Josee

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Movie: Josee
Revised romanization: Josee
Hangul: 조제
Director: Kim Jong-Kwan
Writer: Kim Jong-Kwan
Producer: Lee Joon-Sang
Cinematographer: Jo Young-Jik
Release Date: December 10, 2020
Runtime: 117 min.
Distributor: Warner Bros. Korea
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

A story that depicts the brightest moments of Josee (Han Ji-Min) and Young-Seok (Nam Joo-Hyuk). Josee has a physical disability and lives in her own world. Young-Seok enters her world.

Notes

Remake of 2003 movie "Josee, the Tiger and the Fish" ("Joze to tora to sakana tachi").
Han Ji-Min & Nam Joo-Hyuk starred together in 2019 JTBC drama series "The Light in Your Eyes."

Cast



Han Ji-Min	Nam Joo-Hyuk
Josee	Young-Seok

Additional Cast Members:

Heo Jin - Da-Bok
Park Ye-Jin - Hye-Sun
Jo Bok-Rae - Chul-Ho
Lee So-Hee - Soo-Kyung
Lee Sung-Wook - Choi-Kyung
Kim Keum-Soon - Hyun-Nam
Hwang Do-Yun - Hyun-Nam's daughter
Jang Se-Won - Sang-Joon
Yoon Hye-Ri - Hee-Young
Jung Yi-Seo - Na-Young
Kim Seung-Bee - Soo-Bin
Seol Chang-Hee - Hyun-Young
Lee Joo-Young - Sun-Hee
Oh So-Hyun - Dunkin employee
Shim Wan-Jun - Hye-Sun's boyfriend
Yang Taek-Ho - car repair shop employee
Park Seo-Kyung - Josee (young)
Kim Ha-Eon - Chul-Ho (young)
Jin Si-Won - awaiter 1 for interview
Jung Joon - amusement park kid
Lee Jong-Woon - company executive
Kim Su-Bok - used bookstore owner

Trailers

Comments

Monette Aug 06 2022 6:56 am Another lovely movie from Nam joo hyuk and han ji min... They always makes me cry. I wish to see them together again!

Monette Aug 06 2022 6:55 am Another masterpiece from Nam joo hyuk and han ji min... They always makes me cry. I wish to see them together again!

Renwa Oct 13 2021 9:57 am Firstly…I just saw Josee & thoroughly enjoyed this complex stunning story. This is a layered story with many subplots, the emotional coming of age of the male lead & journey of healing of the female lead. It’s not a story for a passive audience. We, the viewer, are put to work thinking, feeling and challenged to define a life & happiness. Kim Jong-Kwan the director/ screenwriter provided the art that made this wonderful film. Han Ji Min a proven established actress did justice as always to her character. Nam Joo Hyuk is a gifted young actor well on his way to becoming one of Korea’s foremost actors. He’s superb in this drama. I just Loved the film and was willing to put in the emotional & intellectual effort. With regard to AB’s film critique, thank you for the effort (but) which I found misplaced in this venue. That this movie is a later Korean version of an original Japanese film just tells me that the Korean artists honor the work. Comparing the two is unnecessarily unkind & useless. During the last two years I have discovered the glorious world of Asian drama & frankly delight in seeing various works through different rich cultural lenses. It’s all good…really! All that said, if I can find the Japanese version, I’d like to watch it…notwithstanding how emotionally challenging this film can get.

Tiffany Sep 25 2021 12:55 am @sadthatsundayisendingsoon thanks for explanation. I thought the same as well at first, but I wasn't sure. After reading your comment I know that she didn't want to holding the world before him. It's so sad and painful separation for me but realistic one

Also thanks @AB I will try to watch Japanese's version

AB Sep 16 2021 3:57 pm This is a pointless remake of a masterpiece. Most of what makes the original such a great film is removed, or relegated to the status of a side note. There is no humour or expectation of permanence, which some people will prefer, but this breaks the balance: in the original Japanese film, the perfect balance is what makes the ending so heartbreaking but bittersweet.

The way the ending is reached in the original is built up to slowly, while a happy ending as a possibility is built up to just as much. That is what makes it so much more crushing when the ending is how it is. In this Korean remake, the ending is set from the beginning but there's a "fake ending" before it sloppily breaks down into the real ending, an attempt to make it crushing that fails because there is no build up. Also, this just removes all the subtlety of the original's ending, which had nuance and emotion.

In other words, this is a "Koreanised version" whose creators knew they had to try to keep some of the "Japanesiness" of the original by injecting a false sense of bittersweetness, especially with the very ending, however failing to implement everything that made the original's ending so bittersweet. By removing the build up, by reducing or outright removing many of the happy moments depicted in the original, they reduced the sadness and removed the genuine feeling from the ending.

Koreans excel at making truly soul-crushing films, but, in this case, because this is a remake of a Japanese film and they attempted to not change it too much but changing it enough to make it feel different, and no doubt aimed at Korean viewers, it fails at delivering the crushing of the soul that Koreans are the true crowned masters at.

This is, however, not only a matter of "Koreanness" vs "Japanesiness", it is equally or likely even more a matter of time. The original is set in the early 2000's, when it was made, a time when the entire world was in a state of transition. In many aspects of the original film, this transitionality is reflected. I don't doubt that many specific details capturing the atmosphere of that period were not originally intended for that purpose, but later viewing shows that it captured the atmosphere of that period perfectly in nearly every scene. This is not a coincidence, but a proof of the filmmakers setting it in the current period intentionally. Thus, the details embedded themselves.

Because this remake is set in the current time, yet clutching to the past with its female main character and her neighbourhood (which was characteristically altered from the original, while aesthetically retained), this limits the scope of what the film can reflect significantly. There is no true reflection of the modern time period, except the use of Google Street View on a smartphone. This is a good addition, but not enough to transform the film into a reflection of its time period.

Watching this in 18 years, and even so you will not feel nostalgia, unless it is nostalgia for the film itself. Watching the original, already the atmosphere of the time period will make you feel things. This remake could have detacheded itself from the current time period, or created a nostalgia for the time period of the past even if it was set in the current time period if the neighbourhood was made truly isolated... even more isolated than in the original. Instead, it was in the opposite direction.

The female main character goes about her business in the surrounding world with little difficulty. This diminishes the impact of her disability, you may as well forget she has it. The original makes you relate to her disability, it pushes that she is treated unfairly because of it, that she faces difficulties in the world, and at no point in the film is it possible to forget it. There is a constant emotional attachment to her, and a hope that she will overcome the difficulties (and she does as the film progresses).

In this remake, it seems almost like for the most of its duration, her disability gets worse as soon as the male main character comes into the picture. Then, at the very end, after he is no longer present in her life, she is again more able to function in the world. Why? There is no explanation, and this change makes the male main character feel like he should be seen as a "bad guy". Yet, clearly it is not intended for this to be the case, because their period of living together and happiness was included, though very briefly.

The acting is very good, as expected, but, by itself, that is not enough. Half of the moments with the most emotional impact in the original in terms of acting, are not present in this remake or are altered to reduce the emotional impact to its bare minimum. This is highly unusual of a Korean film, but also clearly a byproduct of the "Koreanisation" process: everything must be slowed down so that the burn can be felt. Only, for that burn to be felt, there would have to be an emotional attachment. This never builds it.

For those considering whether to watch this film and have not seen the original, please watch the original first. Then, if you feel like you want to see a watered down version that removes everything from it that made it the masterpiece it is, watch this remake. In full disclosure, I'll even say, I'm not one against remakes. Often remakes are good, or at least introduce something new to the story, rarely even better than the original. But, this one... I don't see why anybody would prefer it over the original, unless they're uncomfortable with the original's "Japanesiness" at least as far as the humour is concerned.

Girlie Aug 19 2021 12:02 pm OMG! This movie is soooo depressing.

Lolita Jun 14 2021 5:38 am Can it be available on netflix? This one is really good acting and cinematography wise

Palak Apr 10 2021 6:40 pm This is really a heart warming story. Atleast i liked it.

Nadia Mar 26 2021 8:06 pm Gosh it looks depressing

sadthatsundayisendingsoon Mar 13 2021 11:27 pm SPOILER ALERT!

I see that a lot of people hates Nam Joohyuk's character and the ending, but I actually like it. In my opinion, Youngseok is not the best man in the world, but at least he's a good man for Josee. He's there for her when she needs him and Josee's life gets better because of him, even if it's only a bit.

In the end, Josee is the one who let him go when she feels like she's holding him back. She finally accepts that she might be trapped for life because of her disabilty and she doesn't want the same thing to happen to Youngseok. Her love is selfless and I respect her for that.

They may not live happily ever after together but they met and love each other at the right time. It's a realistic ending. For me personally this movie is quite good.

clingydaegun Mar 13 2021 10:49 pm Glad that I read reviews before I watch this, so I know not to have any expectation. If you're prepared for a not so happy ending, but a realistic one, the movie is actually not bad.

Geoff Feb 27 2021 7:15 am I just love the plot of love in this story.

I normally find it boring watching love story with slow phasing but these is a kind of movie that you will eventually watch until the end not realizing it already ending.

“Selfless love” is great.

Patataaa Feb 22 2021 9:42 am Good movie, however the ending is kinda depressing for me. Hahaha! Well ww all wish for a happy ending but they gave us a reality/sad ending

Playdayoff Feb 12 2021 5:07 pm I'm kinda excited because the main actor is nam joo hyuk. Also both of main actors were match so well, idk how to say but the plotlines just so cold like extremely cold romance in the deep warm.

Kang BearGi Feb 12 2021 8:30 am this movie really heartwarming :(( ....... relationship between them make me just realize how so precious the mean of love

This is good Feb 09 2021 5:32 am This is a very beautiful looking movie that will make you question every scene. Everyone feels so mysterious yet so close to you. You feel like you know the characters but you don't. "You don't need to know why" the things happened here because it did. They definitely love each other and it shows, they gave each other lessons that they would not learn from anyone else. It's slow, but "its prettily, and slowly dying". This film is a reminder to everyone that no one can stop you from achieving what you want to do. No matter how slow your progress is. A movie full of life lessons. Will definitely watch again, and cry again.

Kami Feb 08 2021 5:24 am Cinematography, sound design, quality actors. The metaphor and details in every scene were overwhelming. The film gives you a lingering impression after watching. I was still thinking about the movie after days and would probably watch it again.

Emma Feb 02 2021 3:32 pm Im sorry but this movie is so boring although i was super excited to see my favorite actress ji min and one of my top Korean actors joohyuk as a couple but the movie lacked many things and the relationship wasnt convincing at all, the acting was below my expectations and the story itself is not complicated, i dont know how to describe it but extremely cold.

Loveholic Dec 25 2020 3:29 am I love them so much. They are the best korean drama couples since 2018 to now 2020. No other couples can top them.. Han Ji Min and Nam Joo Hyuk are so lovely together because I find them to be very genuine individuals. They're not the type to feed fan service. With no hype or promotions together such as being cute and lovey-dovey for the fans to gain like. They're just so natural. The best actors Han Ji Min and Nam Joo Hyuk. So much respect. Hoping Josee do well...

MinHyuk Dec 15 2020 1:18 pm Together again this two? Wow! After TLIYE, they work again together for real. Will this be shown in Netflix? Otherwise I'll need to wait for long cause this is not showing in the ?? cinema. Love them in TLIYE, they're chemistry was amazing, you won't be able to see the age gap its maybe because Namjoohyuk looks so manly and act maturely behind her and Hanjimin is petite and damn she's really not trying hard to be pretty, she's in born pretty. And you guy's are right, I like them not acting cute, at least I'm not the only one who noticed. Kekeke

Paj Dec 13 2020 7:35 am I love these two so much in TLIYEs. Their chemistry is undeniably beautiful. They give me the happy vibe together. These two are very straight up actors who don't act cute to promote themselves in front of the fans. That's why I love them so much individually and together. My favorite actress Han Ji Min fighting. May your new film get good received.

Sav Dec 10 2020 10:54 am This pairing did not disappoint. The cinematography is amazing. Hopefully this won’t be the last time HJM and NJH will be working together!

potata Dec 10 2020 5:10 am Duuuuuuuuuude! I can't believe that they are going to be in the same film again!!!!!! I love them both in light in your eyes. And now this! I can't wait! Can I buy a movie ticket even though I'm not in Korea? Like sending my support to you guys!!! I am totally in love with Han Ji Min's acting, especially in One Spring Night!!! I can't wait to watch this too.

ryan Dec 07 2020 7:19 pm woah this movie gonna aired with anime version movie

Maria Silmaro Nov 18 2020 7:25 pm Is it going to be in Netflix? How can we watch Josee in California, USA? I believe in Han Ji Min's talents. Nam Joo Hyuk is now serious about his acting career. These 2 are the best Korean actress and actor I have watched. I pray for their happiness as they both give me joy when they are together in a drama and now in a film. God bless you HJM & NJH!

Jo Nov 18 2020 6:51 pm I'm looking forward to this movie remake. Han Jimin and Nam Joohyuk are both excellent actors, I like them so much individually, they didn't act cute and they seem to be a soft-hearted people. I like their drama Dazzling 100%, all the actors there. When I watched the trailer of this drama, I can feel the emotion already. Be back here once I watch the whole story and give my verdict.

Soybean Nov 18 2020 11:39 am I cant wait!!! Im hoping that this will complete me since their last drama together ( the light in your eyes ) broke my heart in to a million pieces!!! So excited for this

Priscilla Lee Nov 18 2020 4:48 am ahh finally!! so excited❤️ their chemistry is just *chefs kiss* hopefully this has a good ending because my heart has already been shattered to pieces because of their last drama?

Rizky Hamdanih Nov 14 2020 1:18 am Best couple ?

이유나 Nov 12 2020 3:54 pm Okay I'm just gonna imagine this is the happy ending they didn't get in "the light in your eyes"

Row Nov 08 2020 7:38 pm cannnn't waitttt for NJH & HJM again ilove them fighting

Deb Nov 08 2020 3:48 pm Wow, this is going to be great. Can't wait

Josee

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Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Notes

Cast

Trailers

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