If you have read my previous post on the Case of Hana and Alice, then you'll know that I also watched another film just an hour after. My second film I've chosen to review is Seoul Searching, directed by Benson Lee.
Benson Lee based this film off a time back when he was 16 years old, where his parents decided to send him to Korea to attend a summer camp in 1986 to learn about his Korean Heritage. He lived in the US (California I believe) but was of Korean descent. Many international students gathered around the world to attend this summer camp to develop their knowledge of their Korean heritage. Every individual was unique with their own individual personalities. Rather contrasting yet overall everyone managed to get along. The director believed this was one of the projects he had managed to create, but working on it for 16 years to be able to finally release it he was ecstatic. He believed it turned out better than he had expected. It should be showing in the US and Canada this coming to the cinema in summer, and for Europe and supposedly Asia it is still to be discussed. But hopefully the year after.
The film is actually more westernised than you may think as he was influenced by 80's films such as The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink, and the film itself was based of his own experiences with some exceptions to the storyline. Indeed it was a film which you could identify yourself with in many ways but it was an interesting development of the plot line.
One of the characters, Klaus, happens to be a friend in real life who he is still in contact with over many years (supposedly 30 years to be exact), and he has yet to see the movie. Benson said himself that he didn't want Klaus to watch the movie online through a link. Instead he would prefer that Klaus could be there in person as a member of the audience in front of a live film screening. He would be able to watch a production based of their lives right in before his eyes and know that it was created by a friend.
The film actually went through a whirlwind of a journey with various story arcs for each character with interesting relationship developments throughout. At times I found it incredibly hilarious and I even cried a little and got rather emotional at some scenes. I definitely have to say Klaus was one of my favourite characters, and the actor himself I found pretty cute. In a sense, he kind of reminded me of myself, being a very reserved character and not exactly one to break boundaries... The German-Korean actor, Teo Yoo who played Klaus was also born and raised in Germany (specifically Cologne).
The director said, he found he was most like the main character, Sid, saying he was quite the rebellious type at that age. Sid was played by Justin Chon, was also born and raised in California, similarly to the director. Some of you may recognise him as Jeff Chang from "21 or Over" or Eric from "The Twilight Saga".
After the movie, the viewers were all lucky enough to also be able to participate in a Q&A with Benson Lee. I was overhearing a conversation, and the person next to me was asking me about the film and also talking about the director who happened to be sitting in the same row as us. Knowing I was teary-eyed next to strangers was indeed an experience, but I don't regret attending alone. From the Q&A I was able to find out a lot more about Benson Lee's life, and how his life was referenced throughout the film,
Honestly, it is definitely one to watch for me, I would actually watch it again! For now, I am anticipating the day when it is available in cinemas in the UK and I'm totally going to drag my friends to watch with me! For now, I suggest checking out the trailer below:
The director said, he found he was most like the main character, Sid, saying he was quite the rebellious type at that age. Sid was played by Justin Chon, was also born and raised in California, similarly to the director. Some of you may recognise him as Jeff Chang from "21 or Over" or Eric from "The Twilight Saga".
I believe the choice of actors for the film were well-picked. From what I have researched most of the actors were from the countries which they originated from in the film. This made it more realistic as the actors had personal experience of how they were brought up based on their surroundings. After seeing the film, I don't think I would change any of the actors, maybe because I just enjoyed the way they were portrayed. For someone who was in the UK, I definitely had to laugh at the British stereotype, with one the girls in the film coming from Britain, specifically Wimbledon. She was dressed in tennis gear, and already I knew how this was going to turn out aha!
Honestly, it is definitely one to watch for me, I would actually watch it again! For now, I am anticipating the day when it is available in cinemas in the UK and I'm totally going to drag my friends to watch with me! For now, I suggest checking out the trailer below:
Anyways! Totally keep an eye out for the film release in the UK cinemas! The film itself only came out last year in 2015, but I hope you enjoy it if you have a chance to watch it. If you do get the chance and you happen to read this post, comment below on your opinions. I'll reply to every comment for sure! Thank you for reading, and make sure to check out the next post!
