[HanCinema's News] "Hear Me: Our Summer" and "Hidden Face" Showcase Markedly Different Ideas of Romance

Earlier this month, "Hear Me: Our Summer" stood out as very much of Gen Z focused sort of film. In this remake of a Taiwanese film, Yong-joon, played by Hong Kyung, romances Yeo-reum, played by Roh Yoon-seo, against the backdrop of deaf people's issues. The film is fundamentally an optimistic title. Its modest 670,201 admissions earned to date since its premiere in South Korean theaters on November 7th underscores how the movie has a strong appeal to romance minded young people.

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But the recently released "Hidden Face" paints a much bleaker picture of love, with stalking and obsession appearing as the natural outcropping of passionate love, which more about emotional control than flirtatious empathy. "Hidden Face" is on track to achieve about the same level of impact at the South Korean box office. As of this writing, it has earned 261,516 admissions through Saturday since its premiere on November 20th.

The ideals of these movies are specific to different demographic populations, some more optimistic than others about whether love is even desirable, provided it can be achieved. Though there's room for both in terms of these audiences, the inability of either to power through to mainstream success suggests that romance itself is a peripheral issue for South Korean filmgoers. Most South Korean films this year didn't even have romantic subplots.

Indeed, "Love in the Big City" has been the most popular film in Korea this year to seriously discuss romance at all, and didn't even crack a million viewers. But the box office doesn't tell the whole story. In this industry loyal fans with sincere recommendations can matter more over the long term than immediately large numbers.

Written by William Schwartz