If the Sun Rises in the West

If the Sun Rises in the West

Theatrical poster
Hangul 해가 서쪽에서 뜬다면
Hanja 해가 西쪽에서 뜬다면
Revised Romanization Hae ga seojjog-eseo tteundamyeon
McCune–Reischauer Hae ka sŏjjog-esŏ ttŭndamyŏn
Directed by Lee Eun
Produced by Hwang Jae-woo
Written by Kim Hyun-seok
Starring Im Chang-jung
Ko So-young
Music by Jo Yeong-wook
Kim Gyu-yang
Cinematography Byun Hee-sung
Edited by Ko Im-pyo
Production
company
Myeong Film Co.
Distributed by Il-Sin Investment
Release dates
  • 19 December 1998 (1998-12-19)
Running time
 100 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean

If the Sun Rises in the West (Hangul: 해가 서쪽에서 뜬다면; RR: Haega seojjog-eseo tteundamyeon) is a 1998 South Korean film, and was the commercial directorial debut of Lee Eun.[1]

Plot

Beom-soo is a traffic control officer who aspires to become a baseball umpire. By chance he meets Hyun-joo, a theatre major who crashes her car into a tree while he is on duty. Instead of fining her, Beom-soo gives her driving lessons and they soon become friends, exchanging letters with each other when Hyun-joo returns to university. When they next meet in person Beom-soo declares his love for her, only for Hyun-joo to reject him as she plans to go overseas to study.

Three years later, Beom-soo is making his debut as a professional baseball umpire, and his feelings of love are reignited when he realises that up-and-coming actress Yoo Ha-rin is none other than Hyun-joo. The two are eventually reunited via the baseball field and resume their relationship, though Hyun-joo's affections are also pursued by Ji-min, the president of an advertising company for which she has appeared in a series of commercials. Hyun-joo eventually rejects Ji-min and shows up at the opening game of the Korean Series to throw the first ball, where she kisses Beom-soo in the middle of the field.

Cast

Release

If the Sun Rises in the West opened in South Korea on 19 December 1998, and received a total of 145,752 admission in Seoul.[2]

Critical response

Andrew Saroch of Far East Films compared the film favourably to Richard Curtis' Notting Hill, and said, "[If the Sun Rises in the West] accomplishes its modest directives and creates two characters we quickly warm to throughout their moments together. Lee Eun utilises tried-and-tested genre techniques, but it is hard to be too resistant to these when the story moves along so effortlessly." He also praised lead actress Ko So-young, saying that she "illuminates this popularist fable and lends her character some much needed humanity."[3]

References

  1. ↑ "<The Night Before Strike (Paupjeonya)> (1990)". Korean Film Archive. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.
  2. ↑ Paquet, Darcy. "Films Released in 1998". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.
  3. ↑ Saroch, Andrew. "If The Sun Rose In The West". Far East Films. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.

External links

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