not quite 10 points out of ten - or 100 points out of 10, for that matter
I watched Jaejoong's cinematic film debut last night with kitsune714 chiming in ever so often, but it wasn't quite on par with our Koizora level snarkfest (though, how could anything be? Koizora can't be duplicated, not even Twilight fail comes close to it).
So, Heaven's Postman is a supernatural love story and also a tale of loss and life after death - namely, how the people left behind deal with their grief. Jaejoong stars as the cunningly named Shin Jaejun, and Han Hyo Joo as Cho Hana. The film is scripted by Eriko Kitagawa, who is famous in Japan for some of her romance dramas - none of which I have watched. The only EK project I've seen is the unfortunate Halfway, which I took an immediate dislike to, and the formula of beautiful, silent and passive flower boy + noisy, jangling, aggressive girl is repeated to an extent in Heaven's Postman, but to a less annoying degree. After finishing Halfway, while I admired Kitagawa's eye (it was her directorial debut), I could have easily watched a half dozen other similarly dreamy-lensed, soft focused pretty films by other filmmakers - Shunji Iwai, anyone? I tried to remind myself that love often doesn't make sense, but I just couldn't understand why Okada Masaki's character would even stay with Kie Kitano's grating, cartoonishly violent and above all whiny selfish character. Other than to remember wow, I really am glad I'm no longer a teenager again and I can't stand most teenagers now (or when I was one, fact.)
Heaven's Postman's main relationship is a more subdued affair - but ultimately, I couldn't believe in the love story there, either.
SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE - I'm trying not to be explicitly spoiler mad here, but there's going to be plot points and stuff.
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First, let me say, even in LQ version, Heaven's Postman is a great looking film. Korean cinematography is excellent, and when the camera is focusing on the dewy, almost unreal beauty of its two young stars, the director has a very easy time of it indeed. The camera adores Jaejoong's face, and frankly, this is his star vehicle. Han Hyo Joo, who is so pretty and luminous in her other roles (I preferred her in Spring Waltz vs. Brilliant Legacy, btw) - while not exactly plain Janed in Heaven's Postman, is saddled with a rather awkward hair cut and as kitsune714 said, unnervingly also looks like she could be related to Jaejoong, so....awkward. She also has to give some forced laughs of gaiety/breaking down, and it's...not good.
Jaejoong, who is so beautiful it's unfair - and I realize I may have been harping on the matter of his beauty, but this entire film is about objectifying him much like how the camera lingered on Kang Don Won all through Duelist, and you know, I'm not blind. I appreciate beauty in all its forms, and well, Jaejoong's ethereal qualities are exploited full hilt in Heaven's Postman.
The problem is that, while he's not bad, he's also very static. For most of the movie, he facilitates between beautiful blankness and tiny flickers of personality - that Shin doesn't ever go beyond a fully realized character - I don't know if the director told him to play it so still on purpose, as if to parallel Shin's real body being in a coma, but when he does loosen up, it's a small relief.
Hana is the stock plucky good hearted girl character with a slight twist - she's heartbroken over her former boyfriend's death, and is full of resentment and spite in the wake of his leaving her - and also the truths he didn't tell her: namely that he was married, and he had a child.
Hana and Shin meet by a mail box that could have come out of Amelie, it's so charming. Hana's just left another poison-pen letter, chastising her faithless ex-lover and being quite amusing about her disappointment - I think this was my favorite Hana moment of the movie, actually. Where she's raw and real and you can sympathize why she would write such passionate, hateful things because her heart is broken.
Shin collects the mail and introduces himself to Hana, and explains to her that he's Heaven's postman - collecting the mail from the people left behind so he can deliver to the souls in heaven.
Hana expresses her doubt -he doesn't look like a ghost, he has legs (mythology about ghosts not having feet or shadow) and is he an angel of some kind? Where's his wings?
Shin tells her to close her eyes and that he'll fly away, and when she does, he runs off. She chases after him.
Thus is their meet cute.
The rest of the movie is full of lovely, lingering shots full of symbolism - Hana's cherry motif (she writes on cherry stationery and wears cherry charms), the white light house they set up base, Shin's feather necklace, the bus with "Heaven" emblazoned on the seat covers, Angel cafe, photographs of skies - and it's a joy to watch, but emotionally, I just wasn't feeling it. The only exception came in the story when Hana and Shin encounter a grieving father, who was not able to say good bye to his son, who had died in a plane crash. The son's hobby was taking photographs of skies, and after his death, his father took up photography. The actor (I believe he was in Coffee Prince) is so good, his silent devastation and break down at when he's presented with what he believes is a relic from his son ~ I wish the movie had more of those moments.
Tied loosely with Hana's grieving process is the 'love' story that grows out of her partnership with Shin, who offers her 20 dollars an hour if she helps him with his deliveries.
You'd think it'd be a no brainer, that two beautiful people put together would automatically generate some kind of chemistry - and while I could certainly buy their friendship, the progression to love seemed false to me and I just didn't see it.
I think it's just an acting issue - Jaejoong is so green and Han Joo, while not a slouch, struggles to make it spark. Their characters are so paper thin though, that it's just difficult for everyone involved.
And I think this is what prevented me from fully loving Heaven's Postman, even in a affectionately mocking manner - it's a film that tries to do a lot - tell a love story, and also bring something to the table about human grief and coping with loss and how people are connected to one another and the sweet little lies that make up living, and has all these tangents in the air, but doesn't quite get them juggling perfectly. That Eriko Kitagawa has good, workable plot points but writes in vignettes instead of a cohesive, fully fleshed story, so that I get the impression of beauty, but it doesn't connect to me in an emotional level - either for loving or hating.
I have that issue too with my own writing, but that narcissistic point aside - Heaven's Postman failed for me as a well-told story with an beginning and ending. It was in media res and meandered all over the place, and tried to substitute feelings with just visual beauty. And that's not enough for this fan girl. Not this time.
I'd rate it about 6 out of 10. If you're in it for eye candy and a pleasant way to waste about two hours, go ahead and watch Heaven's Postman. It is entertaining. If you're in it for a good romance or cohesive storyline....I suggest watching Il Mare (for a good romance) and The Philadelphia Story (for romance AND storyline).
And oh, naturally Jaejoong's song for this is amazing. I love his singing.
also, props to DBSK Knights for subbing this.
So, Heaven's Postman is a supernatural love story and also a tale of loss and life after death - namely, how the people left behind deal with their grief. Jaejoong stars as the cunningly named Shin Jaejun, and Han Hyo Joo as Cho Hana. The film is scripted by Eriko Kitagawa, who is famous in Japan for some of her romance dramas - none of which I have watched. The only EK project I've seen is the unfortunate Halfway, which I took an immediate dislike to, and the formula of beautiful, silent and passive flower boy + noisy, jangling, aggressive girl is repeated to an extent in Heaven's Postman, but to a less annoying degree. After finishing Halfway, while I admired Kitagawa's eye (it was her directorial debut), I could have easily watched a half dozen other similarly dreamy-lensed, soft focused pretty films by other filmmakers - Shunji Iwai, anyone? I tried to remind myself that love often doesn't make sense, but I just couldn't understand why Okada Masaki's character would even stay with Kie Kitano's grating, cartoonishly violent and above all whiny selfish character. Other than to remember wow, I really am glad I'm no longer a teenager again and I can't stand most teenagers now (or when I was one, fact.)
Heaven's Postman's main relationship is a more subdued affair - but ultimately, I couldn't believe in the love story there, either.
SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE - I'm trying not to be explicitly spoiler mad here, but there's going to be plot points and stuff.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
First, let me say, even in LQ version, Heaven's Postman is a great looking film. Korean cinematography is excellent, and when the camera is focusing on the dewy, almost unreal beauty of its two young stars, the director has a very easy time of it indeed. The camera adores Jaejoong's face, and frankly, this is his star vehicle. Han Hyo Joo, who is so pretty and luminous in her other roles (I preferred her in Spring Waltz vs. Brilliant Legacy, btw) - while not exactly plain Janed in Heaven's Postman, is saddled with a rather awkward hair cut and as kitsune714 said, unnervingly also looks like she could be related to Jaejoong, so....awkward. She also has to give some forced laughs of gaiety/breaking down, and it's...not good.
Jaejoong, who is so beautiful it's unfair - and I realize I may have been harping on the matter of his beauty, but this entire film is about objectifying him much like how the camera lingered on Kang Don Won all through Duelist, and you know, I'm not blind. I appreciate beauty in all its forms, and well, Jaejoong's ethereal qualities are exploited full hilt in Heaven's Postman.
The problem is that, while he's not bad, he's also very static. For most of the movie, he facilitates between beautiful blankness and tiny flickers of personality - that Shin doesn't ever go beyond a fully realized character - I don't know if the director told him to play it so still on purpose, as if to parallel Shin's real body being in a coma, but when he does loosen up, it's a small relief.
Hana is the stock plucky good hearted girl character with a slight twist - she's heartbroken over her former boyfriend's death, and is full of resentment and spite in the wake of his leaving her - and also the truths he didn't tell her: namely that he was married, and he had a child.
Hana and Shin meet by a mail box that could have come out of Amelie, it's so charming. Hana's just left another poison-pen letter, chastising her faithless ex-lover and being quite amusing about her disappointment - I think this was my favorite Hana moment of the movie, actually. Where she's raw and real and you can sympathize why she would write such passionate, hateful things because her heart is broken.
Shin collects the mail and introduces himself to Hana, and explains to her that he's Heaven's postman - collecting the mail from the people left behind so he can deliver to the souls in heaven.
Hana expresses her doubt -he doesn't look like a ghost, he has legs (mythology about ghosts not having feet or shadow) and is he an angel of some kind? Where's his wings?
Shin tells her to close her eyes and that he'll fly away, and when she does, he runs off. She chases after him.
Thus is their meet cute.
The rest of the movie is full of lovely, lingering shots full of symbolism - Hana's cherry motif (she writes on cherry stationery and wears cherry charms), the white light house they set up base, Shin's feather necklace, the bus with "Heaven" emblazoned on the seat covers, Angel cafe, photographs of skies - and it's a joy to watch, but emotionally, I just wasn't feeling it. The only exception came in the story when Hana and Shin encounter a grieving father, who was not able to say good bye to his son, who had died in a plane crash. The son's hobby was taking photographs of skies, and after his death, his father took up photography. The actor (I believe he was in Coffee Prince) is so good, his silent devastation and break down at when he's presented with what he believes is a relic from his son ~ I wish the movie had more of those moments.
Tied loosely with Hana's grieving process is the 'love' story that grows out of her partnership with Shin, who offers her 20 dollars an hour if she helps him with his deliveries.
You'd think it'd be a no brainer, that two beautiful people put together would automatically generate some kind of chemistry - and while I could certainly buy their friendship, the progression to love seemed false to me and I just didn't see it.
I think it's just an acting issue - Jaejoong is so green and Han Joo, while not a slouch, struggles to make it spark. Their characters are so paper thin though, that it's just difficult for everyone involved.
And I think this is what prevented me from fully loving Heaven's Postman, even in a affectionately mocking manner - it's a film that tries to do a lot - tell a love story, and also bring something to the table about human grief and coping with loss and how people are connected to one another and the sweet little lies that make up living, and has all these tangents in the air, but doesn't quite get them juggling perfectly. That Eriko Kitagawa has good, workable plot points but writes in vignettes instead of a cohesive, fully fleshed story, so that I get the impression of beauty, but it doesn't connect to me in an emotional level - either for loving or hating.
I have that issue too with my own writing, but that narcissistic point aside - Heaven's Postman failed for me as a well-told story with an beginning and ending. It was in media res and meandered all over the place, and tried to substitute feelings with just visual beauty. And that's not enough for this fan girl. Not this time.
I'd rate it about 6 out of 10. If you're in it for eye candy and a pleasant way to waste about two hours, go ahead and watch Heaven's Postman. It is entertaining. If you're in it for a good romance or cohesive storyline....I suggest watching Il Mare (for a good romance) and The Philadelphia Story (for romance AND storyline).
And oh, naturally Jaejoong's song for this is amazing. I love his singing.
also, props to DBSK Knights for subbing this.