In this blog post, focusing on the movie ‘Your Soul Is by My Side’, we’ll explore the synergy created when a fantasy setting and a romantic love story come together, as well as how the fantasy-romance genre expresses the emotion of love.
Reasons for Choosing the Fantasy Romance Genre and the Film’s Structure
There are likely certain scenes or themes that come to mind when one thinks of a romantic film—the archetypal romantic film. Now, however, these films are evolving and merging with other genres. Among them, I believe the fantasy romance genre, in particular, offers audiences a fresh perspective and enjoyment; that is why I chose this genre for this review. Generally, fantasy is thought to allow us to create anything we can imagine, and I wanted to analyze in greater detail the synergy created by combining it with romance—a genre that moves the heart.
The film ‘Your Soul Is by My Side’ was recommended to me by Professor Kim Guk-hyung while I was preparing my graduation project. Since my own graduation project is also a fantasy romance and shares a very similar structure, I watched it with great interest. I selected it because I believe it exemplifies the characteristics of the fantasy romance genre so well that it can be considered a quintessential example.
Plot Analysis
Exposition
Pete, an aerial firefighter, and Dorinda, who works in the control tower, have been a couple for a long time. Pete often finds himself in dangerous situations but survives thanks to his brilliant flying skills, which terrifies Dorinda. One day, Pete dies while trying to save his friend El.
It’s Dorinda’s birthday. Pete, a pilot on a wildfire suppression mission, runs out of fuel during the operation, while his girlfriend Dorinda, working in the control tower, waits anxiously. Pete eventually returns safely, but Dorinda is angry at his reckless flying. Pete prepares a dress and shoes as a birthday gift for Dorinda, and she is deeply moved. Pete’s friend El asks Pete if he’d be interested in becoming the commander of a firefighting school near Flat Rock, Colorado, but Pete declines, saying he’s satisfied with his current job.
Pete and Dorinda return home after the party. Although Pete is a skilled pilot, Dorinda has nightmares every night because of the constant danger associated with his flying. Waking up, Dorinda suddenly declares that she, too, wants to become an aerial firefighter, but Pete objects. Dorinda explains that she’s afraid because the person she loves is an aerial firefighter whose life could end at any moment; she persuades Pete by suggesting he become a commander teaching students at the firefighting school, and after some hesitation, Pete agrees to go along with her plan.
The next day, while flying to fight a wildfire, a fire breaks out in El’s engine. Pete tries to extinguish the fire in El’s engine with his own plane, but his plane eventually catches fire and explodes. (Turning Point 1)
Development
Pete becomes a spirit and serves as Ted’s guardian angel.
While walking through the mountain where the fire occurred, Pete encounters Hap and realizes he has died. Hap tells Pete that he once survived thanks to the help of a spirit he didn’t know, and now it’s his turn to repay that debt.
El has become the commander of the fire academy in Flat Rock, which she had introduced to Pete long ago, and Pete, now a spirit, visits her there. He becomes the guardian angel of Ted, one of El’s students, and helps him with his flight. (Turning Point 2) Although the living cannot hear Pete’s words directly, they accept them in their hearts and act according to his guidance. They also discover that Ted has feelings for Dorinda.
While El is flying and talking on the radio, he realizes the voice on the other end is Dorinda’s, and the two are reunited after a long time. El suggests they return to Flat Rock, but Dorinda says she can’t go. El gets angry at Dorinda for giving up on everything, and Dorinda cries, saying she doesn’t think she can live without Pete.
Pete, who had been assisting Ted with his flight, spots Dorinda upon her arrival in Flat Rock. While flying, Ted is forced to land due to deteriorating weather conditions and enters a ruined house, with Pete following him inside. There, Pete meets someone who can hear his voice. Pete intends to tell Ted that if he dies, he’ll never be able to return to the one he loves, but he accidentally miscommunicates the message, telling the person instead to go back to Dorinda and try to make things work.
Turn
Pete sees Dorinda again and learns that Ted has feelings for her. Pete is distressed to see Ted and Dorinda growing closer.
Upon returning to the fire academy, Ted and Pete run into Dorinda, who lives across the street. (Turning Point 3) As a spirit, Pete passes through the door of Dorinda’s house and speaks to her for the first time in a long while. However, Dorinda can neither hear Pete’s voice nor see him. While Pete is talking to Dorinda, Ted comes home and greets her. Dorinda begins to warm up to him a little, noticing that Ted’s laugh sounds similar to Pete’s and that her cat—who usually doesn’t like people—is quite fond of Ted. But Pete, who is already dead, continues to linger around Dorinda.
Pete helps Ted by easing his nerves when he’s flying. Elle asks Dorinda to go downtown with Ted to run some errands. Dorinda seems a bit uncomfortable with Ted, who is younger than her, but she doesn’t seem to mind him. While driving downtown, Ted and Dorinda learn that the driver of a shuttle bus carrying children is in critical condition. Ted reassures the children and performs first aid, saving the driver’s life. Dorinda realizes that Ted has a mature side to him as well.
Dorinda invites Ted over to her place. Unable to even make a simple piece of toast, she buys some food and lies to Ted, claiming she made it herself to impress him. While having dinner with Ted, Dorinda talks about Pete. Pete hears how Dorinda felt about him, and Ted confuses Dorinda, making her unsure whether she should choose Pete or him. Eventually, Dorinda and Ted kiss, leaving Pete heartbroken. (Turning Point 4)
After Ted leaves, Dorinda puts on the dress she received for her birthday a year ago and dances to the music she listened to back then. Pete stands before her and dances with her. Watching Dorinda sleep-talk just as she did a year ago, Pete vows never to leave her side again.
Pete meets Dorinda and resents Hap for not telling him it would hurt this much. Hap tells Pete that if he doesn’t let Dorinda go, neither she nor he will ever be free. Pete says he isn’t ready to say goodbye yet, but Hap tells him he must learn that to gain freedom, one must also know how to let go.
Conclusion
Pete finally decides to let Dorinda go.
Dorinda returns to work at the control tower. Meanwhile, El and the others discover that Ted is just as talented at flying as Pete. That night, an emergency arises for the ground firefighting team, and Ted prepares to respond. Upon learning this, Dorinda takes the plane and flies into the wildfire while Ted is getting ready. Pete follows Dorinda into the sky and helps her. Dorinda successfully rescues the ground firefighting team. (Turning Point 5)
Pete then resolves to let Dorinda go and tells her he loves her. He conveys his true feelings to her. However, as the pressure in the plane drops, they decide to make an emergency landing by the river; after landing, water begins to flood the cockpit. When Dorinda refuses to get out, Pete reaches out his hand to her, and at that moment, she looks at him. Pete pulls Dorinda out of the water, and she is reunited with her loved ones. Then Pete walks away from her. (Turning Point 6 / Resolution)
The Effect Created by the Combination of Fantasy and Romance
I believe the reason ‘Your Soul Is by My Side’ is often cited as a quintessential example of a fantasy-romance is, first and foremost, due to its fantasy setting. Fantasy is a genre that creates a world different from our own—a world where ordinary laws do not apply. Romance, on the other hand, centers on romantic love as the core of the narrative. This film possesses both of these characteristics. There is a realm where the dead go, and there is the love between the two protagonists. The film also depicts the conflicts that arise within this setting. It is precisely these conflicts that I wish to discuss, and they are a crucial element that supports my argument.
In the case of ‘The Soul Is by Your Side’, the film follows the structure of a romantic drama, and I believe the creators likely intended to use the fantasy setting to further highlight the romantic elements. I believe the fantasy romance genre originated from the question of how to best portray the love story between a man and a woman.
Some might wonder, “What if we incorporate a romantic story into a fantasy film?” However, when distinguishing genres, we typically analyze the genre’s plot first. In the case of fantasy romance films, many follow the plot structure of romantic films. And I believe this varies from film to film.
‘Your Soul Is by My Side’ follows the plot structure of a romantic film. Pete and Dorinda were longtime lovers, and just like in a typical romantic film, their close friend Elle appears. Dorinda is constantly anxious about Pete’s dangerous job, and their friend Elle even tries to persuade him to change careers. The audience gradually senses the growing tension, and eventually, Pete gives up his career as a firefighter. And the audience begins to hope: Will they finally be happy now?
But that happiness is short-lived. Pete receives an urgent call and is forced to fly again. Dorinda follows him and tells him she loves him. And for the first time, Pete tells her he loves her too. But Dorinda can’t hear him over the roar of the plane’s engines. At this moment, the audience will likely think: “Something is about to happen.”
Sure enough, a dangerous situation arises when a fire breaks out in El’s plane engine, and Pete puts it out. But the happiness is short-lived. His own plane catches fire and eventually explodes. Up to this point, the plot structure follows that of a typical romantic drama. But from here on, fantasy elements begin to emerge. In a typical romantic drama, Dorinda, left alone, would grieve. She finds comfort in another man and falls in love. That’s about as far as it would go, one might think.
In ‘Your Soul Is by My Side’, to effectively portray life after the death of a loved one, the film begins with the realm where the dead go and incorporates the premise that his soul descends into the real world. The space where Pete and Hap meet is designed from the very start to look like it’s not part of reality. In the middle of a mountain scorched black by fire, young green grasses grow in a circle, with a single tree and a single rock placed there. Pete discovers this spot while walking through the mountains and has a conversation with Hap. It is through their conversation that he realizes he has died.
That space transforms into a different one whenever Pete opens and closes his eyes. In a space resembling a vast reed bed, the first plane Pete ever flew soars through the sky, and there, Hap shares a very important story with him. She tells him that the reason he was able to make his first flight successfully was because of the help of someone’s soul, and that now it is his turn to repay that debt. She also explains that the actions he takes for her sake are a waste of his soul. After hearing this, he returns to the real world. There, he meets Elle, his student Ted, and his former lover, Dorinda.
Given the film’s premise, no one can hear Pete—who is a soul—speak. People can only sense his words in their hearts. However, halfway through the film, a character appears who can hear Pete’s voice, and he plays a role in igniting the flame of love in Ted’s heart—Ted, who had feelings for Dorinda. As a result, Ted approaches Dorinda, and Pete holds her back by telling her, “You’re still my girl.” These elements are woven into the romantic plot, allowing the audience to understand their feelings.
Ted behaves similarly to the living Pete, throwing Dorinda into confusion, while Pete suffers as he watches their relationship unfold—until he meets Hap again. Hap tells her she must set her free, and Pete eventually leaves her after one final act of helping her with her flight.
In this film, Hap appears as a mentor: first, he sends Pete back to the real world, where he brilliantly teaches Ted and facilitates his meeting with Dorinda. Later, he tells Pete to let her go. I believe this was meant to make Pete realize early on that holding onto her would only cause them both pain. The fact that Hap didn’t mention they would meet in the first place likely stemmed from his desire for Pete to come to this realization and act on it himself. However, Pete cannot let her go, and Hap tells him that to gain freedom, he must learn to let go.
In a way, even fantasy requires causality. Hap explains this causality—he explains that this space exists and that Pete must act in a certain way. And even Hap himself is a fantastical character. These fantasy elements make the love between Pete and Dorinda even more poignant. In the movie, Pete tells Dorinda how much he missed her, but she doesn’t hear him—she feels it in her heart. There’s also a scene where Dorinda dances in the dress she wore a year ago, and Pete joins her, matching her steps as they dance together. Scenes like these demonstrate the power of fantasy elements.
Why did the “fantasy romance” genre emerge?
Why did the “fantasy romance” genre emerge? What is the reason for combining romance and fantasy?
We are always imagining things and wondering what it would be like if they happened in reality. What happens when we die? What if we could erase our memories? And we always dream of beautiful love. This, too, is imagination. Movies begin with imagination. The love and spaces we envision can be expressed in movies. It doesn’t matter whether that love is joyful or sorrowful.
I believe that by watching romantic films with fantasy elements, audiences simply come to understand the emotions of love even better. To be honest, I’ve always thought that in fantasy romance films, fantasy is merely a tool. Ultimately, it’s a romantic film. But it’s an undeniable fact that blending the tool of fantasy with a romantic plot creates a synergistic effect.
While other genres can also be combined with fantasy, the reason I’m interested in fantasy romances is that I believe the emotion of love is something everyone can relate to. Even if it’s a completely impossible, absurd fantasy, once romantic elements are added, it’s softened into love.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m always amazed by this. I think that’s the very reason why romance and fantasy are combined.
And there are far too many viewers who find typical romantic films cliché. I feel the same way. No matter how love is portrayed, there are now simply too many films out there to find true diversity in subject matter. That’s why fantasy elements are added to the mix.
A fantasy romance that combines love—a truly universal emotion—with surreal fantasy to satisfy both our imagination and our hearts, while offering a breath of fresh air to audiences accustomed to typical romantic films. No one knows just how astonishing and heart-wrenching the resulting film will be.
