If the Sun Rises in the West

If the Sun Rises in the West (Korean해가 서쪽에서 뜬다면; RRHaega seojjog-eseo tteundamyeon) is a 1998 South Korean film, and was the commercial directorial debut of Lee Eun.[1]

If the Sun Rises in the West
Theatrical poster
Korean name
Hangul
해가 서쪽에서 뜬다면
Hanja
해가 西쪽에서 뜬다면
Revised RomanizationHae ga seojjog-eseo tteundamyeon
McCune–ReischauerHae ka sŏjjog-esŏ ttŭndamyŏn
Directed byLee Eun
Written byKim Hyun-seok
Produced byHwang Jae-woo
StarringIm Chang-jung
Ko So-young
CinematographyByun Hee-sung
Edited byKo Im-pyo
Music byJo Yeong-wook
Kim Gyu-yang
Production
company
Myeong Film Co.
Distributed byIl-Sin Investment
Release date
  • 19 December 1998 (1998-12-19)
Running time
100 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean

Plot

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Beom-soo is a traffic control officer who aspires to become a baseball umpire. By chance he meets Hyun-joo, a theatre major who crashes her car into a tree while he is on duty. Instead of fining her, Beom-soo gives her driving lessons and they soon become friends, exchanging letters with each other when Hyun-joo returns to university. When they next meet in person Beom-soo declares his love for her, only for Hyun-joo to reject him as she plans to go overseas to study.

Three years later, Beom-soo is making his debut as a professional baseball umpire, and his feelings of love are reignited when he realises that up-and-coming actress Yoo Ha-rin is none other than Hyun-joo. The two are eventually reunited via the baseball field and resume their relationship, though Hyun-joo's affections are also pursued by Ji-min, the president of an advertising company for which she has appeared in a series of commercials. Hyun-joo eventually rejects Ji-min and shows up at the opening game of the Korean Series to throw the first ball, where she kisses Beom-soo in the middle of the field.

Cast

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Release

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If the Sun Rises in the West opened in South Korea on 19 December 1998, and received a total of 145,752 admission in Seoul.[2]

Critical response

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Andrew Saroch of Far East Films compared the film favourably to Richard Curtis' Notting Hill, and said, "[If the Sun Rises in the West] accomplishes its modest directives and creates two characters we quickly warm to throughout their moments together. Lee Eun utilises tried-and-tested genre techniques, but it is hard to be too resistant to these when the story moves along so effortlessly." He also praised lead actress Ko So-young, saying that she "illuminates this popularist fable and lends her character some much needed humanity."[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Night Before Strike (Paupjeonya) (1990) Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine". Korean Film Archive. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.
  2. ^ Paquet, Darcy. "Films Released in 1998". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.
  3. ^ Saroch, Andrew. "If The Sun Rose In The West Archived 2009-11-13 at the Wayback Machine". Far East Films. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.
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