KFN2: Wanee & Junah
Wanee & Junah (와니와 준하)
As part of the Korean Film Nights 2019 season, Love Without Boundaries.
Director: Kim Yong Gyun
Cast: Kim Hee-sun, Joo Jin-mo, Cho Seung-woo, Choi Gang-hee, Kim Soo-jin
Cert 15, 114mins, 2001
Wanee is a disenchanted animator living in the city with her scriptwriter boyfriend Junah. While she seemingly only lives for her successful career, Junah meanwhile, is having less luck as a screenwriter. The cracks in their outwardly peaceful, yet mundane relationship begin to show when childhood friend So-yang visits. This causes old wounds to resurface as Wanee emotionally retreats further. Shrouded in secrecy and guilt, Wanee must confront her troubled past in order to overcome the emotional distance that has consumed her relationship with Junah.
In Wanee and Junah, Kim Yong-gyun shifts between the present and the past and bookends the film with beautifully animated scenes. In a refreshingly original gender reversal, it is the emotionally unavailable woman who has to be won over. With a cast drawn from Korea’s prominent television industry, notable aficionado Kim Hee-sun challenges herself in this forbidden love drama. Confronting the traditional norms of Korean society, the film celebrates the hidden sides of love; from cohabitation to homosexuality to forbidden love, Wanee and Junah is a taboo-breaking debut.
