Crush and Blush
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From AsianMediaWiki
User Rating
Current user rating: 89/100 (14 votes)
Profile
- Movie: Crush and Blush / Miss Carrot
- Revised Romanization: Misseu Hongdangmoo
- Hangul: 미쓰 홍당무
- Director: Lee Kyoung-Mi
- Writer: Lee Kyoung-Mi, Park Chan-Wook, Park Eun-Kyo
- Producer: Park Chan-Wook
- Cinematographer: Kim Dong-Young
- World Premiere: October 2008 (Pusan International Film Festival)
- Release Date: October 16, 2008
- Runtime : 101 min.
- Studio: Moho Films
- Distributor: Vantage Holdings
- Country: South Korea
- Language: Korean
Plot
29 year-old Me-sook is the most unpopular teacher at school. She used to be a Russian language teacher at a high school, but was relegated to a middle school to teach English which she can't even understand. She also has a chronic blushing problem, often afraid to even lift her face up. But to top it off, she is in love with another married teacher, Mr Seo, and believes that he feels the same but is just to shy to show his feelings.
So when she finds out that he's having an affair with an attractive Russian teacher who took her place in high school, Me-sook decides to take action. Hiding her true intentions, she forms an aliance with Mr. Seo's daughter, Jong-hee, the most unpopular student at school. Jong-hee cooperates with Me-sook to save her father's marriage. They plot ways to seperate the lovebirds, becoming friends in the process and also slowly falling into their own trap ...
Cast
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| Kong Hyo-Jin | Lee Jong-Hyeok | Hwang Woo Seul Hye | Seo Woo | Bang Eun-Jin |
| Yang Me-Sook | Mr. Seo | Lee Yu-Ri | Seo Jong-Hee | Seong Eun-Kyo |
Additional Cast Members:
- Ra Mi-Ran - Jeong-nyeo's Aunt
- Bae Sung-Woo - dermatologist
- Bong Joon-Ho - student in english class (cameo)
- Chan-wook Park - man who gets in the way of the high school photo
- Choi Hee-Jin
- Seo Young-Ju
Trailer
Image Gallery
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Film Festivals
- 2008 (13th) Pusan International Film Festival - October 2nd-10th - Korean Cinema Today - Panorama (World Premiere)
- 2009 (11th) Udine Far East Film - April 24th-May 2nd (Italian Premiere)
- 2009 (8th) New York Asian Film Festival - June 19th-July 5th
- 2009 (13th) Fantasia Film Festival - July 9th-29th (Canadian Premiere)
Awards
- 2008 (29th) Blue Dragon Film Awards - November 20th
- Best New Director (Kyoung-mi Lee)
- Best Original Screenplay (Kyoung-mi Lee)
- 2008 (28th) Critics Choice Awards - November
- Best New Actress (Seo Woo)
- 2009 (8th) New York Asian Film Festival - June 19th-July 5th
- Special Award for Audacity
avisualperson Says:
Jun 25 2009 10:23 am
just saw this film at NYAFF 2009 and this is an amazing film; not sure how easy it is to screen this or find it anywhere but if you have the chance, don't miss it! comedy! tears! sympathy/empathy!
Ki Says:
Jan 17 2009 9:05 pm
29 year old Me-sook has it bad. A social outcast since her school days, she’s now one of the least popular teachers at an unnamed public school. She also suffers from a chronic blushing problem, is in love with a married teacher at her school, & stuck teaching English class without understanding English herself. Life suddenly turns for the worse when Me-sook discovers that her roommate and fellow teacher, Ms. Yuri Lee, is involved with the married teacher, Mr. Seo, that she has been in love with for the last ten years. Me-sook is further mortified to discover that Mr. Seo’s wife is set to divorce her husband, which could lead to Mr. Seo and Ms. Lee’s marriage.
Me-sook then makes an improbably ally with Mr. Seo’s teenage daughter, a fellow outcast at the unnamed school. Mr. Seo’s daughter despises Ms. Lee as much as Me-sook does and is more than willing to help Me-sook prevent her parents’ divorce.
And with that intriguing premise, you have the oddball black comedy “Crush & Blush.” The movie is directed by newcomer Kyoung-mi Lee, but has backing from some very impressive names. None other than Chan-wook Park’s “Moho Films” produced the film, while Chan-wook Park himself takes the role of producer. Chan-wook Park also appears briefly in the movie (he’s the fellow that walks across the high school photo being taken in the fields). There’s also a brief cameo appearance by another famous South Korean director, Joon-ho Bong (he’s the fellow at the English language school asking “What subject do you teach in school?”).
The movie grabs your attention from the beginning with a storyline and narrative style that’s refreshingly out of whack from your typical South Korean film (think “Dasepo Naughty Girls” meets “Shim’s Family”). Main star Hyo-jin Kong (the leggy vixen in “Happiness”) transforms herself into an oddball social outcast devoid of any sexuality. Interesting enough, most oddball characters like Me-sook elicits immediate sympathy from the audience via their underdog status. Yet, Kong’s performance tip toes across a fine line between likable and grating, never touching either side. Similar to the way Me-sook gets passed over by others in the movie, Kong’s performance becomes upstaged by her two supporting co-stars, Seo Woo (the teenage daughter) and Seul-hye Hwangwoo (the rival teacher). Both of these gals worked their respective ends, Seo Woo as the bratty but lovable teenager and Seul-hye Hwangwoo as the easily influenced beauty queen teacher, to elicit more interest and sympathy from the audience.
While the story fires on all cylinders for the first half of the film, the second half doesn’t quite live up to expectations. When all the main characters come together in the language lab, rather than a hilarious climax, the movie stalls with humor that seems slightly off and moral questions that seems just as off. Fortunately, the movie ends on two successive high notes (high school performance & appearance at dermatology office).
“Crush & Blush” is as odd as its main character Me-sook. The film will appear to fans of black-comedy films like “Shim’s Family,” “The Hanging Garden,” or “Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers!” For the rest, “Crush & Blush” offers a solid script and appealing performances by its female leads to draw you in. The story does lose some of its focus in the weaker second half and, consequently, slightly underwhelms with its conclusion. Yet, if you like stories about oddballs & outcasts you’ll likely find yourself remembering more the moments when you were laughing yourself into stitches. One of the more eclectic soundtracks is featured in the movie as well.
Raku Says:
Oct 20 2008 12:14 pm
I guess it's a back to Korean roots kind of movie? I have been turned off to Korean cinema for a year or so because of the poor movies that have been released, it all seemed geared toward export to a Hollywood market (or the carbon copy comedies) ever since the film quota changed, but recently a few movies have me interested again, is this Korean cinema bouncing back? I hope so!
RamenLover Says:
Oct 20 2008 11:21 am
She has a chronic blushing problem (always turns red).
Also, nice to see that "Crush and Blush" did well during its opening weekend (coming in at 2nd place with 17% of all ticket sales, 201,000 total admissions, and 1.4 billion won in total gross (thats roughly U.S. $1.1 million). Considering the film has a small budget ($1 million) it should make a nice profit for its investors. Give more impetus to movie companies to produce a wider variety of films, including smaller budget films.
Raku Says:
Oct 20 2008 6:44 am
I'm looking forward to this anything associated with Chan-wook Park AND Joon-ho Bong has to have some good merits.
"And she has a blushing so she is often afraid to even lift her face up."
What is that? is it some kind of condition?
RamenLover Says:
Oct 19 2008 10:51 pm
There's lot's of reasons to get excited about "Crush and Blush". Hyo-jin Kong has been on a recent tear (check out her performances in "Happiness," "Family Ties," "M"), quickly becoming one of the more respected young actresses in Korea. There's also the involvement of Chan-wook Park - the famed Korean director responsible for Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, & Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Chan-wook Park this time around takes the role of producer in "Crush and Blush" and his production company, Moho Films, also produces the movie. Check out the movie trailer, if you listen to background music you can't help to think of Chan-wook Park's "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" with its similar classical music. For Korean movie buffs, there's also Joon-ho Bong (director of the Host & Memories of Murder) making his film acting appearance with a brief cameo appearance - he plays one of Hyo-jin Kong's classmates when she takes English lessons. On top of all this good stuff you have that very intriguing premise. Looking forwards to checking this one out.