Loading ...Bungee Jumping of Their Own (번지점프를 하다 Beonjijeompeureul hada) is a 2001 South Korean film. It was selected to appear in the 2002 Frameline Film Festival and the 2004 Korean Film Festival DC.
A man’s girlfriend dies. He meets another man who he realizes is his girlfriend reincarnated. Even the second man begins to realize it. They struggle to be lovers when they have become a same-sex couple unexpectedly.
The movie begins typically as In-woo, played by Lee Byung-hun, offers his umbrella to a girl in the rain. Struck with love at first sight, he starts to follow her around their college campus. As a guy, he is pretty much an aimless dope, but he is totally secure in his love and makes that his life’s meaning. This innocent romance does not last, however, due to the girl’s death—and due to the movie’s unexpected gay twist. For years later, when In-woo is a teacher, he begins to believe one of his male guys is his old girlfriend reincarnated, and he falls in love all over again.
In-woo struggles with his feelings, especially since the guy , Tae-hee, is just your average jock. Soon it becomes clear to everyone in class that their favorite “cool” teacher has an unnerving fixation, and rumors spread that In-woo is gay, and that Tae-hee is his lover. Long glances, restrained caresses, and awkward phone calls consume In-woo’s whole life, as he becomes more and more convinced that Tae-hee is the girl. Tae-hee is totally oblivious to In-woo’s advances at first, while In-woo sinks into obsession.
Later, Tae-hee himself even sees it. At the end, he gets convinced of what he is, but this “happy ending” sends a strange message when they two jump off a bridge together, hoping to find each other again as the “right” genders.
A romantic melodrama in the true sense, Kim’s remarkable film balances magic and realism with exquisite grace (look out for the ‘waltz at sunset’ sequence, guaranteed to warm anyone’s cockles), though the climactic descent into darker territory leads to an unexpected finale which is both sad and liberating, all at the same time. Unfortunately, the film has been saddled with an appalling English title which makes it sound like some kind of comedy, and prospective viewers are urged to look beyond this minor blemish. Brave, emotional, and played to perfection by a sterling cast, this is transgressive cinema at its most compelling.
