A Moment to Remember (2004)

Be forewarned that I've just now dried my tears. Crap... This love story got me right where I live. Watching Su Jin and Cheol Su meet and fall in love is magical. She barrels right past his tough exterior and pieces his broken heart back together. She so steadfast in her love for him that he has no choice but to fall under her spell and fall in love right back.

This movie is so well done; well written, acted and directed. It's the full package. It's even shot beautifully. The cinematography and framing is lovely. If you watch movies for the technical aspects of a film this one will satisfy.

This is the story of a deep love and how you deal with the loss of that connection through a wasting disease. How you find hope within that love when the disease slowly and painfully takes away it's memory. Both Son Ye Jin and Jung Woo Sung blew me away with their acting.

I make no apologies for my mushy hearted review of and adoration for this film. Even though the circumstances are tragic and the actors make the tragedy very palpable, there is also a lot of happiness, the sweetness of young love and the bliss it can bring. The ending is bittersweet and carries a soft sort of hope. I'm torn about the re watch value. I know I'll watch it again someday because it's just that good.

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My Mini Back-Story:

I watched A Moment to Remember for the third time yesterday. The first time I stumbled across it was by accident. The second time I told my parents that they should watch this, since I thought it was incredible. And now for the third time, I watched it with them again after 4 years.

Storyline:

The storyline is quite simple, yet the amount of emotion it magnifies is beyond words. I'm afraid I won't do it justice. I'll just dive right into what you should be looking out for when watching this movie.

a) Definitely pathos driven. Compare our OTP's meeting from the first 20 minutes to the scenes near the end. I felt so bittersweet at the end. It's no sarcasm. I love how they transmit such raw emotions.

b) Pay attention to details. I really loved how they incorporated scenes that happened at the beginning to the latter part of the movie. There's a lot of foreshadowing too.

c) Unique couple. It's a wonder how such a man can love his woman this dearly (I sound so pessimistic about reality haha). They share a lot of tender moments with moments of struggles that you can't help, but root for them. I loved the baseball scenes.

d) Simple, yet gorgeous. I've already said how this story is simple, but the way it touches upon such a hard topic such as "Alzheimer" and make it interesting is flawless.

e) Major tearjerker. Don't say that I didn't warn you. I usually don't cry or even shed a tear for movies/tv series, but this one, I just couldn't hold back. I didn't cry for the main couple, but I rather cried for Su-Jin's situation.


Acting/Casting:

If you've ever read my other review, you'll see that I'm a huge fan of Jung Woo-Sung and it definitely sprung from this performance of his. He always plays his role sublimely without hesitation. In other words, he never makes the scenes feel uncomfortable for the audience. It really shows in the way how his co-stars seem genuinely comfortable with him.

I love how he transitions from an aggressive/troubled lad to a heart-warming and forgiving man. He has a lot of facial expressions which proves that he's one of the higher/experienced actors.

Moving on...

Even though it was just a film and not a mini-series, I thought Jung Woo-Sung and Son Ye Jin had a lot of chemistry on their limited time. Well doesn't he have chemistry with all of his female counterparts, anyway haha?

Son Ye Jin's role, Su-Jin, reminds me of Ji Na from Padam Padam a bit. I think it's just me watching one melodrama after another haha. Though, Woo-Sung's character, Cheol-Su, also reminds me of Kang Chil from Padam Padam. Perhaps, it's due to him being an architect in both melodramas or how he's aggressive with everyone except to his woman (Yes, we can all swoon)?

Anyway, Ye Jin looks so young here. She's definitely a natural beauty. Aside from that, I thought she was also on par with Woo-Sung. Loved how her character didn't hesitate to make the first moves. They truly complement each other through their differences.

I'm sure the men who watched AMTR want a woman like Su-Jin similarly to how the women who watched AMTR want a man like Cheol-Su.

On another note, I also liked how they added family members and friends from both sides. Even though they didn't appear all the time, they gave more character backgrounds/information on our OTP. In this case, not developing their characters worked perfectly, since the movie clearly focuses on Su-Jin and Cheol-Su's lives.

Music:

The music worked well with the scenes. Though, not my type/cup of tea. I don't think I'll ever remember the songs played in the movie. But it did give a good feel in the moment I was watching.

Bonus:

Beautiful cinematography. I loved the details in the scenery, such as the one where they were strolling in the sunset (I believe it was sunset?). I won't mention others in case I ruin anything, but you'll know what I mean after giving it a shot (you should if you still haven't!).

Overall:

Even though this movie was released in 2004, it feels rather fresh and new.

What more should I say? It's not a mini-series, so there are no excuses on time limitation.

I have watched this three times, so shouldn't that summarize my entire review already?

A Moment to Remember is without a doubt my favorite Korean movie. I just wish they would make more movies like this!


Overall rating for review: 10/10

Purely for entertainment: 9.5/10 (Why not 10/10? I'm not always in the mood to cry when watching anything, be it movies or dramas.)

My Dramalist rating (avg): 9.75/10

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I was going through my reviews today and I suddenly realized I haven't written a review for this movie. This was actually the first Korean movie I ever watched (ok, technically The Host was the first Korean movie I ever watched, but that time when I watched it, I didn't even know it was Korean, so that barely counts. haha).

Anyways, it was truly the first movie EVER that completely bowled me over. I didn't know any actors, so there was no star power involved. It was just the power of the plot and the amazing acting. It was such a beautiful story with the right kind of direction to make the audience (that would be me) cry throughout the second half (yes I did) and make the audience (again me) come back to watch it over and over (I have watched it thrice already).

Ok, so some might be wary of watching this, thinking that it's probably a sad, sad movie that would leave you depressed for a long time. Well, I don't think so. I mean, the movie is pretty sad and the ending is very emotional, but I think you would be very satisfied with it.

And if you're still not convinced and feel that it might be boring and feel that I might be that person who cries easily during a drama/movie, well, you are certainly right (about the latter). But I made my friends watch it too and some of them are pretty tough nuts and even they broke down while watching. So yeah, it's an emotional journey of a newly married couple which I don't think anyone would hate or find boring.

And if I inspired you to watch this movie and you watched it and you loved it, don't forget to send me a message. Although, don't send me a message if I inspired you, you watched and HATED it. hehe. Hope I helped ;)

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Man i literally just finished watching this and im still sniffling a little bit. This was a tear jerker.
Okay....what i loved most about this movie was the stages of Su Jin and Cheol Su's relationship. Only the first 30 minutes are spent focusing on the two mains dating. The meat of the story is during their married life. I suppose the reason i love this aspect of the story is because most dramas now, focus on the chase, actually getting into a relationship. And once that happens the drama is over and this leaves a happy ending of infinite possibilities. i love that "A Moment To Remember" gives that same passionate and "head over heals" feeling (while not being cheesy) after their already married. Married life is often portrayed as an ending (and often a boring and suffocating one) when it doesn't have to be that way. Marriage can be fun and this movie shows that.
Even though the story of how the two mains meet and fall in love is brief, it doesn't feel rushed or lacking at all. they put in enough special little moments to build their characters to make you care about them.
What made me cry most is when Cheol Su cries in this movie. i don't know why, but something about a man crying just kills me every time.
Overall VERY GOOD movie. I stress just how good the acting was (esp. Jung Woo Sung oh god he's so hot) i would recommend this to anyone except if you hate crying.

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I found this to be beautifully sad. It is not the overwhelmingly fabulous movie that I thought it was going to be due to the reviews I read. Maybe my expectations were too high. I didn't cry because it actually made me rather hopeful. These two people had heartaches in their lives then found each other to love. Through everything they kept their love. It gave a heart wrenching depiction of what it must be like to have a loved one with a disease like Alzheimer's. However, it also showed the strength of the character's love as they faced it.

Jung Woo Sung and Son Ye Jin are excellent. I think they had excellent chemistry.

I think this is a good movie. It is one that I would recommend.

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The plot is a simple and classic Korean type of story, even though it's been almost 10 years since its release - opposites attract, followed by an intense romance and a sad ending. The girl is from a well-to-do family, well-mannered and gentle, while the guy is gruff, in a blue-collar job, but street-smart and gentlemanly.

The lead couple have sizzling chemistry - you can feel the intensity of their love for each other and the mutual attraction. Jung Woo Sung's character Chul Jin - he's the man every guy wants to be, gruff, oh-so-cool without being pretentious, and the man every woman wants. Dependable, caring, loving, and will sweep you off your feet, all at the same time.

The music is well-chosen, reflecting the whimsical and fairytale-like romance they experience during their courtship, and then the bittersweet tone of the second half of the movie.

I discovered this movie by accident on my local TV channel many years back, but could not complete it because it was too late at night. Glad to have finally finished watching it. Dementia may slowly erase your memories, but it can never take away from the happiness of the moment, the joy of experiencing the here-and-now.

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Be warned: Watch at your own discretion, and have the box of tissues close by.

To rate something like this objectively may be hard. This movie comes ready to hit you with every emotional nerve you've got. I may have been a nervous, blubbering wreck by the end, but I still have to admit that the movie is brilliantly filmed, plotted, and acted.

The story may seem generic, but the pacing of the plotline is in itself a masterpiece. The development of our characters from first meeting, to their falling in love, and in the end to their ultimate fate is practically seemless. I usually have a hard time accepting or getting accustomed the the turn of events in a short (2hr) movie, but the plot and characters (even side-plots and bit-characters) were all well done and fleshed out.

I particularly love the script's attention to the themes of love and memory. The very first scene, our male lead sets the pace when he tells a stranger: "When a memory is gone, so is the soul, they say." Who are "they" and is that really what he believes? Another character later will say: "To forget easily is a gift." In the midst of this movie's tragic undertones, A Moment to Remember asks and deals with some hard questions, and we don't need to live the story's exact plotline ourselves to appreciate them.

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Literally just finished this movie and had to write a review. This is the ONLY Asian film, series, anything that my husband has not only sat through the entire thing but also really watched it and got into the story. He even yelled out "what the hell?!", "that guy needs to be punched" or "aww that's really sad" a few times and that's saying a lot. The story was very unique and nicely written. It was so nice to see the 2 leads meet, fall in love and then everything that comes afterwards. I think seeing all that makes the tragedy that's to come much sadder. I don't feel like I was left hanging or they left anything undone between the characters. It is for sure a bitter sweet story. Just like my husband said while watching it, it's just like The Notebook only much much younger. Alzheimer's is such a sad disease and it's so hard on the people around the patient as well as the patient. Anyway, the story was amazing, cast was amazing, overall amazing! If you've been putting this movie off like I had been, don't! You won't regret watching it.

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