On movies you probably don't know but definitely should see - 3-iron/Bin-jip

Blog.com was down for 24 hours or so, much to my great dismay. Suddenly all I could think about was stuff to write. A thousand new ideas popped into my head. Why oh why wasn't I allowed to blog about it? Seriously, this site is down more often than not but normally it sorts itself out relatively quickly. Ah well, as long as this doesn't happen again for a foreseeable future I'll be happy. Probably will though, and I'll probably just whine and moan about it then too without doing anything about it. Anywho, what do you do when you've suddenly got all this spare time that you don't know what to do with? School work? Pssh, I think not. Movies!

I was thinking about being a bit of a hipster and starting a review series called "Movies you probably don't know but definitely should see", and 3-iron (Bin-jip in Korean) tops that list by far. It's moved all the way to the top of the list of my favourite movies. It's one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen both story-wise and in photography. Every screenshot turns into a piece of art.



Without spoiling too much, it's a story about a guy who breaks into other people's homes while they're away and lives there for a night or two. In return he washes their clothes and fixes their broken appliances. One day he breaks into a house he believes to be empty, only to find a woman, who's the victim of domestic abuse from a husband that makes me cringe so much I was actually probably the most impressed with that actor. They go through the movie never speaking to each other, but always communicating through body language and looks, which makes their relationship all the more powerful to see. The cast is stunning, the visuals are amazing and the soundtrack really helps set the mood. It's an all-around beautiful movie, and you should see it. Seriously, why are you still here? Go find it.

















I love the way the movie contrasts the scary icky husband with his horrible tendencies with the sweet but slightly strange Tae-suk in the way they act toward Sun-hwa, and also the way she reacts to them physically. It's so moving to see her tense up during situations with her husband, and how relaxed she is when she feels safe and comfortable with Tae-suk. Lee Seung-yeon really is a fantastic actress with such a range of emotion it's really touching.

While I've never been the victim of physical abuse, I can recognize my relationship with my ex-boyfriend, whom I broke up with three years ago, was laced with subtle mental abuse. He cheated, lied and was an all-around demeaning person, and I just kind of took it, because his mother was dying of cancer and I thought that people whose loved ones are sick and dying lash out at people. It took me quite some time to get up and out, having to move back to Stockholm from Gothenburg and in with my sister K and her family, and it messed me up pretty bad. Trusting is hard. But I've since learned through meeting wonderful people and caring and affectionate men like T, O, Max and Hemingway, that my ex was the asshole and that relationships don't have to be fraught with anxiety and unhappiness. I can get up and leave on adventures with someone who will treat me right, and it would be the right thing to do.

So all in all, 3-iron is one of those movies that makes you think about how people communicate and treat each other, and reminds you that you don't need to stand for someone else's shit. I'm also not opposed to the fact that there are a lot of scenes in which actor Lee Hyun-kyoon is nude or almost nude either. *drool*