Project 365 (40/365): Love In Magic

.:40/365: Love In Magic:.

As a patron of Korean films, I actually am happy that there is some attention to magic in South Korea, mostly thanks to Cyril Takayama. In 2005, this romantic comedy came out, and while it wasn’t anywhere as popular as “My Sassy Girl”, “Love In Magic” still had its moments.

This follows the story of Ji-hoon Woo, a professional magician who is also a notorious womanizer. One day, he discovers that a video of him and a former girlfriend, Hee-won Koo, was hosted on the internet. Afraid that this sex scandal might ruin his career, he seeks out Hee-won, who is now a teacher at a local school. As she is also concerned about her career, they go through past motels to investigate in figure out who to ask to take the video down.

As they do this, things start happening, and perhaps, just perhaps, love could be sweeter the second time around.

Personally, I’m of the belief that if you really want something, you’ll make it happen, and if you don’t, you’ll find excuses. This movie is a very heart-warming take on the romantic comedy genre, but the fact that it features magic, albeit only tangentially, does add to its appeal. This film is something you can watch and appreciate if you actually don’t mind reading through subtitles, or if you can understand Korean.

Don’t expect stellar acting. This isn’t a movie meant to gun for acting awards, but a film that capitalized on the romantic comedy craze in South Korea. This is not to say this is a bad movie, though. It’s just that it didn’t light up the world when it first came out, and if you think that nothing could ever beat “My Sassy Girl”, you’d probably be right if this film were your only other bet.

Well, for the magician who wants a Korean movie to watch on Single Awareness Day, “Love in Magic” is the movie for you.