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The 2011 Korean film starring Song Joong-Ki as Chun Ji-Woong and Han Ye-Seul as Gu Hong-Sil. Also known as "Penny Pinching Romance."
Brief synopsis: Chun Ji-Wong and Gu Hong-Sil are on opposite sides of the financial spectrum. Ji-Woong spends whatever he has but makes very little and Hong-Sil is a frugal extraordinaire! When Hong-Sil is advised to open another savings account under someone else’s name, she uses Ji-Woong’s desperation but offers to show him the wonderful life of penny-pinching firsthand.
Chun Ji-Woong’s character development is the most notable in this movie. In the first ten minutes, the only words I could think of to describe him were “nasty” and “shallow.” His lack of priorities kept getting him into trouble (Song Joong-Ki pulled off the character well, I might add). But from the beginning we notice three things about Ji-Woong: 1) He’s so wasteful with his money that he doesn’t even have enough to buy a condom, 2) His taste in women is defined as “easy,” and 3) He’s got porn on his precious laptop. By the end, though, all three of these things have gone in the opposite direction. He learns how to save (but then spends it all after MUCH deliberation), his taste in women ha turned to the girl he’s learned so much about, and he sold his laptop and all the porn thereon for said deliberate expenditure. I couldn’t help but feel impressed!
Both characters have some philosophies that aren’t completely wrong. Gu Hong-Sil said “People are unhappy because they try too hard to be happy.” While we can acknowledge that some unhappiness is genuinely caused by outside influence, there is some truth to that line for the independent person. Those who are trying too hard to be happy are often looking for something that is missing to fill a void in themselves, but in which case it may be too easy to focus on the void itself rather than the solution. I know some people like this, who keep saying “I’d only be happy right now if [this or that] happened...” but in their bubble of perspective they’re really only seeing what they lack instead of realizing that most problems are solved just with what you have, used in a creative way.
According to Chun Ji-Woong, there are two things in life: the things you want to do and the things you should do. Sometime our choices as defined by these categories may oppose each other, but sometimes they might align as well. Ji-Woong’s problem was that he was doing too much of what he wanted and looked down on what he should have done. It took some perspective changes to show him that there is value in what you should do as well. Overall, this movie and Ji-Woong’s experience shows that there’s value in both and you’re more likely to be happy if you can find a balance between the two.
Quick note: I wouldn’t suggest watching this one with kids around. The language can be a little graphic and Ji-Woong’s habits aren’t exactly always kid appropriate 😂
I love how near the end Hong-Sil asks him “Do you like girls who are rich or girls who aren’t?” You see, she’s been asking Ji-Woong’s general opinion about girls as a guy in order to try winning the heart of her financial advisor. And every time Ji-Wong just said something stupid that made her look like an idiot. But this time he says “I like girls who are pretty, like you.” 😍😱😭 What a charmer!
This movie wasn’t that bad! I especially loved watching Ji-Woong’s character transformation and the little reminder that sometimes the best things in life are free. 4/5 stars!
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