A Moment to Remember (2004)

Be forewarned that I've just now dried my tears. Crap... This love story got me right where I live. Watching Su Jin and Cheol Su meet and fall in love is magical. She barrels right past his tough exterior and pieces his broken heart back together. She so steadfast in her love for him that he has no choice but to fall under her spell and fall in love right back.

This movie is so well done; well written, acted and directed. It's the full package. It's even shot beautifully. The cinematography and framing is lovely. If you watch movies for the technical aspects of a film this one will satisfy.

This is the story of a deep love and how you deal with the loss of that connection through a wasting disease. How you find hope within that love when the disease slowly and painfully takes away it's memory. Both Son Ye Jin and Jung Woo Sung blew me away with their acting.

I make no apologies for my mushy hearted review of and adoration for this film. Even though the circumstances are tragic and the actors make the tragedy very palpable, there is also a lot of happiness, the sweetness of young love and the bliss it can bring. The ending is bittersweet and carries a soft sort of hope. I'm torn about the re watch value. I know I'll watch it again someday because it's just that good.

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My Mini Back-Story:

I watched A Moment to Remember for the third time yesterday. The first time I stumbled across it was by accident. The second time I told my parents that they should watch this, since I thought it was incredible. And now for the third time, I watched it with them again after 4 years.

Storyline:

The storyline is quite simple, yet the amount of emotion it magnifies is beyond words. I'm afraid I won't do it justice. I'll just dive right into what you should be looking out for when watching this movie.

a) Definitely pathos driven. Compare our OTP's meeting from the first 20 minutes to the scenes near the end. I felt so bittersweet at the end. It's no sarcasm. I love how they transmit such raw emotions.

b) Pay attention to details. I really loved how they incorporated scenes that happened at the beginning to the latter part of the movie. There's a lot of foreshadowing too.

c) Unique couple. It's a wonder how such a man can love his woman this dearly (I sound so pessimistic about reality haha). They share a lot of tender moments with moments of struggles that you can't help, but root for them. I loved the baseball scenes.

d) Simple, yet gorgeous. I've already said how this story is simple, but the way it touches upon such a hard topic such as "Alzheimer" and make it interesting is flawless.

e) Major tearjerker. Don't say that I didn't warn you. I usually don't cry or even shed a tear for movies/tv series, but this one, I just couldn't hold back. I didn't cry for the main couple, but I rather cried for Su-Jin's situation.


Acting/Casting:

If you've ever read my other review, you'll see that I'm a huge fan of Jung Woo-Sung and it definitely sprung from this performance of his. He always plays his role sublimely without hesitation. In other words, he never makes the scenes feel uncomfortable for the audience. It really shows in the way how his co-stars seem genuinely comfortable with him.

I love how he transitions from an aggressive/troubled lad to a heart-warming and forgiving man. He has a lot of facial expressions which proves that he's one of the higher/experienced actors.

Moving on...

Even though it was just a film and not a mini-series, I thought Jung Woo-Sung and Son Ye Jin had a lot of chemistry on their limited time. Well doesn't he have chemistry with all of his female counterparts, anyway haha?

Son Ye Jin's role, Su-Jin, reminds me of Ji Na from Padam Padam a bit. I think it's just me watching one melodrama after another haha. Though, Woo-Sung's character, Cheol-Su, also reminds me of Kang Chil from Padam Padam. Perhaps, it's due to him being an architect in both melodramas or how he's aggressive with everyone except to his woman (Yes, we can all swoon)?

Anyway, Ye Jin looks so young here. She's definitely a natural beauty. Aside from that, I thought she was also on par with Woo-Sung. Loved how her character didn't hesitate to make the first moves. They truly complement each other through their differences.

I'm sure the men who watched AMTR want a woman like Su-Jin similarly to how the women who watched AMTR want a man like Cheol-Su.

On another note, I also liked how they added family members and friends from both sides. Even though they didn't appear all the time, they gave more character backgrounds/information on our OTP. In this case, not developing their characters worked perfectly, since the movie clearly focuses on Su-Jin and Cheol-Su's lives.

Music:

The music worked well with the scenes. Though, not my type/cup of tea. I don't think I'll ever remember the songs played in the movie. But it did give a good feel in the moment I was watching.

Bonus:

Beautiful cinematography. I loved the details in the scenery, such as the one where they were strolling in the sunset (I believe it was sunset?). I won't mention others in case I ruin anything, but you'll know what I mean after giving it a shot (you should if you still haven't!).

Overall:

Even though this movie was released in 2004, it feels rather fresh and new.

What more should I say? It's not a mini-series, so there are no excuses on time limitation.

I have watched this three times, so shouldn't that summarize my entire review already?

A Moment to Remember is without a doubt my favorite Korean movie. I just wish they would make more movies like this!


Overall rating for review: 10/10

Purely for entertainment: 9.5/10 (Why not 10/10? I'm not always in the mood to cry when watching anything, be it movies or dramas.)

My Dramalist rating (avg): 9.75/10

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