A Werewolf Boy

Directed by Jo Sung-hee (조성희)

Written by Jo Sung-hee (조성희)

125min | Release date in South Korea: 2012/10/31

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Synopsis
Summoned by an unexpected phone call, an elderly woman visits a cottage the way she used to when she was a young girl. She remembers a boy she knew half a century before. Moving to a peaceful village when she was a girl she discovered a “wolf boy,” hiding his large, contorted body in the darkness. The girl, now a woman, has never been able to purge the images of his wild eyes and animal-like behavior from her mind. She recalls teaching the boy how to wait patiently before a meal, how to wear clothes, how to speak, how to write and other human behaviors so that he could one day live like a normal man. She opened her heart to the innocent boy and he fell in love with the girl, the only person to ever show him affection. However when threatened, he let loose his bestial instincts and became the subject of the villagers’ fears. In order to save the life of the boy who risked his to be by her side, she left him with a promise: “Wait for me. I’ll come back for you.”

Review
This is the first commercial effort from JO Sung-Hee, who demonstrated his unique imagination in "Don't Step Out of the House" from omnibus "Nice Shorts" and "End of Animal". "A Werewolf Boy" is a heart-felt fantasy stroke melodrama. A wolf boy who has all the traits of a wild beast meets a girl who has shut herself away. The two start to open up a little but their relationship is wrought with difficulties. Ji-tae, who is in love with the girl, starts to cause trouble for wolf boy. The plot may remind you of the "Twilight" series or other teenage romance flicks but when we think of JO's "Don't Step out of the House" we realize that all the similarities end there. "Don't Step out of the House" was a brilliant exploration of the psyche of someone who shut himself away from the world in a basement room and show just how futile it is. In that respect, "A Werewolf Boy" tackles a similar theme of the blockage in communication with the rest of the world and what happens when two people who cannot communicate with rest of the world come together. The film draws interest as it stars two of the most popular young stars today; SONG Joong-ki and PARK Bo-yeong.

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