work up the ladder. This woman had the sense of humor and wits although she could come off a little bit clumsy to her co-workers. Ho Jung  was waiting for her boyfriend Won Jae to come back from France and when he appeared at the airport there was someone else there with him. That someone else Won Jae brought was a man. This pretty boy named Lee Dong Hwa ( Ryu Sang Wook)  wasn’t just an ordinary male friend, he was more than that. When Ho Jung found out about the relationship between these two men things started to become shaky for Ho Jung and Won Jae.

I thought the characters in this movie wasn’t as interesting as I hoped. I began to wonder if it was the way the characters were written or if it was the actors that portrayed them lacked the charm. Either way, I felt that something was missing in the characterization and also in the  acting department. It wasn’t bad but it could have been better.

I don’t think I need to say anything more about Ho Jung since what I  said above in the plot section was enough. This Ho Jung character lacks in many ways so it would be unnecessary for me to go in full detail about this particular persona. However, I would like to talk more about the other two main characters a bit more.

Won Jae and Dong Hwa met in France. The older boy which is Won Jae went to a gourmet chef school while Dong Hwa studied to be a wine connoisseur. I thought these boys looked really cute, especially Dong Hwa. However, as far as characterization goes Won Jae wasn’t the most exciting and same goes for Dong Hwa. Despite all this I think Dong Hwa was an eye candy, very pleasing to look at.

Won Jae seemed pretty confused about a lot of things. Won Jae thought that he was in love with Ho Jung before he left for France but while he was away he had a change of heart. Once Won Jae returned to Korea along with his male friend things  got even worse  since he had to reconsider where he stood with both Ho Jung and Dong Hwa. Obviously Won Jae still cared for Ho Jung for sure  but I can’t help but to wonder if he likes both Ho Jung and Dong Hwa at the same time.

Dong Hwa is such a hottie that anybody would probably fall for him and it doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman in a situation like this. Man, Dong Hwa makes people have lustful feelings and as I am typing this segment I am sitting over here giggling a little bit.

There are a few side characters in the drama and the ones that stuck out like a sore thumb were Mr. Park (Kim Min Kyo)  who is Ho Jung’s supervisor and Yeo Jin Young ( Yang Eun Yong) who is a senior DJ to our main female lead.

Mr Park has a thing for Ho Jung and he had a diligent attitude towards her but the woman he liked was kind of wishy-washy. I didn’t understand Ho Jung giving him hopes and leading him on when she has other things in mind.

Yeo Jin Young is the senior DJ to Ho Jung and she comes off like a very uptight person from the beginning throughout most of the movie but there is a secret about this woman. When I found that out I was pretty shocked. However, I am not going to mention what it is on this review because I don’t want to give it away. It would be more fun for you to find out for yourselves since this is a huge surprise.

I think this film doesn’t just deal with homosexuality, I think there is more to it than that. Like I mentioned in the introduction of this review, this is probably dealing with  polysexuality too. Korea is barely getting used to homosexuality itself but polysexuality and homosexuality simultaneously  is possibly another hurdle that the Koreans would have to get accustomed to. The reason is  because the story seems to shift from someone going from a person that is devoted to their girlfriend and going for someone else, let alone another guy to having infidelity issue regarding to what Ho Jung did. I don’t want to spoil anything so I can’t say anything more in detail but Ho Jung confused me a few times. She was all into her boyfriend Won Jae but there is a scene where Dong Hwa and Ho Jung face each other and there  seemed to be a spark.

I think the writers and the directors were at fault mostly with the way this movie was made. Actors/ Actresses usually do what they are told. I think whoever wrote this wasn’t sure what he or she wanted it to be. I am okay with the story shifting from homosexuality to polysexuality or to anything else that I’m not familiar with  but the person that wrote this didn’t know how to deliver it very well.

There was something that was catchy about this film and that is the music. There is a song called

La Mer, It’s an old french song from the 1940s, 1946 to be precise. La  Mer means the ‘The Ocean’ in french. I recently found out that there was song that was remade into the English language  and it was sung by Bob Darin. The title is beyond the sea. This makes sense since you see the three main characters going to the beach a few times.

I don’t know why but I think it’s kind of funny and silly to have the movie to have this fancy bourgeoisie feeling to it. Also there are a lot of things with ‘Frenchy’ stuff in it. For instance: the music, like I stated in the above paragraph, about wine and gourmet chef, and last but not least the two main male characters meeting in France. I guess the person who wrote this thinks that France is a country that has an affinity to  love affairs,homosexuality and even polysexuality. I see nothing wrong with this but I just find it a little amusing and that is all.

I expected a lot more into the cinematography department because it’s a feature film after all. I am lenient in the filmmaking styles for Television dramas because they don’t really have the budget and also they are limited in time so I can make all kinds of excuses for them but I don’t think I can be that lenient with movies.

Film makers are less restrained time wise and they tend to have few extra when it comes to the production budget.Sorry for going on and one about the process of filmmaking. What I’m trying to say is this, I wasn’t completely impressed with the filmmaking style and maybe it’s because I had high expectations going into it. I kind of regret this because the movie wasn’t all that bad, even cinematography wise. Of course, there were even moments where the shot was really pretty but it could have been better. However, I really did like the way it was shot when it comes to the one scene between Won Jae and Yonghwa dancing together, I won’t say more because I do not want to spoil the experience for you.

I recommend this film to any of you that is interested in Korean actors portraying gay characters or even just to  check out any Korean film that resembles some kind of gay themes . Yes, Homosexuality is a bit of a taboo still in South Korea even though it is a little bit more accepted than it used to be. Also, if you are interested in pretty boy actor like Ryu Sang Wook you would certainly make your eyes have a great feast.