"Amor"

Tae-woo (played byJeong Kyeong-ho) is in a dead-end relationship with Hee-yeon (played byJung Yoon-sun). I mean that very literally- Hee-yeon is dying. Tae-woo idles away his time between work, funeral preparations, and visiting Hee-yeon at the hospital. But what ultimately commands most of the screen time is"Amor"is Tae-woo's own memories. There's a definite irony about this- Tae-woo himself frequently notes that he and Hee-yeon didn't have much time to make memories in the first place. And in emphasis of this point, there are barely even any flashbacks of their relationship.

It's an interesting stylistic choice actually- Hee-yeon has straight up ordered Tae-woo to destroy anything that might remind him of her, and Tae-woo does his best to accomplish this. But what Tae-woo slowly realizes over the course of"Amor"is that try as he might, memories of Hee-yeon won't go away. Because that's what love is. It's about never really being able to let go, and only managing to make half-hearted efforts to try.

If this sounds likeclichédromantic melodrama, that's because it is. Please do not interpret that as an insult. That's the thing about clichés- even though they're easy enough to mock, the reason they come up time and time again is because they speak to a universal truth. Hee-yeon is torn between wanting to see Tae-woo one last time and helping him come to terms with her inevitable death. That mix of selfishness and selflessness is at the very heart of what love is.

But Tae-woo is the one who's going to survive in the aftermath, and he's the character in focus.Jeong Kyeong-hoabsolutely nails the ambiguity of a man with no choice but to accept fate. He tries to accept Hee-yeon's irrational behavior (Jung Yoon-suntoo is no slouch in this department), while at the same time maintaining the same gently mocking tone that no doubt dominated most of their courtship. There is one important flashback- a sweet lover's tete-a-tete about nothing that lingers in Tae-woo's memory solely because of its accidental relevance to his current dilemma.

"Amor"is a film that demands tears. For all the obvious melodramatic trappings, directorHan Cheol-soohas deftly crafted a story about the continuity of memory. It's these cycles that Tae-woo is unable to break, creating a portrait of love that's beautiful even, no, especially because of its overall horrible visage. Tae-woo struggles with the phantom representing Hee-yeon more than he does the actual Hee-yeon- because that's all he'll have to play with for the rest of his life.

I'm sure there's plenty of readers who can't be persuaded to watch a weepy melodrama under any circumstances. For anyone else,"Amor"represents some of the best the genre has to offer. Tae-woo and Hee-yeon aren't the epitome of a tragic relationship- they were just unlucky in life. But in the end, at least they were able to have each other for awhile. If all that will remain of that is just memories well, that's going to have to be enough.

This review was written by William Schwartz as a part of HanCinema's BiFan (Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival) coverage.

"Amor"is directed byHan Cheol-sooand featuresJeong Kyeong-ho,Jung Yoon-sunandMina Fujii.