Korean film review: Beauty Inside (2015)
Beauty Inside (뷰티 인사이드 byuti insaideu 2015) is a romantic comedy with a simple but quirky idea: What if your physical body changed every day? If you woke up as a middle-aged man one day and then became a young girl the next, how could you live your life? How could you have meaningful relationships? How would other people treat you? And how would anyone even be able to recognise you?
That is the problem for the hero Woo Jin, a 28-year old man who has been waking up as a different person every day since he was 18 years old – well actually he is the same person inside, but his outer body is different! There’s no explanation about how this came about – we only hear that his father had the same condition so it seems to be hereditary! Woo Jin has had time to get used to his odd situation but it’s all rather strange for his new girlfriend Yi Soo. (Han Hyo Joo)
The story is actually based on an America mini-series. It’s currently showing on Netflix (only Korean subtitles at the moment) and there is a Korean TV series with the same title trending on Netflix too. This is Director Baik’s debut as a film director after coming from the advertising world although he has been involved in the making of some big Korean films including Old Boy and Snowpiercer. He won Best New Director at the Daejong Film Awards for this film.
For anyone studying Korean, this is a great film. The storyline is straightforward with narration in parts and dialogue that’s short and easy to understand with useful everyday vocabulary. The pace is slow and gently. Often I felt like I was watching a Japanese film. (There are more suggestions for films for studying Korean on fluentu.)
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Han Hyo Joo is so perfect for the female lead. Because despite the outrageous idea, the story feels real! And I started asking myself what would I do in that situation? But then I realised that actually, I don’t need to worry about that EVER HAPPENING! Still, Han Hyo Joo’s character comes across as warm, sensitive, and relatable. And if there were a woman who could cope with this situation, then it would probably be her 💕
Woo Jin’s character is played by over 20 different actors – men, women, and children!
So there isn’t one leading male actor – which is quite disconcerting in a romantic comedy! Instead, many well-known actors appear in the film from boy-band idols to beautiful and popular actresses to middle-aged and elderly actors. It has to be said, though, that most of the meaningful conversations between the couple happen while Woo Jin is looking young and attractive…
Actor Kim Sang Ho (below) as Woo Jin plays an ‘unattractive’ man role by emphasising his famous hairstyle – bald on top, curly on the sides. (Baldness is a very undesirable feature in Korea 😟 and nowhere near as common to see as back in Britain). His baldness is like a symbol emphasising the question – could you love someone no matter how they looked? Well I think he’s adorable. And his performance is the most memorable and poignant. I would have liked to see more scenes with him as Woo Jin.
Issues
Despite changing gender and age, Woo Jin remains a heterosexual 28 year old male on the inside. So in this sense the film conforms to a traditional romance. The main issue of the film focuses on Yi Soo’s point of view and how she copes with being in a relationship with someone who she won’t even be able to recognise the next day!
The film also touches on how Woo Jin’s shapeshifting confuses social relationships. It’s ok when everyone knows that he’s a man in a child’s body but what happens when he’s out in public and strangers see a child speaking as an equal to an adult? Or two people of quite different ages holding hands? It reminds us how we treat people differently according to age, gender, and appearance in general. And the assumptions that we make.
If you are looking for an interesting take on a typical romantic film then I recommend this film. But there is so much potential for a sequel. What happens next would be interesting to see. Call me cynical but I predict many problems ahead…