In this blog post, I’ll revisit the movie “Singles” and examine the message it conveys, focusing on its concept, characters, plot, and themes.
Why “Singles” Instead of “Christmas at 29”
While preparing for my final report, I rewatched the film and re-read the screenplay. I also watched the actor and director commentary included on the DVD, which led me to reconsider the film’s concept. A film’s concept is often most clearly revealed in its title, and in that sense, the title “Singles” is clearly more fitting for this film and screenplay than “Christmas at 29.”
Although the story centers on the two women, Nan-nan and Dong-mi, Su-heon and Jeong-jun are by no means neglected. Therefore, it is clear that this work is not just the story of a 29-year-old woman, but the story of unmarried men and women approaching thirty—that is, singles.
However, there is one disappointing aspect. In the film, both the male and female leads remain as “unfinished” singles, but in the screenplay, Jeong-jun is set to end up with Ga-hee. It’s unclear why this change was made. Of course, it may have been an intentional effort to rule out the film’s fantastical hope that Dong-mi and Jeong-jun would eventually end up together. As a result, Dong-mi’s confident character comes across even more vividly, but it also leaves a slight sense of disappointment, as it falls somewhat short of the general audience’s expectation for a happy ending—that each character would ultimately find their match after the film ends. In any case, since this part was omitted from the film, mainstream audiences may have actually felt a sense of relief.
At the end of the year when you’re twenty-nine, Christmas is a time of celebration, but it’s also a time when anxiety about approaching thirty coexists. The vague fear of no longer being young and anxiety about the future are naturally captured in the original title, “Christmas at Twenty-Nine.”
In contrast, the title “Singles” conveys such a vibrant atmosphere that adding the adjective “glamorous” wouldn’t feel out of place. The title itself embodies the filmmakers’ determination to tell the story of young people who live authentically, setting aside their age—which is merely a number—and their social status. Watching the DVD special features only strengthened this conviction. This is because I could clearly sense the production team’s intention to portray the four main characters in a relatively balanced manner and to give each character their own distinct personality and role. The decision to list Lee Beom-soo, who played Jung-jun, as a “special guest appearance” was likely a choice made out of consideration for a role that had relatively less screen time.
Upon further reflection, the concept of this film centers on two women of the same age and boldly portrays their lives as they remain true to themselves, even within South Korean society, where marriage is taken for granted. It cheerfully depicts how they choose to live the lives they truly love, rather than being swept along by social pressures or the values of others. While reality is undoubtedly grueling and difficult, I got the impression that this is a work that allows the audience to find hope again through the appropriate fantasy the film creates. Although this is similar to the concept of “reality wrapped in just the right amount of fantasy and humor” mentioned in the mid-term report, I believe this interpretation is closer to the essence of the film and the screenplay, as it places slightly more emphasis on the fantasy of glamorous singles who, while grounded in reality, never ultimately let go of hope.
Character Analysis of Nanan’s Growth
The key keywords describing the characters of Nanan and Dong-mi, as well as Su-heon and Jeong-jun, do not differ significantly from what I summarized in my midterm report. Of course, certain aspects felt more prominent this time, while others seemed relatively minor, but the overall characteristics remain the same.
However, upon reexamining the film and screenplay this time, I made a new discovery: this work centers on the process of Nan-nan’s personal growth. While Dong-mi, Su-heon, and Jeong-jun maintain their characters relatively consistently from beginning to end, Nan-nan undergoes a gradual shift in perspective and matures over time. In that sense, this work can be seen as having the structure of a coming-of-age drama. Therefore, in this article, I will analyze the character by focusing on Nan-nan’s process of change.
Nan-nan is a character with extremely ordinary values. She is not particularly wealthy, nor does she act impulsively. Even when she has something she wants to do, she cannot jump into it without carefully weighing the pros and cons. In that sense, she is a very realistic character.
So, what is her core personality? Since various personality traits and values are intricately intertwined, it is not easy to define her with a single core trait. While there are many characteristics that serve as key elements in understanding the plot and the character, it is difficult to single out just one as the core.
“Ordinariness” might very well be her core personality. She is an ordinary woman with very common values, moderately attractive looks, and moderate ambitions. She has no particularly outstanding talents, but she is by no means lacking either. Above all, she places greater importance on how others perceive her than on how she feels about herself. That’s why, even when Su-heon approaches her, she is more delighted by the fact that she is still attractive to the opposite sex than by the man himself.
The process by which she, who had been living through the eyes of others, gradually begins to view the world through her own eyes is arguably the most important turning point in this work. Returning to her core personality, Nan-nan is a character who is overly conscious of others’ opinions and doesn’t even know what she truly wants. As this aspect of her gradually changes, the story unfolds alongside it. I’m not sure if this description fits the concept of “core personality” exactly, but the process of that change plays a very important role in this film.
Let’s examine this in a bit more detail.
Nanan wants to succeed in both her career and her love life. This is because it’s the kind of life many people aspire to. She became the lead designer at a fashion brand after overcoming fierce competition, and she draws the envy of those around her by dating Ji-hoon, a KAIST graduate. Whether this truly brings her inner happiness is a separate issue, but she considers it, at the very least, a socially satisfying life. That’s why she struggles to wake up in the morning without an alarm and pushes through each day despite being so stressed that she suffers from alopecia areata. Of course, her gossip sessions with Won-mi are her greatest source of comfort and energy.
However, that life crumbles in an instant. Ji-hoon’s betrayal—the man she loved—and her boss’s unfair shifting of blame push her to the brink. A life that looked happy to everyone else collapsed in the blink of an eye. Perhaps if these events hadn’t occurred, Nan-nan might have lived a safe but ordinary life, believing that was happiness—even if it left her with only a deep sense of emptiness in her heart later on.
In any case, a massive external obstacle looms before her: an unwanted transfer and a breakup with her boyfriend. If she had been financially secure or possessed absolute confidence in her abilities and femininity, she might have quit her job without hesitation and chosen a new path. But Nan-nan cannot do that. She is pushed into taking on the role of restaurant manager and continues a painful, lingering breakup with Ji-hoon. Although she tries to find a new job, she isn’t very proactive about it.
She struggles to adapt to the restaurant, stumbling from one mistake to the next, and finding it hard to forget her ex-boyfriend. The people who support her during this transitional period are her friends, her new love interest Su-heon, and the restaurant manager, who encourages her. This shows that Nan-nan is still a character who relies on those around her.
Living under the scrutiny of others, Nan-nan even hesitates about marriage—not out of her own will, but because she’s influenced by Dong-mi’s suggestion. Though she still lacks confidence, she convinces herself that it will bring her happiness. Before she knows it, she’s enjoying and finding satisfaction in her job as a manager, yet she doesn’t realize it. Even though greeting customers has become so natural that it feels second nature, she still finds it embarrassing.
The decisive turning point that changes Nanan is Dong-mi’s pregnancy. While she could understand Dong-mi’s free-spirited approach to romance, the sight of Dong-mi voluntarily choosing the life of a single mother was something Nanan found difficult to accept within her existing value system. Dong-mi was saying she would bear the burden of society’s judgmental gaze—the very gaze Nanan cared about more than anyone else—for the sake of her beloved friend. Yet, despite this, Dong-mi lets Jung-jun go and refuses to back down from her choice, even in the face of her father’s opposition and violence.
Witnessing this, Nan-nan finally begins to reflect on herself. Dong-mi lives the life she has chosen without worrying about anyone’s judgment. So what about herself? She isn’t even sure if a career in fashion is truly what she wants, and her marriage to Soo-heon feels more like an escape from reality than love. Only then does she finally begin to ask herself what she truly desires.
Nanan, who once told her old friends while drinking on the rooftop that she didn’t even know what she liked, is now slowly changing. She even had to ask her friends for that answer back then. Although she still doesn’t know what she likes most, she realizes that she must find it—a life she wants for herself, not one that others expect of her.
Even as she lets Su-heon go, the common saying, “Out of sight, out of mind,” still weighs on her heart. Even if she were to meet another man she could be proud to introduce to others, she isn’t sure she could actually go through with marriage. However, she now wants to test herself to see if she can do her job as a manager properly on her own, without relying on someone else. Before, she had simply hoped that no problems would arise, but now she believes that even if problems do come up, she can solve them. Ultimately, she resolves to no longer be the person who always puts up with Dong-mi’s tantrums, but rather to become someone who protects Dong-mi.
In this way, Nan-nan grows into a true single woman who knows how to stand on her own two feet. The fact that she’s now relaxed enough to give Director Cheon—whom she’s met again—a light tap on the butt symbolically illustrates this growth.
This character development is closely intertwined with the plot progression of the series.
In addition to the plot analysis
As mentioned in the midterm report, this work adopts a structure that slightly subverts the typical romantic comedy formula. At the same time, the plot’s beginning, development, climax, and resolution unfold alongside Nan-nan’s journey of growth. The Hi-Rock Club serves as a key catalyst for this transformation.
In the midterm report, I summarized that this work is both a romantic comedy with Su-heon and a romantic comedy with the High Rock Club. Upon further reflection, this work can also be viewed as a story centered on Nan-nan—one that navigates her friendship with Dong-mi, her romance with Su-heon, and her relationship with her workplace, the High Rock Club—and ultimately leads to her falling in love with herself.
Nanan grows through a series of events: starting a new job against her will, adapting little by little through trial and error, and finally choosing her own path in life. As her relationships with Dong-mi, Jeong-jun, and Su-heon unfold alongside this journey, the story becomes even richer.
In fact, if one were to list only the major events—changing jobs, a breakup, meeting Su-heon, Dong-mi’s pregnancy, Su-heon’s proposal, the offer to become manager of the High Rock Club, and the breakup with Su-heon—the plot would seem very simple. However, the organic intertwining of the characters’ relationships, combined with realistic depictions of situations and well-balanced humor, keeps the story engaging until the very end—even though it doesn’t follow the typical structure of progressively escalating obstacles. This narrative progression naturally forms a complete beginning, development, climax, and resolution.
If I were to point out areas for improvement
I agree that this is a highly polished work overall. Nevertheless, if I were to name an area for improvement, the first thing that comes to mind is that the series of events—both major and minor—tends to unfold in a somewhat list-like manner. While this can be a strength, it also acts as a weakness. The screenplay includes a fair number of redundant explanations and situations that aren’t strictly necessary, making the overall flow feel somewhat verbose and preventing the “aesthetics of omission” from fully shining through.
Of course, since a significant portion of these scenes was cut from the film, it is difficult to evaluate the screenplay using the same criteria. Representative examples include the dream sequence in the prologue, Nan-nan’s dream related to her performance, most of the scenes featuring Ga-hee and Jeong-jun, the scene where she goes to find Ji-hoon, the episode involving the manager’s son, and the scene where Dong-mi meets her baby at the obstetrics clinic.
This assessment may be the result of judging the screenplay more strictly due to a preconceived positive view of the film. However, considering that the scene featuring the elderly couple—which appears in the screenplay—was cut from the film, which I found regrettable, and conversely, that the scene where the head chef scolds the waiters instead of Nan-nan was largely unnecessary, it’s difficult to explain this discrepancy solely as a difference between the film and the screenplay. Overall, I feel that if the screenplay had been edited more boldly one more time, it would have been a much more polished piece.
Another point of disappointment is that, since the story unfolds around the women’s fantasies, the male characters are portrayed somewhat stereotypically. Both Jeong-jun, who takes Ga-hee back, and Su-heon, who always understands and waits patiently for Nan-nan, show no significant hesitation. While there are scenes where Jeong-jun experiences some internal conflict, even those serve primarily as a plot device to develop his relationship with Dong-mi. Su-heon, on the other hand, is a character closer to fantasy than reality.
I recall reading a movie review in the past that stated, “The chances of meeting a man like this in real life are extremely low.” Of course, if such a premise were adjusted to be more realistic, the film might actually lose its mass appeal. This is because many viewers dream of a character like Su-heon.
In fact, I can’t help but wonder if the film might have made up for this shortcoming by including at least one natural opportunity for Su-heon and Dong-mi to meet. It feels somewhat awkward that Su-heon never truly connects with Nan-nan’s friends, who are the most important people in her life. Dong-mi, too, encourages Nan-nan to get married but never fully understands what kind of person her partner actually is. Given Dong-mi’s personality, this is a plot point that’s hard to accept. On the other hand, Jung-jun forms a different kind of relationship when he meets Ga-hee.
Of course, the character Ga-hee serves a necessary role as a device to showcase the concerns of older women. If that’s the case, Soo-heon could also have been used as a device to show, through his interactions with Dong-mi, how women of her generation view men and what they expect from them.
Finally, regarding the subject matter
This film was produced at a time when cohabitation and the “glamorous single life” were topics of widespread social interest. I recall that even morning TV shows at the time covered these social phenomena by gathering various case studies and producing VCR segments that combined them with movie clips.
In the DVD commentary, the actors describe Nan-nan as the embodiment of an ordinary Korean woman, while Dong-mi is portrayed as the ideal that Korean women aspire to emulate at least once in their lives. Although the premise is somewhat stereotypical, it’s an interpretation that’s easy to relate to.
The film’s greatest strength lies precisely in its subject matter, which creates this sense of empathy. It’s not merely a love story about ordinary men and women, nor is it a melodrama that forces tears, nor is it a film centered on a dramatic plot twist. Yet, it was precisely this realistic subject matter that warmed the hearts of the audience and drew laughter from young men and women of a similar generation.
A story unique to ‘Singles’, distinct from the original ‘Christmas at 29’. In a reality where the economy is tough, making ends meet is a struggle, and it’s hard to even find an easy answer to what one should do with their life, life is simply too burdensome to focus solely on love. Nevertheless, for those who hope to live while holding onto at least a glimmer of hope, Soo-heon became a fantasy, and Dong-mi became a steadfast ally.
The director’s remark—that he hoped viewers would call a friend they hadn’t spoken to in a long time after watching the film—resonates all the more deeply for this reason.
At the time this article was written, there was talk of a cultural trend in which works imbued with warm emotion were beginning to regain attention, shifting away from the “cool” aesthetic. From today’s perspective, this outlook on the times reads like a cultural record of the past. Nevertheless, the themes of human relationships and the search for self that ‘Singles’ explores remain relevant across generations. Although the social climate has changed since then, the process of making one’s own life choices and seeking what one truly desires still resonates deeply with many people.
The clear focus on the work and love lives of singles, along with themes that became even more vivid upon rereading the work—the life of a 29-year-old woman who cannot easily give up either her career or love, and the message to seek out and enjoy what she truly wants, rather than worrying about others’ opinions—remains compelling even as time passes. For these reasons, revisiting this work was deeply meaningful and allowed me to feel that warm sense of happiness once again.
