Restarting K Drama with a random pick on the Viki site and what a stroke of luck that I landed on this. They say when you restart a habit, like reading books, the charm is in the first book (experience) that you restart with that either brings you back into the warmth of its comfort, or throws you off. Luckily, I found my comfort and couldn’t ahve asked for a simpler, and more poignant story in Be With You.
Spoilers Ahead
I love Son Ye Jin from Crash Landing On you, and then some more, and admire her versatility in the various characters she brings to life. So Ji Sub was new to me, but what’s not to love about a Korean man who’s 6 foot tall! BUT the real clincher was the kid Kim Ji Hwan who was just simply amazing in his acting.
Not only is he adorable, but to watch his incredible control emotive power is a masterclass in acting. There are a couple of scenes that stand out, when he plays truant and sullies his friend’s car only coz he wants it to rain everyday so his mom could stay longer, and the ensuring admittance of guilt, hope and sadness that he shows to his dad is a scene that every mom would bawl at.
There is also a scene where he realizes that perhaps his mom’s leaving, and he has to speak at the school event. That pause he takes, and then sees her, and it all comes together. His purpose, his dad’s health, mom’s love and why she taught him how to do the chores, and he speaks in a trance knowing full well he is now responsible for his one parent coz the other has to go. The slight smile carries a ton of pride and acknowledgement as he steps back into the line.
and then at the end, when he bids goodbye to his mom
This kid was the glue that held the love story together, and as sad as it is, the love story is all the more enriched by it.
A few other worthy moments were when they start to fall in love, and the littlest of romantic gestures that tug at your heart and want to be the actors on screen. The way they hold hands, the way he cups his hand over her head while he kisses her and how they acknowledge her time is coming to an end scene and they hug and kiss: some blink-and you miss it moments.
The movie is fantasy, but it doesn’t feel like it. It feels like a simple, ordinary story of a guy who had his passion stolen away from him just when he mustered the courage to fess his love for his girl, her accident, and then her death, and the kid and the holding it together through their loss and once again finding comfort, even for a short time, so they could heal together for the rest of their lives. Happy endings are lovely, but realistic happy endings in a romantic fantasy movie feels out of place for its audaciousness. I mean, how can they be so real and yet throw in a plot that’s so far from reality, and make us all lap it up like it was completely normal is a happy happenstance.
Be With you is an emotionally captivating that transcends time and takes you on a journey of love, with poignancy, mystery and connection. Available on Viki.com
