In this blog post, we’ll examine the film’s contrast between timid mania and free-spirited mania to see what it means to have a good relationship and what it means to change, and analyze the narrative around the questions these two characters leave us with.
Introduction
I’ve always liked and enjoyed the romantic comedy genre. Not only is it fun to discover cinematic stories that are all around us, but the nature of the genre makes us feel good, warm and fuzzy inside and makes the world seem beautiful. I love romantic comedies because it’s a genre that talks about love, one of the biggest concerns of humanity, in an honest, sometimes serious, but most of all entertaining way.
Faced with the challenge of analyzing a genre film, I thought back to the many romantic comedies I’ve enjoyed over the years, and one that stood out in my mind was “When Romance Meets Destiny,” which was one of the most surprising films I watched last year. To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations for the movie at first, but I remember having a lot of fun watching it because of its overall sense of style, so I chose it as the subject of my analysis.
“When Romance Meets Destiny” is a 2005 movie directed by Kim Hyun-seok of “YMCA Baseball Team” fame and starring Kim Joo-hyuk (Kwang-sik), Bong Tae-kyu (Kwang-tae), Lee Yo-won (Yoon-kyung), Kim Ah-joong (Kyung-jae), and Jung Kyung-ho (Il-woong). With the catchy tagline, “Everything Girls Want to Know About a Guy in a Relationship,” the movie tells the story of two brothers, Kwang-sik and Kwang-tae, who are 180 degrees apart in personality and relationship style, and is divided into three parts, “Kwang-sik,” “Kwang-tae,” and “When Romance Meets Destiny.” Each story is like a puzzle that needs to be put together. Each story fits together like a puzzle, and the film tells the story of two very different brothers with humor and empathy.
Analyze
Iconography, icon
As is typical of the romantic comedy genre, it’s hard to find anything visually overwhelming in When Romance Meets Destiny. The characters in the movie are familiar ones that we’ve all seen around us at one time or another, and they appear in front of the audience in ordinary clothes that match their personalities. The settings are also very familiar to the audience: a college campus, a typical MT village, a cocktail bar, a video rental store, a hypermarket, a sauna, a playground, a karaoke bar, a coffee shop, a bar, a bus, a theater, etc.
But even within these mundane spaces, the movie deploys some impressive visual devices. These include the artistic office of Kyung-jae, a master bookbinder, the marathon scenes, and Kwang-sik’s “photo studio,” which exudes a mundane yet unexpected atmosphere. In particular, the fact that Kwang-sik’s photo studio is connected to Kwang-tae’s “light video” by a sliding door works as a realistic, cute, and memorable device. Also, the snowy fields of Gangwon province where Kwang-sik and Il-woong go on a photo shoot, and the use of umbrellas in a bar under a downpour of water to prevent fire later in the film, make a fresh impression in the midst of everyday life.
What makes this movie stand out is the way the director’s witty direction allows for a variety of fresh visual effects to be incorporated into the ordinary scenes. Unlike other romantic comedies, “When Romance Meets Destiny” often features special visual effects that visually express the psychology of the characters. The scene of Kwang-sik holding a bouquet of flowers to deliver, but because of his timid nature, he throws it in the air for a moment while she walks by and then picks it up again; the screen composition that shows Kwang-sik walking alone along the Han River with a full shot and a bust shot at the same time; the screen effect that connects the flashback scene with the present scene; the stapler sim of PEACE that is exquisitely matched with the music; and the scene of Kwang-tae dreaming that his brother, who is a peacekeeper in the romantic world, is actually a peacekeeper in Iraq, effectively convey the inner feelings of the characters through visuals.
In addition, typical scenes often seen in overseas romantic comedies, such as the insert scene that suggests it is Christmas, are appropriately inserted to add a sense of familiarity. Considering the nature of popular movies, which requires a balance of familiar elements and new devices, this movie strikes a good balance. Since the story itself is very realistic and the main setting is in spaces that are familiar to the audience, “When Romance Meets Destiny” can be considered a Korean romantic comedy that captures the sentiment of modern Korean society and is visually in tune with the sensibilities of the younger generation.
Characters and setting
As the title suggests, “When Romance Meets Destiny” is a movie that focuses on showing the different love stories of the two male leads, Kwang-sik and Kwang-tae, who are brothers. As such, it’s a typical character-driven film, with the weight of the story centered on the characters rather than the events, and their personalities and choices driving the narrative.
As the tagline says, “One girl for ten years, ten girls for one year,” the love story of the two polarizing male leads unfolds in a typical but not clichéd parallel. As their personalities are so starkly different, the way and direction of their love unfolds is also completely different, with Kwang-shik’s love story being more of a melodrama and Kwang-tae’s being more of a typical romantic comedy. However, the film manages to keep even Kwang-shik’s melodramatic love light and cute with a touch of romantic comedy, preventing it from becoming too heavy.
The film centers on men’s views of love, and ultimately asks the question, “What kind of love is a good love?” through characters at different extremes. As a result, the conflicts that the characters face often stem from their personalities rather than social structures or institutions. In Kwang-tae’s story, Kyung-jae, a woman, is set to be the one with the economic and social advantage, but the two do not use this as a source of conflict, instead showing their romance as an equal relationship.
Kwang-sik and her
– Kwangsik
Kwang-sik is a thirty-four-year-old photographer who runs “Kwang Photo Studio” from his bedroom. His parents were killed in the Sampung Department Store collapse when they went to the department store to eat cold noodles, and with the compensation money, Kwang-sik opened a photo studio and video rental store with his brother Kwang-tae. Kwang-sik is one of the last romantics of his generation, capable of truly loving a person, but his timid Type-A personality has kept him from ever having a relationship until he reached his age.
He is nicknamed the “peacekeeper” because of his tendency to step aside to maintain the peace in the dating world whenever a romantic rival arises or shows signs of doing so. During his senior year of college, he had a crush on Yoon-Kyung, a freshman, but he never confessed it, and instead, he was called “good brother” over and over again for taking care of the girls around him. Kwang-sik buried his feelings for Yoon-gyeong in his heart until he met her again at a friend’s wedding. When she remembers his name and number correctly and asks him to come over sometime, Kwang-sik’s heart starts to flutter again.
But even in the face of being a “fool not to” and having to be a peacekeeper once again, Kwang-sik is unable to take action, and instead just stares at Yoon-gyeong. A man of principle who values the principles of the world, he is a good older brother who takes care of his underwear, saying, “There’s a seven-degree difference between wearing it and not wearing it,” and makes sure his younger brother Kwang-tae does the same. His only confident karaoke number 18 is Choi Hoseop’s “When the Years Go By,” and even when he has something he wants to say, he can’t get it out of his mouth and only expresses his emotions with his eyes. Especially when a rival appears, he tries to give them a hint, but the problem is that they don’t recognize it. He can play the guitar, take good pictures, and even fix the boiler in Yoon-kyung’s house if necessary, but he’s powerless in front of her. This timidity can be endearing, but it also makes him frustrating and sad.
– Yoon-Kyung, Kwang-Sik’s girlfriend
Yoon-kyung is Kwang-shik’s junior in college, a beautiful woman who has been the center of attention of many fraternity boys since she entered the university and the subject of Kwang-shik’s seven-year crush. She is a calm and feminine character who does not easily reveal her true feelings. After returning to Korea after staying in the U.S. due to her parents’ business difficulties, she meets Kwang-sik again at the wedding of a friend of Kwang-sik’s who confessed to her in the past. The movie doesn’t explain what Yoon-kyung is currently doing.
Yoon-kyung is somewhat realistic when it comes to love and tries to express herself to Kwang-sik, who has had a crush on her for a long time, but things keep going back and forth. Eventually, she turns her attention to Il-woong, who, as the saying goes, “women don’t make moves based on guesses,” and expresses his feelings more actively.
Kwang-tae and her
– Kwang-tae
Kwang-shik’s brother, Kwang-tae, is a twenty-seven-year-old young businessman who owns the “Kwang Video” rental store. He has an extremely free-spirited view of love and is so afraid of settling down and being tied down that he classifies the program “We Just Got Married” as a horror movie. He accepts all women with his body rather than his mind, which is why he has never actually said the word “I love you,” and has the wit to dismiss it with “sa~rubia” whenever he thinks it might come up. Whether due to timidity or an overly liberal view of love, the brothers have never been able to say “I love you” properly.
“When a man sleeps with a woman, he puts his heart in the inside pocket of his top. Like leaving valuables in the bathtub,” he casually narrates, but he’s also a man who always does his best for the moment. So the idea of women falling for him even though they know better makes Gwang-tae impossible to hate.
At a marathon to meet a fit girl, Kwang-tae meets Kyung-jae, who has an amazing body, and after some twists and turns, he succeeds. He ends up sleeping with her after talking about OECD countries, but he follows his friend’s advice that he should only sleep with a girl up to twelve times before breaking up with her. He manages his relationship by going to a coffee shop and getting a stamp after each sleepover, and as the stamp gets fuller and fuller, he feels compelled to break up. Kyung-jae is the first to break up with him, and Kwang-tae pretends to be cool but finds himself getting old.
Together with his brother Kwang-shik’s assistant Il-woong and his friend Ui-dong, who helps him work in the store, Kwang-tae forms a group called “Jamsil Bon-dong, a group that worries about the country and loves the culture,” and they enjoy drinking and sharing their free love views. However, Kwang-tae has already passed the age of forty, and he has been drinking too much, and the film often breaks up. As a result, he always forgets the promises he made at the bar, and he makes a fatal mistake that confuses even the owner of the chocolate that he wants to deliver to Yoon-kyung. Kwang-tae is instinctive and mentally immature, but through Kyung-jae, he grows a little bit.
– Kyung-jae, Kwang-tae’s girl
Kyung-jae is the woman Kwang-tae meets at the marathon, a cool career woman who is sexy, pretty, and capable. She is an artistic bookbinder who binds old and rare books to preserve them for a long time, and she even owns her own workshop and exotic car. She is attracted to Kwang-tae because he has a lot of things to fix according to his professionalism, but she is disappointed by his attitude that he thinks about his days and nights rather than memories and decides to break up with him first. She is frank and confident, choosing love actively rather than passively, and is portrayed as the ideal of many women living at the time.
Ilwoong
Il-woong is Kwang-shik’s assistant at the photo studio and Kwang-tae’s friend, and in many ways, he is a character in between Kwang-shik and Kwang-tae. He is a character with a moderate romantic temperament, moderate work ability, and action power, and is intended to resemble a mixture of Kwang-shik and Kwang-tae, as many men in the real world are. He is honest with his feelings, but also down-to-earth, and can be seen as an alternative model to Gwangshik and Gwangtae. He decides to marry Yoon-kyung in order to hold onto his “heart above the navel,” and is the only male character in the movie to have a clear happy ending.
The plot
The movie is divided into three parts: “Gwangsik”, ‘Gwangtae’, and “When Romance Meets Destiny”. “Gwangsik” and ‘Gwangtae’ are two different stories of two different characters that take place in the same time period, while “When Romance Meets Destiny” takes place afterward. While the overall story unfolds relatively consistently over time, each part maintains its own uniqueness. The stories told separately in the first two parts are brought together in the final part, and the interconnectedness of the scattered events creates an exquisite compositional interest.
Various symbols appear throughout the story and are effectively utilized to reveal the psychology of the characters.
Berserk Plot
Kwang-sik, who has only had unrequited love due to his timid nature, meets Yoon-kyung, his college crush, after seven years. Yoon-kyung seems to show some interest in Kwang-sik as well, but their relationship is thwarted by Kwang-tae’s film breakdown. In the end, Kwang-shik sees Il-woong and Yoon-kyung grow closer before his eyes, but he lets her go without saying anything because of his character.
Although Kwang-shik’s unrequited love ends tragically, he summarizes his love by saying that love is all about enjoying the moment rather than the outcome. The story ends with him vowing not to repeat the same mistake in the future. While many coincidences sabotaged their relationship, the most essential problem was Kwang-sik’s own character. The film’s ending leaves open the possibility of Kwang-sik’s maturation, suggesting that he will act aggressively when the “signal from the absolute” he hoped for arrives.
The setting of Kwang-sik’s failure in love, where he had more conditions for audience sympathy and support than Gwang-tae, seems to reflect the values of the time that even the most enduring love cannot be achieved through heartache alone.
Gwangtae Plot
True to his instinctive desires when he meets a woman, Kwang-tae treats Kyung-jae as one of those women who will just pass him by, prioritizing desire over memories. Initially attracted to this frankness, Kyung-jae gradually becomes disappointed with his attitude and decides to break up with him. Kwang-tae coolly breaks up with her, pretending it’s nothing, but he finds himself becoming increasingly obsessed with her.
Although Kwang-tae doesn’t clearly recognize it as love, his pursuit of freedom and instinct gradually changes him. While the film does not offer a clear happy ending to Kwang-tae and Kyung-jae’s relationship, the final scene of the film shows them reunited, laughing and talking, leaving us with the expectation that a sober and more mature Kwang-tae will be a different person than before. In the end, the movie doesn’t take a stand on either of their romantic views, and shows that Kwang-tae is just as much a character undergoing change as Kwang-shik.
In this way, Kwang-shik’s plot and Kwang-tae’s plot are structurally similar, just with opposite protagonists. It is a story about two men with distinct personalities who experience love, fail due to their own limitations, and then mature to face new choices.
Ilwoong Plot
As mentioned earlier, Il-woong is the middle man between Gwang-shik and Gwang-tae, and his plot is structured with the most ideal ending. When he meets Yoon-kyung while shooting a wedding, he naturally becomes interested in her and takes advantage of the opportunity by faking a coincidence and showing up at the meeting between Kwang-shik and Yoon-kyung. Kwang-tae grows closer to Yoon-kyung after a chocolate mishap, and even though she doesn’t open up to him easily, he takes advice from his friends and tries to wait.
Eventually, Il-woong wins Yoon-kyung’s love, and their relationship culminates in marriage at a relatively realistic point. While I do have some personal quibbles with the idea of a man proposing marriage when Yoon-kyung’s family situation is difficult, it’s hard to deny that the film centers on the way men relate to each other, and that it reflects the reality of Korean society to some extent. The smoothly executed plot of Il-woong leaves the viewer with the idea that Kwang-sik and Kwang-tae, who were both struggling with their own issues, may have been presented as another model of the kind of relationship that should be created in the future.
“When Romance Meets Destiny’s Plot
This is the plot of the movie, which I wrote down as much as possible to analyze while watching. There are some parts that may seem overly distracting, but I’m including them in case you haven’t seen the movie or have a fuzzy memory. I’ve organized it into three parts: “Gwangsik,” “Gwangtae,” and “When Romance Meets Destiny” according to the order of the movie’s development.
The plot of Gwangsik
The movie centers on Kwang-sik and begins in 1997, when he was in college and about to graduate. The flashbacks of his past episodes, such as when he was about to confess his love to his friend at the MT, but couldn’t say anything after his friend stole his timing, concentrate on his character. We then jump forward to 2004 and see Kwang-sik taking pictures at the wedding of the same friend who stole his confession. Kwang-sik’s activities as a peacekeeper in college are presented through his friend’s dialog and onscreen, indirectly hinting at his college life.
On the day of the wedding, Kwang-sik meets Yoon-kyung again. He says, “I’ll go out with you if I think your room is close,” and they part ways, with a Christmas insert scene suggesting that time has passed and it’s the end of the year. While Kwang-Sik is anxious to call Yoon-Kyung, she arrives at his photo studio to get her passport photo taken. During their conversation, Yoon-kyung subtly hints that she was interested in Kwang-shik in college, and when he offers to take her picture for free, she gives him a stapler shim in return.
The two go to a cocktail bar to spend Christmas together, and Yoon-Kyung asks if he remembers the time on Christmas Day 1997 when Kwang-Sik dropped her off at her doorstep and turned around. Just as Kwang-shik is about to make an excuse, Il-woong shows up, and the three of them head to karaoke, but Kwang-shik is overwhelmed by Il-woong, who sings so well that he’s booked and canceled “When the Years Go By” several times, and eventually fails to sing properly.
This time, Kwang-shik drives Yoon-kyung home properly and explains why he couldn’t take her home that day seven years ago. Yoon-kyung surprisingly replies that she already knew the whole story. This sets the tone for a “do or die” moment, but Kwang-shik tries to kiss her, but eventually turns away. This is followed by Kwang-shik getting angry at Il-woong and Kwang-tae for playing with the stapler sim that Yoon-kyung gave him.
On Valentine’s Day, Kwang-shik and Il-woong travel to the mountains of Gangwon-do for a newlywed photo shoot, where Il-woong shows interest in Yoon-kyung. However, Kwang-shik is unable to tell him the truth and only introduces Yoon-kyung as a good sister. The next day, Kwang-tae delivers a basket of chocolates to Il-woong, and Kwang-shik is shocked when he realizes it’s from Yoon-kyung. He doesn’t say anything, but he reveals his feelings by smoking a cigarette, which he doesn’t usually do in the store.
Later, when the three of them meet together, Kwang-shik lavishes praise on Il-woong in front of Yoon-kyung without meaning to, and walks back along the Han River alone. The use of music and editing in this scene is particularly impressive. Eventually, Kwang-sik falls ill, and his cell phone still has calls and texts from Yoon-kyung. When Kwang-sik visits Yoon-kyung’s house, he is surprised to see Il-woong at the door and hides under the stairs, where he witnesses the two of them being affectionate. He fixes the boiler and returns without saying anything.
Kwang-shik finds Kwang-tae playing seesaw by himself in the playground, and the two chat while playing. Kwang-shik tells him that the two people he likes are a bad combination, like shrimp and fried rice.
The plot of Kwang-tae
Kwang-tae’s story begins with a scene where he is diagnosed by a doctor for his frequent film breaks. His friend tells him that a man and woman should break up at least 12 times before going to bed, and advises him to stamp a coffee bean every time he sleeps. As soon as he finishes speaking, we see his ex-girlfriend go on a rampage, suggesting that Kwang-tae will take this advice to heart.
A few days later, Kwang-tae participates in a marathon, unable to remember that his friend told him she canceled their plans because the film cut away. There, he spots Kyung-Jae and approaches her while she’s running, hitting on her and offering to meet her at the finish line. However, Kwang-Tae is a first-time marathon runner and eventually gives up.
On his way to the bus, Kwang-tae spots Kyung-jae sitting in a cafe and calls her, but hangs up after she tells him she wasn’t waiting for him. When he later visits her in person, she hints that she did wait for him when they parted ways, and an excited Kwang-tae gets to work. After persistent efforts, the two become romantically involved and eventually end up in bed together.
Midway through, Il-Woong’s line in the hypermarket scene suggests that Yoon-Kyung hasn’t returned from America at this point. On the night of Valentine’s Day, while Kwang-shik and Il-woong are filming in Gangwon-do, a drunken Kwang-tae meets Yoon-kyung, who arrives with a basket of chocolates. It’s revealed in this scene that the basket of chocolates was originally meant for Kwang-shik.
As the movie cuts away, Kwang-tae delivers the chocolate to Il-woong, who advises him to break down the boiler since things aren’t working out with Yoon-kyung. Meanwhile, Kwang-Tae and Kyung-Jae go to see a classic movie, but unlike Kyung-Jae, who watches it intently, even to the point of tears, Kwang-Tae shows no interest in the movie at all. Eventually, Kyung-jae decides to break up with Kwang-tae that day.
On the day of their breakup, Kwang-tae goes to stamp the coffee beans as per the rules, and when he sees that there are exactly 12 stamps, he feels strange. He meets Il-woong, who has come to stamp new ones, suggesting that Il-woong and Yoon-kyung’s relationship has progressed. On his way back, Kwang-Tae meets Kwang-Sik at the playground, which naturally ties in with the last playground scene from Kwang-Sik’s story. During their conversation, Kwang-Sik realizes that he has a crush on Yoon-Kyung and tells him to give it up, and the brothers realize that neither of them has ever said “I love you” to someone before.
When Romance Meets Destiny plot
After finding their parents’ oxygen, brothers Kwang-shik and Kwang-tae discuss their parents’ accident. Just then, a woman approaches them and asks to borrow some soju. Kwang-shik says that he hopes that the Absolute will give them a sign when they part ways, not realizing that they are meant to be together.
By this time, Il-Woong and Yoon-Kyung have already developed a romantic relationship, and the four of them hang out together. A drunken Kwang-tae unwittingly tells the taxi driver to take him to Kyung-jae’s office. When Kyung-jae ignores him, Kwang-tae enters a marathon she’s running in a few days into his phone’s calendar. Later, when another man shows up at Kyung-jae’s office, Kwang-tae tries to force his way in, but is turned away when Kyung-jae says she has “no memories”.
After bumping his head while pushing the usual “pull” sign on the door of the office, Kwang-tae collapses and remembers that Yoon-kyung asked him to deliver the chocolate to Kwang-shik. To ease his guilt, he confesses his mistake to a sleeping Kwang-shik, but Kwang-shik has already heard the whole story. Kwang-shik meets with Yoon-kyung, but is unable to say anything to her, only receiving a thank you from her and a comment that he’s a good person.
Soon afterward, Il-woong tells his two friends that he’s marrying Yoon-kyung. While organizing the store’s return box, Kwang-tae finds the bound copy of “Open Video 10000” that he left for Kyung-jae. Flipping through the pages, he sees that it contains the classic movie they watched together, so he starts watching it again at home, but is bored at first and eventually breaks down in tears.
At the same time, Kwang-shik uses up the stapler shims that Yoon-kyung gave him by putting them in a stapler. The music of “All the Peace” and the logo of Peace’s stapler shim make this scene memorable. Kwang-tae then narrates that Kwang-shik has since disappeared, and Kwang-tae dreams of him as a peacekeeper in Iraq.
On the day of Il-Woong and Yoon-Kyung’s wedding, Kwang-Sik is nowhere to be seen and the wedding ceremony is officiated by Kwang-Tae. However, when it’s time to sing the toast, Kwang-shik reaches out for Yoon-kyung and sings the song he never got to sing, “When the Years Go By. We cut back and forth between scenes of the two of them from their college days, a karaoke screen full of Yoon-Kyung, and Kwang-Sik singing at MT.
As Kwang-sik finishes singing and is about to leave the ceremony, a sound like an alarm goes off. This is in line with Kwang-shik’s words that he wishes the Absolute would give him a signal when the two of them are separated. However, Kwang-shik makes up his mind and leaves the ceremony. Meanwhile, the alarm reminds Kwang-tae that he’s signed up for a marathon that Kyung-jae is participating in. Kwang-Tae storms out of the meeting and rushes to the marathon, pulling the “pull” door open properly this time.
He finds the man he saw at Kyung-jae’s house, which strengthens his resolve, and eventually completes the marathon, but doesn’t see Kyung-jae, who has left for a foreign country. Six months later, Kwang-sik visits the cocktail bar where he spent Christmas with Yoon-kyung alone, where he meets the woman he asked to borrow soju from his parents’ sansoo, and just as they’re about to part ways, the bar’s emergency alarm accidentally goes off, triggering the sprinklers. This is a scene that once again connects to Kwang-Sik’s line. The woman picks up an umbrella and puts it on Kwang-shik.
That same day, Kwang-tae drinks whiskey for the first time in a long time after quitting drinking. He spots Kyung-jae in a Polaroid on the wall and looks out the window for her. He runs into Kyung-jae, who comes back in claiming to have left something behind, and the two strike up a conversation. It turns out that the cafe is the same place where Kwang-tae found Kyung-jae on the bus and first called her. The story returns to its starting point, and the film quietly concludes with feelings of connection, disconnection, and hindsight.
