A Melody to Remember: the True Story of the War Orphans’ Choir

As the Korean War rages, children really are amongst the hardest hit. Orphans like Dong-goo and Soon-yi are forced to live a Dickensian existence, begging and stealing on the streets of Busan for the Fagin-like “Hook,” (so known, because he has one). However, they might find hope and belonging in a children’s choir organized by South Korean Second Lieutenant Han Sang-yeol. Yet, the war and the exploitative Hook remain as dangerous as ever in Lee Han’s A Melody to Remember (trailer here), which opens today in Queens, New York.

Before the war, Lt. Han was a music student who doted on his little sister. When the Communists occupied their home, they showed the relatively well-to-do children what class warfare really means. Han barely survived, but his sister sadly died. In a year or so, Han matures into a steely junior officer, but his sister’s death continues to haunt him.

Given his education and the recommendation of an MP who once served in his platoon, Han is appointed director of the orphanage on the Busan military base. It is the passion project of ardent South Korean social worker Park Joo-mi. Initially, the battle-hardened Han dismisses her as a dilettante, but they warm to each other as he becomes emotionally involved with the kids. The circumstances of Dong-goo and Soon-yi particularly resonate with him. The brother and sister were orphaned after their father was killed in turn by another grieving father, whose late son he ratted out to the North Koreans. Han would like to break the cycle of violence they are mired in, but technically they are only “on loan” to the choir from the super-connected Hook.

As a “based on a true story” Korean historical drama, you know Melody will be really trying to open up the tear ducts down the stretch. The combination of music, cute kids, and wartime tragedy is certainly potent. Considering its elegiac nostalgia, it is absolutely bizarre to find the film tangentially involved in a government scandal. Allegedly, the chief Korean financial regulatory agency (FSC) was strong-arming banks and insurance companies to buy bulk quantities of tickets, because lead actor (and K-pop star) Siwan serves as their media spokesman. If true, this has to be one of the most ill-conceived cases of government malfeasance ever.

It is actually rather a shame, because Siwan is surprisingly good as Lt. Han, but he might not get the credit he deserves in light of the FSC’s meddling, at least in Korea. Siwan also shows a strong affinity for his young co-stars and develops some decent chemistry with Ko Ah-sung’s Park. Lee Hee-joon makes the most of Hook’s ambiguities (he is not quite the jerk-heel villain we first expect), but it is little Lee Re who truly rips out the viewer’s heart and stomps on it, as poor grief and guilt-stricken Soon-yi.

Yes, Melody is nakedly manipulative, but it succeeds in wrenching hearts and jerking tears. If you want to see a quality melodrama, this is it. Recommended for those who like their films sad and sweeping, A Melody to Remember opens today (2/5) at the AMC Bay Terrace in Bayside, Queens.

NYKFF ’15: Office

There is no reason a place of business should have to be a zone of self-esteem coddling currently termed a “safe place.” After all, grown-ups are working there. However, the Cheil Corporation is a whole different matter. There is nothing safe about this corporate headquarters, as proved by the rising body count. One hard-working but unpopular intern is at the center of the lethal mystery in Hong Won-chan’s Office (trailer here), which screens as the opening night selection of the 2015 New York Korean Film Festival.

One fateful night, Kim Byeong-gook came home, bludgeoned his family to death with a hammer and then returned to the office, where he apparently disappeared. CCTV has him entering but not exiting, so presumably he is haunting the building, like a salaryman Phantom of the Opera. This rather unnerves his superiors at Cheil, who treated him like dirt. Frankly, Lee Mi-rae was the only employee he was on friendly terms with, except she is not really an employee. She is still an intern, desperate to be hired full-time.

Unfortunately, being an earnest plugger like Kim, she just does not fit in with Cheil’s cutthroat corporate culture. Still, they ought to be a little nicer, considering the embarrassing information they are counting on her to keep secret from the investigating detective, Choi Jung-hoon. The subsequent dubious suicide of the office suck-up tipped for promotion will also presumably leave them greatly short-staffed. However, the sales director, Kim Sang-gyu seems to think he can make up ground through threats and emotional abuse.

At times, it is unclear whether Office (absolutely not to be confused with the Johnnie To musical of the same title) is meant to be a straight-up murder-mystery thriller or an unusually subtle horror film, but that ambiguity is actually pretty cool. The Jones & Sunn firm of To’s film might be problematic in some ways, but it has nothing on Chiel. Frankly, it makes both Office sitcoms and Mike Judge’s Office Space looks like lyric odes to cubicle life.

Probably best known to American audiences for her youthful turn in The Host and her adult breakout work in Snowpiercer, Ko Ah-sung is pretty darn incredible as the socially awkward Lee. We feel for her deeply, even as we suspect there is something funny about her. Likewise, Bae Sung-woo humanizes the ostensibly monstrous Kim Byeong-gook, just like Erik the Phantom. Ryoo Hyoun-kyoung also loses her composure rather spectacularly as shrewish but increasingly rattled Assistant Manager Hong Ji-sun, while the always reliable Park Sung-woong rock-solidly anchors the film as the hardnosed Det. Choi.

Whether you see it coming or not, Office is still a slick and gripping dark thriller. Hong and cinematographer Park Yong-soo capture the ominous look of florescent lighting and the cold, severe ambience of bullpen style cubes. Yet, with its one central setting and assortment of multiple suspects and potential victims, it is also refreshingly old school in its approach, like a white collar Deathtrap. Highly recommended for fans of suspense-related genres, Office screens this Friday (11/6) at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of the 2015 NYKFF.