Due to the fact that Seon-yoo’s father committed suicide leaving him with enormous debts, both Na-hee and her twelve year old daughter have decided to shift to a new location that will allow them to start off fresh. Already having to go through the loss of her father as well as her mentally unstable mother, adaptation to her new school becomes a troublesome task for Seon-yoo.
On top of that, she becomes the target of Jeong- guk’s cruelty, who happens to be a troublemaker in her class. But as events unfold, the boy finds himself being persistent to make Seon Yoo his friend and surely her walls begin to nullify. Seon Yoo and her family however, continue to find themselves in deeper waters, due to Seon Yoo’s mother’s worsening financial conditions. Jeong Yeon-kyung has made and directed an astonishing film, the only downside, it is that it has a cliché in context to the narration and also class, the role of a teacher remains rather dry and dull. Instead, this movie is rich in many other and more complex stories once you dive deeper into it and pay more attention to the details. Such as, the last shot of this movie to one’s surprise changes the entire mood. The overall context to this movie becomes rich and strong with the use of stunning visuals.
The teacher seemed cold with a hint of drama around her character which sought attention rather quickly. In a more interactive scene, the mother is greeted with warmness that provides a new twist to the story and the emotions run high.
The first issue focuses on Seon-yoo’s relationship with her mother, her mental state and her father’s demise, her mental state, which is reflected in the schooling structure, a second issue touches on When their debts are concerned, the young girl even better understands what is taking place, having another weight on her on top of all. The second axis of the coordinates, which is in essence the answer/the “treatment” to all the negative is Jeong-gook’s relationship with Seon-yoo, which, as usual at that age, one starts with him bullying her a bit and eventually “makes” Seon-yoo warm up to him. This then sets the scene for family drama as well as teenage romance. The marriage of family drama and teenage romance adds to the appeal of the movie plot as Seon-yoo’s character goes through a rough patch in her life which depicts her realistic character.
Of the rest of the axes, including Jeong-gook’s relationship with his mother and brother, and the class environment develop the story plot in a secondary role. The latter, however, seems to be a bit behind the curtain, especially because of the character of the teacher named Hong, who is really too good to be true.
I am not also especially bothered by this detail, and indeed it can be said to inject a dose of optimism and humor into the film that is best served by Lee Hwi jong in performance as well.
The directing style and editing by Park Gok-ji reaches its zenith with the location of the last scene, which is probably the most interesting feature of this movie. To add another interesting element to that story, Kim Hyung-koo’s cinematography is less intriguing and slightly over exposed, at times in a distracting way.
As far as the acting is concerned, Jeong Yeon-kyung was able to bring good performances out of both of her young leads. Young Cho Yu-ha as Seon-yoo is particularly good at how she tries to seem a bit detached and controls her sorrow, this is also a switch that Jeong-gook does to her, his upbeat mood changes her. Choi Ro-woon in the role is also very good fun to watch, he carries with him an admirable buoyancy. Last of all, Yang So-min as Na-hee is also quite impressive in the way she conveys the character’s growing frustration and how the character tries to conceal this from her daughter mostly by lying to her.
“Please Don’t Save Me” is not a classic, but is tender while also being funny and dramatic in equal measures but what course assures this film a cut above the rest is definitely its conclusion, a very definite twist on many korean films of late.
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