My Sassy Girl

“My Sassy Girl” takes place in Seoul Korea. Its neighbors are China to the West and Japan to the East. “My Sassy Girl” is a romantic comedy which somehow brings two people together which have a strange relationship. The guy main charters name is Gyeon-woo and the female co-star is never given a name in the movie.

Early on in the movie the couple stays at a hotel. This hotel gives us a view at what are called “sex hotels”. These hotels can be a less expensive stay than other hotels. Sex hotels can be rented by the hour or by regular night stays. Unlike what you would imagine these hotels are nice and comfortable to stay in. The only thing risqué about the rooms would maybe a red light. The movie keeps most of its scene’s in the heart of the city. Korea has a similar look to its neighbor Japan, but is not near as nice. During the day the buildings are noticeably outdated, but at night the neon lights shine bright. Also Korea has a good train system but is not as great as Japans.

One thing that culturally stood out in my mind was the shots of alcohol. In many scene’s of the movie the actors are hammering shots of alcohol. The father of the girl is really drunk and continues have shots till he passes out. When Gyeon-woo is hanging with friends they all do shots and laugh and have a good time. It seems like all ages get into it too. It must be a cultural tradition. I was curious what they were taken shots of.

Another cultural aspect I noticed was the emphasis that was put seniority. Early on in the movie the girl begins yelling at people complaining to a younger man that he need give up his seat to the elder man standing. I know she later puke’s on the old man but she was still looking out for him. Also later in the movie Gyeon-woo tries explaining to his girl that she is not allowed to talk down to him like she does because in fact he is 1 year older than her. He seems serious when he expresses this, so it must not be taken lightly.

I enjoyed “My Sassy Girl”. It gave a good idea what it is like in Korea and at the same time was entertaining. In doing research on this movie I noticed that an American version came out about 10 days ago. I would really like to watch it to see which themes they kept in it and also which themes they changed to American culture.