I mentioned before this film is very quiet; it sits in its stillness and invites you to contemplate people from your past and how they affect you and you, them. The plot is also quiet—two twelve-year-olds are friends in Korea before the girl (first called Na Young, then Nora) and her family emigrate to Toronto. The film jumps in twelve-year segments as she moves to New York and becomes a writer, while the boy searches and eventually finds her on the internet. Another twelve years pass, and they reconnect in NYC after Nora is married. Their lives seem to be decades of never quite being in the right place at the right time (both physically and emotionally), and they have a quiet moment before the man goes back to Korea. 

I don’t recommend watching quiet films while lying on the couch on a Friday after a long week. I know many people thought this film was lovely and meaningful, with unexpressed longing and missed connections. I kept falling asleep and losing great batches of subtitled dialogue which were in Korean and then had to go back to try and figure out what had happened. I know I am failing America as a critic (Pauline Kael would never have dozed off!) but hey, you get what you pay for.

The Popcorn Kernels of Truth give this film Three Kernels; I heard it was pretty good so that seems like a fair rating. Mostly I was grateful that Greta Lee (who played Nora) had a much better haircut than those horrible bangs she wore in The Morning Show.

Category: flicksthatyoushouldpick (only if you are well-rested)