SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- Anna (Tang Wei) returns home on a special three-day parole to participate in her mother's funeral. She has been in prison for seven years, being convicted of killing her abusive husband.
In a bus on her way to Seattle, she sits next to a man named Hoon (Hyun Bin), who has the face to ask her for 30 dollars.
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Anna wants to rest, but Hoon continues flirting. He gives her his watch and tells her to keep it until he pays her back.
A strange love between a convicted murderer and a playboy begins this way in the movie "Late Autumn."
It is a remake of the 1966 Korean classic by director Kim Tae-yong, starring Tang Wei of China and Hyun Bin of South Korea.
The movie has come under a fresh limelight these days as Hyun has become one of the most popular actors in South Korea after the success of his TV drama "Secret Garden" last month. The 28-year-old actor drew greater public attention after announcing his decision to join the Marine Corps next month to serve the country's two-year military duty.
Director Kim changed the main characters to a Chinese woman and a Korean man and moved the setting of the story from South Korea to the United States in order to add to the disconnect between the two.
In the United States where various cultures coexist, mix and clash, the movie depicts a man and a woman falling in love and overcoming cultural differences, language barriers and a limited period of time. In the process, they learn to read each other's mind.
Anna enters the world for the first time in seven years but has to go back to prison the day after tomorrow, and he is a womanizer who supports himself on money he attains from his numerous muses.
They talk in English but can't fully express themselves to share and heal their wounds, as they lack an understanding of their current situation, as well as each other's pasts and feelings.
Three days seem to be too short for them to get to fully know each other and fall in love.
A few episodes between them depict the development of intimacy between the utter strangers. They spend time in an amusement park and have lunch together with little conversation. Long silences and awkwardness fill them and nobody can break the ice.
It is difficult to understand the sudden escalation of emotion between them.
Throughout the movie, listening to the non-native English speakers can be annoying to the audience, even though its intended purpose is one of the tools to show their gap.
But the actors put on a good display in expressing themselves through their eyes and gestures.
Late Autumn, which premiered during the Pusan International Film Festival last year, will be screened at the ongoing 61st Berlin Film Festival's official Forum section.
Produced by Boram Entertainment and distributed by CJ Entertainment, it will be released locally on Feb. 17.
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brk@yna.co.kr
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