My Sassy Girl westernized

“Destiny is a bridge you build to the one you love,” says Charlie Bellow in the Western remake of My Sassy Girl (2001), which was based on a true story. Nice quote — but it doesn't exactly capture the original quotable quote from Kyun-woo: “Fate is building a bridge of chance for someone you love.” Sure, the latter is just a translation from the Korean line; nevertheless, this comparison best illustrates the difference between the Korean original and the American remake.

Following the original hit seven years later, My Sassy Girl (2008) stars Jesse Bradford and Elisha Cuthbert in a nice, yet watered down version. The original packed an emotional punch that the remake wasn't able to capture despite having similarly cute and funny scenes. What was a whimsical, quirky yet romantic film became just another rom-com. While I did enjoy My Sassy Girl (2008), I'm not surprised it was released straight to DVD in the US.

To begin with, New York was just so wrong for such a story. To handle her deep, yet secret emotional pain, Jordan Roarke (Cuthbert) gets drunk and passes out wherever on a regular basis. Now, here's a really hot girl who's collapsing in all sorts of unlikely places, like the subway, where she meets Charlie for the first time. On some occasions, she's had all kinds of strangers bringing her home in a taxi. In New York. Right.

Bradford's Charlie isn't such a well-developed character either. Whereas Kyun-woo is some sort of clumsy slacker who doesn't know what to do with his life and who's had no luck in love to the consternation of his mother, Charlie's a guy who seems to have it all together. Kyun-woo's mother is more present in his life than Charlie's; in fact, at the beginning of the film, Kyun-woo's mother is nagging him to meet up with his aunt who wants to introduce him to a girl. All we know of Charlie, through some funny scenes, is that he was born in the Midwest to the nicest people in the world and, as a result, he's also a very nice boy.

I find it amusing that the American version needs to stress that Charlie was raised to be nice, while the Korean version simply throws Kyun-woo into a bizarre situation he can't seem to get out of and yet brings out the best in him. It's even funnier that Kyun-woo's your ordinary, funny-looking college dude, while Charlie's really hot stuff material (Jesse Bradford, hello!) with a promising, though all too safe, future ahead of him.

My Sassy Girl (2001) also pushes the bar higher. The Girl, who wasn't named in the 2001 film, throws up on Kyun-woo. Kyun-woo brings her to a motel and is subsequently caught naked by police officers as he emerges from the shower after realizing there were no towels in the shower room. The Girl also calls him to demand an explanation as to why he was naked with her. Moreover, Kyun-woo has a string of failures behind him, which lends his relationship with the bizarre girl more tension.

Most importantly, The Girl asks Kyun-woo to come back in two years, which offers a higher risk than Jordan's one year, which, even for me, isn't all that difficult. Kyun-woo also becomes a writer in the end, after writing about The Girl and getting a book deal out of it. There was growth in his character, as well as hers, and when destiny finally brings "their future selves" together in the end and finally agree to keep their appointment with destiny, they're more than ready to be with each other. This point, which was magical for me, wasn't so well-captured in My Sassy Girl (2008).

Whereas the original film had me bawling as soon as they saw each other again, the Western version just had me a little teary-eyed because it reminded me of why I loved My Sassy Girl (2001). The prize of waiting is overwhelming if you pay the price. I'm of the idea that the Western cynicism just didn't get the Asian concept of letting go and waiting.

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