At some point,
everyone who has been in love (and more importantly, loved) asks the question,
“Why me?” What is it in me that deserves to be loved, or is it all surface
attraction we use to convince ourselves of a deeper connection? These are the
questions asked by The Beauty Inside,
a fantasy romance in the tradition of Meet
Joe Black, The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button, and the final sequence of the Korean My Sassy Girl. Even though the narrative comes closest to the Brad
Pitt vehicles, it is the blending of comedy, melodrama, and fantasy which make
the tone align most with the Korean film. Other than revenge thrillers,
romantic comedy with a tinge of the surreal is what South Korean cinema seems
to do best, both in television and film. While The Beauty Inside doesn’t break any genre molds (adapted from a largely
unseen American online series), it is a testament to the filmmaking that its
unique ideas come off so unassuming.
We are dropped
right into the absurd with protagonist Woo-jin’s voiceover describing his
unique condition in life. When we join Woo-jin, he is played by Dae-myung Kim,
though he is only one of 21 actors to play the role through the course of the
film, as out protagonist wakes up in a different body each day. This is
somewhat similar to the Adam Sandler vehicle, The Cobbler, though Woo-jin lacks any control over the situation
forcing him to walk each day in someone else’s shoes. Though he has developed a
lifestyle that adjusts to his unique condition, working from home and only
sharing his secret with his mother (Suk Mun) and his childhood friend,
Sang-beck (Dong-hwi Lee), it is clear that Woo-jin longs for more out of life
than the one-night-stands that each relationship inevitably turns into.
This lifestyle
changes when our protagonist meets a passionate young woman named E-soo Hong
(Hyo-joo Han), who has an admiration for the custom furniture business
developed by Woo-jin in his solitude. Rather than ask her out immediately,
Woo-jin must wait for the day that he awakes in a body attractive enough to
give him the confidence. It comes in the form of actor Seo-jun Park
While the web
series ended with a contrived happy ending upon the protagonist’s revelation to
his love interest, this is where The
Beauty Inside is steeped in the rich tradition of Korean melodrama.
Woo-jin’s difficulties are somewhat dismissible, especially since the narrative
has already established a pattern for him to grow accustomed to the situation.
It is E-soo who struggles with the new situation, growing increasingly
distraught over the stress of being unable to recognize her love from one day
to the next. There is also the social repercussions of being seen dating a
different man each day, and Woo-jin must face the reality of the hardships he
is putting E-soo through.
Despite the
potential for a thoughtful narrative, commercial director Baik instead remains
focused on the emotional aspects of the narrative. This is likely to suit
romance fans just fine, though others may be disappointed by the missed
opportunity for discussion of larger social issues. Even the treatment of gender
differences is largely glossed over, with the days that Woo-jin is given a
female body treated with light jokes rather than thoughtful consideration. But
this is also what keeps The Beauty Inside
well within the structure of a romantic comedy, never really threatening to
take away the happy ending that fans of this genre feel entitled to.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
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