Park Shin Hye(Alice Park)

Versatility. This is what I thought 10 minutes into the 110-minute animation film where Shin Hye, or her voice that is, plays the central character. The film Green Days is a fine piece of art. I dare not call it the work of a genius just yet. Yet, given the depth of the characters in this story and the poignant re-telling of a familiar time in all our lives, I felt that it was not a wasted afternoon, that day I went to see it with a friend.

Here it was, a continent and a pond away from where it first took flight, and still it hit home. Not just to Koreans who took pride in the showcases of films across 2 weeks of the festival, but also to enthusiasts, like me, who wanted to learn more about the culture and the ways it differs or, for the most part, is similar to our stories.

Despite having cheated by taking a look at the screencaps of the film from its coverage in the Pusan International Film Festival where it was first screened, I was still nicely surprised by the actual movie when I finally got to see it in person. And now I know how it feels to feel like you’re the luckiest person on the planet. Most of the people who went to see this film are not fans but rather spectators, critics who were there for the experience. Because of that, I had to be particularly careful not to be the fanboy that I could become.

The film had me when Shin Hye‘s character, Yi-rang, faked a collapse just not to finish second in a race. I thought “Ha, how many of us hadn’t thought of doing that when we were younger?” Or maybe even when we’re now older? I found it really interesting when they began talking about spaceships and being an astronaut. It brought me back to days of my own youth when I had similar dreams. I marveled at the adjustments they had to make, Cheol Soo in the pursuit of his dreams or his happiness or the transitions undergone by the newcomer from Seoul, Yoo-Min. The film had a great formula in my opinion, in a little less than two hours it was able to show the excitement and the pains of growing up. And how everyone really fails and everyone really moves on and learns from these growing pains, with the right outlook or with the right guidance.

As I watched, I’m taken back to days I read Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince. This film triggered the same quixotic perspective of life’s different possibilities. That same childlike innocence still inherent in adolescence, yet also the angst of having learned through life’s journey, however short that may be at that point, that things are not always as good as they seem.

In Yi-Rang, I began to better understand the A.N.JELL Shin Hye we love. In real life, Shin Hye had always been speaking from her heart, her disappointments and her triumphs and in lapses here and there we see her in her childish (or is it childlike?) moments. Very much similar to Yi-Rang, the girl at the crossroads, and the one in the ‘adolescence’ of her own career in showbusiness, it would be easy to say this animation was cut for Shin Hye. However, saying such doesn’t give her laudable effort justice. Her voice genuinely portrayed the emotions needed for the character she plays and for that few hours I forgot I was there to support her. Instead, her voice and the way she projects it brought me back to a time and place where everything seems simple, compared to the problems of adulthood we are used to daily. Yet, the simplicity of it doesn’t mean it’s all roses, since most battles fought during that phase was with the self. A journey to self-discovery of sorts.

With its very clean and simple approach to animation, pencil-driven drawings before digital, the film reminded me of days not too long ago when I had a comic book in hand. Although the theme of the film conjures reflections as well as Hollywood animation films like Kung Fu Panda and Up!, Green Days is unique all its own. Giving viewers a glimpse of Korea a few decades ago, we are reminded why they earned the “Land of the Morning Calm” brand. Although it basks in a good dose of reality, the messages that are being sent across are not unnerving nor annoying. The film was unpretentious at its best, much like the voice of the actress behind its main character.

At the directors’ Q&A that followed the screening, there was a question regarding the challenge choosing voices of actors who were born much later than the timeframe set in the film’s story, after all, supposedly these actors are unaware of the little nuances of that time. The answer provided was good — the film’s theme is transcendent that regardless of time, person or place, it wishes to convey the same message. And it did.

The film was versatile — as it portrayed themes oft taken for granted, while sticking to an effective yet simple medium. But even more important is the fact that I found Shin Hye to be versatile taking on this project — a far cry from the characters she portrayed last – crossdressing naive Mi Nam/Mi Nyeo in You’re Beautiful and innocent matchmaker Min Young in Cyrano Agency. It was a project that is likely nearer to her heart’s reality, what with her desire to succeed and do beyond what she already does. Yet, projecting it to a character outside her own self, drawn in pencil and projected on a theater screen is a feat no one should take for granted. She didn’t have her eyes nor her body language to do the work for her, hence she needed to focus solely on the story, the words, her emotions and let her voice do the work. And it was a great work.

If this film can go beyond festival screenings and on to official nominations for award-giving bodies, I believe Shin Hye deserves her own shot at an award, with the production team and the directors. On second thought, an award, accolade, glowing review of any form for this film from respectable critics, should already be a feather on her cap. And like the blogger before me who had thought that this film deserves screening elsewhere in the world, I also believe that Green Days, Dinosaur & Me or whatever they decide the final title to be, deserves introduction globally, with no-cuts and a longer play-date, a one day screening for only one time slot isn’t enough. (Side note: I really think they should stick to the original Korean title which roughly translates as A Precious Day to Dream.)

That Saturday at the ICA, I went away with the feeling of hope — in dreams, in love and in life. It was my first time at a film festival. And for a first-timer’s first film, I was hooked and look forward to going again in festivals like this in the future. I was inspired. And, it was a Lovely Green Day indeed.