Two awkward love stories sit at the center of Hello Schoolgirl, a sweet and unexpectedly effective romance based on a well-known Korean comic book (manhwa). The first is awkward because of an uncomfortably large age gap, while in the second it is more of a gap in life experiences. Yun-woo is 30 years old, and he holds a low-level position as a civil servant, working in a district office. He lives alone, having lost his parents at a young age. It is at the recycling bin one day when he catches his first glimpse of the 18 year old high school student Soo-young who lives in the apartment directly below his. Yun-woo is not the kind of guy to take an interest in schoolgirls, but due to circumstances a sort of brother-sister friendship develops between them. Though neither one of them are dealing with any major tragedies in their lives, each seems to be hiding a lonely spot inside themselves, and as time passes their companionship begins to fill that space.
Meanwhile, a younger man named Sook has just started working at the same district office. His infatuation with Ha-kyung is more typical (and less interesting dramatically): after seeing this beautiful woman lingering at the same spot in the subway station day after day, he begins to think of practically nothing else. He is stalking her in a way, though he can’t work up the nerve to speak to her. She notices, and one day they finally start a conversation.
It’s become almost expected that with the development of computer generated imagery, any comic book adaptation worth its salt will feature stylish visuals and highly saturated colors to capture the artistic look of its source material. However sophomore director Ryu Jang-ha (Springtime) takes the completely opposite approach. One of the most notable aspects of Hello Schoolgirl is the way it brings such feeling to very ordinary-looking settings and events. Nothing in the film comes across as exaggerated or false; perhaps this is why it is so easy to fall for its charms. Fans of Korean cinema might not be surprised to learn that Ryu worked as an assistant director on Hur Jin-ho’s Christmas In August (1998) and as the co-screenwriter on One Fine Spring Day (2001), two beloved melodramas that plant their feet firmly in ordinary, everyday life.
Nonetheless the part of this film that will be likely to stick in people’s memories is the relationship between Yun-woo, played by Yu Ji-tae (Oldboy, One Fine Spring Day), and Soo-young, played by the up and coming actress Lee Yeon-hee (M). After his more adrenaline-charged work of recent years I had sort of forgotten that Yu can be an effective romantic lead. He is able to express his character’s emotions in a very subtle and unaffected way, so that unlike many established actors he is able to portray an ordinary person without his star power getting in the way. As for Lee, let me just say that I think there is something completely extraordinary about this young performer. It’s not that she is a consistently good actress - in fact, some of her performances on TV have drawn ridicule. It may turn out that she has a fairly limited range as an actress. But apart from acting ability, there is also that thing called screen presence, and this just seems to be woven into her DNA. In front of the camera she is a force of nature, and it is a particular treat to see her in a film like this that so highlights her strengths. The film's second love story is, I’m afraid to say, ultimately pretty forgettable. But in this case, one out of two is still pretty satisfying.
Darcy Paquet