MOVIE REVIEW: Windstruck

Movie Title: Windstruck 

Year Released: 2004

Cast: Jun Ji-hyun as Officer Yeo Kyung-jin, Jang Hyuk as Go Myung-woo

Country: South Korea 

A fantasy romantic-comedy about a strong-willed female police officer and a Physics teacher. Brought together by destiny, they shared a love that's constantly tested and a life of acceptance and second chances.

REVIEW

GENRE

Fantasy Romantic-Comedy

PLOT

With Korean movies, plots can be unpredictable, aside from the ending. If it’s not happy and sweet, it’s usually dramatic and tragic. The scenes were fast-paced in the first half, with a whirlwind romance developing out of the blue. It shifted to the action-packed life of the heroine, with a splash of comedy as the hero tries to catch up to her, and then the building up of drama hinting on a Romeo-and-Juliet ending. And like most Korean movies of its calibre, a curious twist unveils in the end sealing the role of Destiny in bringing the lovers together, apart, and in finding another chance at true love. 

CHARACTERS

YEO KYUNG-JIN (played by Jun Ji-hyun)

Strong and determined, sometimes bordering on coldness, police officer Yeo is the best law-enforcer in the district. But beneath her strong character, she secretly blames herself for the death of a love one. As the story goes, she will learn to soften when the man she is destined to love comes into her life. She doesn’t look serious with her relationship at first, but gaining the love she lost and pulling out from the grief she nursed for so long, she finally sets herself free only to be challenged time and time by love.  

GO MYUNG-WOO (played by Jang Hyuk)

Myung-woo is a Physics teacher who crosses paths with officer Yeo while attempting to catch a thief. He gets embroiled with officer Yeo’s uncanny nose for trouble and actually saves her life with a passionate acting stunt. He becomes the submissive, but well-loved, boyfriend and fancies himself the protector of her girlfriend, ready to back up when her duty becomes dangerous. In the end, he is the one who’s always saved by her.

The characters were plain crazy at times, but there was an emotional connection that went beyond their differences. Maybe it’s these opposite personalities that brought them together and enabled them to understand more about each other.

MEANING

Love goes beyond the past. And love is hope that, like the wind, is an ever present force in human life.

OTHER DETAILS

I rarely watch Korean movies, preferring Korean historical and feel-good romantic dramas, so I’m not quiet used to their culture, but they definitely make great romantic-comedy. I was willingly manipulated, my emotions twisted and my thoughts kept guessing the (wrong) outcome for every scene.

My favorite scenes were the funny ones, of course, and the revelation at the end. The last one just made me sigh.

Myung-woo had nice dialogues, but officer Yeo made up for it with her acting skills.

CONCLUSION

It was a good movie, no wonder a lot of people recommended it when talking about Korean movies. It had plenty of light and heavy scenes, though I didn’t really cry, but all in all it was a good watch.

RATING:  3 STARS  ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆