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WHO
ARE YOU? (2002)
A.K.A.
- Who R.U.?; Who @re You?
Reviewed
by Andrew Saroch
There's
a moment an hour into 'You've Got Mail' - one of the very few
Hollywood rom-coms to charm me - that Tom Hanks discovers that
his arch-nemesis is actually the delightful woman he
communicates with via an internet chatroom. For the rest of
the film, Hanks has to try to convince her that he isn't a
megalomaniacal ogre she thinks he is before his internet
identity surfaces. Korean production 'Who Are You?' takes this
premise and extends it to over 100 minutes, borrowing a
healthy dollop of Hollywood inspiration and combining it with
a low-key Korean vibe.
Video
game programmer Hyungtae is among the team who are developing
a new online dating game that hopes the revolutionise the
industry. As he tests the beta version of the game, Hyungtae -
under the name 'Mello' - meets Byulee, a young woman who is
openly critical of the game. After Hyungtae spends some time
online chatting to Byulee, he decides to track her down and
find out if 'Byulee' is anything like her real-life identity.
Byulee - or Inju as she is in real life - works very nearby in
a SeaWorld marine park and Hyungtae finds that she is just as
amiable as her online personality. Unfortunately the real-life
feelings are not reciprocated by Inju and she regularly
belittles the seemingly brash and insensitive Hyungtae to his
far more understanding nom de plume. The lovestruck programmer
has to try to use his alias to show to clear his name while
always aware that he must someday reveal his true identity.
As
with many films that use dramatic irony, there is pleasure to
be derived from the fact that the viewer and the hero share
knowledge that other characters are ignorant of. 'Who
Are You?' rests the weight of the whole film on this
information as we are always aware of Hyungtae's fictional
persona. This factor means that any enjoyment is reliant on
whether the audience is patient enough for the desired
resolution and whether the lead couple's relationship has the
empathetic core that a narrative can be based on. For much of
the early part of Choi Ho's film, the answer is a resounding
'no'. The opening thirty minutes are a confusing mish-mash or
character development and garbled exposition that does little
to involve the viewer in the on-screen dynamics. Hyungtae's
position and the introduction of his virtual dating site are
sloppily introduced, making it difficult to care about what
will happen.
If
the viewer can drag themselves through this uninspiring
portion of 'Who Are You?' then an enjoyable rom-dram awaits.
The storyline gradually lifts itself out of the mire and the
focus switches to Hyungtae and Inju rather than their
mishandled backgrounds. Choi Ho seems to identify a more
fruitful way of adding layers to the characters - make the
narrative a cohesive whole and help us develop a sympathy for
the stars, then their past can be more appropriately mined. By
the time the film enters its closing third, a slight, yet
tangible tension helps us to stay attentive and wait to see
Inju's response to the truth. While productions of this nature
tread familiar ground and build up to a common denouement, the
journey to that point can nonetheless be savoured.
While
'Who Are You?' builds in momentum and in overall entertainment
value, it still faces a stumbling block with its heroine.
Inju's plight may be touching, but the character ends up
wallowing in self-pity for far too much of the running time,
implying that no-one around her can have endured the privation
she has survived. In making his leading lady appealing and yet
trying to explain her social awkwardness, Choi Ho is in danger
of losing our interest by overplaying it, though a closing
outburst by Hyungtae is a strangely cathartic experience given
the selfishness of his beloved.
As
you can no doubt deduce from the previous paragraphs, 'Who Are
You?' is prone to peaks and troughs. Moments of real
tenderness are present though so are awkward intrusions by
background characters and sub-plots. Given its woeful start,
this surprisingly manages to endear for most of its running
time. It may have weaknesses that wreak of uneven handling by
the director, but its two main cast members courageously
battle through such obstacles and help this topsy-turvy film
achieve a certain charisma.
Rating:
  
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