Sohyun, a runaway, is left alone after her close friend Jungho disappears. By accident, she gets to know a transgender woman named Jane. She joins Jane and her close-knit community of runaways, who are as comforting and loving as a real family. Sohyun feels happy and at peace. But her happiness does not last long. There is something wrong with Jane’s health.
Kkumui jein, 꿈의 제인, 梦中的简
South Korea
South Korea18
UK
South Korea
UK
This is a beautiful film but that's all it has going on for it, sadly. The direction reminded me a bit of Laurence Anyways, especially the parts featuring Jane, the colors are lovely, the use of space and the electronic soundtrack work really well together, managing to create a distinct atmosphere and Koo Gyo-Hwan is excellent. Sadly the story is a mess in my opinion. I get that it is purposefully disorientating, the film's circular structure and the fractured narrative also enhance that feeling but in the end I am not sure it's worth it.
The middle part of the film feels like a different film entirely and one that has been done before and in better ways, the editing…
She is not just a person, just what she said herself on stage, she was illusory.
I seriously doubt that the director of Jane intentionally prevents you from smoothing out the chaotic timeline. He just wants you to remember the glittering little happiness in the unfortunate life of these marginalized people. I always thought that what the film conveys is just an emotion, like the wings of a butterfly in the sun, it just expresses, no matter what you see. The soundtrack of the film is so good that it explodes. For the first time, I was not moved by the film's images but because of the final soundtrack. It interprets more than the picture.
Jane is an independent film…
I wasn't expecting this to be such a confusing watch. Whilst beautiful, it was hard to embrace with such a disorientating and distancing story.
The ending does nicely tie together a few aspects but it is not enough to make up for the lacking clarity throughout. I'm here for films playing with narrative structure but, in this case, I was not convinced.
I would have rather seen the film focus on Jane and So-hyun's relationship, as promised. Far too much time was spent following Jane's experience with her other "family" which ultimately revealed little about her character.
For me, the interesting subject and appealing cinematography deserved better than this overworked storyline.
wish it could have more focused on Jane storyline but koo kyohwan as jane was mesmerizing.
우리 죽지 말고 불행하게 오래오래 살자.
Let's not die, let's live a long unhappy live.
I'm not sure how exactly the movie supports this idea because So Hyeon is not the one I want to empathize. I don't know who the movie is about. Jane is a really charismatic character. Koo Gyo Hwan is an outstanding and versatile actor. But he didn't have the chance to unfold the Jane's story.
The structure is really messy. After a half of the movie I constantly felt that it has to end right now, but it kept going. All in all, it just feels like a first draft, not the final work.
Lil bit confused with the storyline but Koo Kyo-hwan as Jane who played a transgender really give a strong performance. No wonder he won the 'Best New Actor' from this role on 54th Baeksang Arts Awards 2018🥰🎉
“Of course, my lonely life won’t change easily nor will my unhappiness, it will continue forever. It’s okay, though, because i have happy days like this. An occasional happy day like this will do for me.”
“So now, let’s not die but live long unhappily and let’s meet again next year and the following year with unhappy faces here at new world. “
This probably suffers from the same thing A Girl at My Door does. It attempts to do everything, and ends up saying almost nothing. Jane herself is this film's only saving grace. The atmospheric neon lighting here is employed quite lazily, and this seems to be a trend in a lot of recent Asian films. If you're not going to use it in an interesting way, I find it a very sterile effect.
"Unhappy"
First word coming out after watching Jane is incomprehensible. The story-line feels a bit blurry. I don't know if they are using flashbacks or interlude. I think the heroine character (So Hyun) it's quite difficult for me to ponder because there isn't any character background to understand what actually happened in this movie. It feels remote from the protagonist and I have no other choice but to loathe the character. I summarised her as a coward.
Jane is actually has a potential to be a "good" movie. They have a uniqueness at the beginning. Gu Kyohwan's performance as Jane is utterly outstanding yet the execution of second and third part is not what I expected, everything turned into dull…
The fear of being alone that swallows up everything in the world.. I almost went crazy with the frustration all the time. The characteristics of each character clearly visible near the main character of Jane. The gloomyness that doesn't seem to end. But despite the misfortune, Jane brought her happiness. I want to fall into my dreams with Jane and Sohyun.
