NO BREATHING (2013)

Genre: Drama/Sports
Director: Cho Yong-Sun  
Cast: Lee Jong-suk, Seo In-guk, Kwon Yoo-ri, Park Cheol-min, Park Jeong-cheol, Shin Min-chul
RunTime: 1 hr 58 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: www.nobreathing.co.kr

Opening Day: 5 December 2013

Synopsis: Won-il used to be a promising swimmer like his championship swimmer father. After his father’s death from a swim competition, where he was doing his specialty called “no breathing”, his mother also passes away. Since then, he can never forgive his father and quits swimming for good. Living like there is no tomorrow with his easy-going attitude, Won-il seems hopeless. When he is being dropped out of school, his father’s longtime friend Jae-Suk drags him to get into a physical education high school to start swimming again. There he meets his long-ago rival, Woo-Sang who was always overshadowed by Won-il. With Won-il’s absence, Woo-Sang took up the first place and grew up to be the national swim star. He is completely opposite to Won-il in that all he cares is winning. Woo-sang is disqualified as national athlete by getting into a trouble and start from ground zero at the same phys-ed school as Won-il. Won-il’s return is unwelcomed by Woo-Sang but Won-il does not care. Then there is Jae-suk’s daughter, Jung-eun who captures both Won-il and Woo-sang’s hearts and reignites the rivalry between the two. The two very different restless youths start on the swimming competition for the love and friendship which is in fact, the rite of passage to growing up.

Movie Review:

‘Eat, eat, eat, only know how to eat!!!’ – This is probably the first impression that Won-il (Seo In-Guk) will give you. A good-for-nothing school dropout was forced to go attend a sports school to uphold his promise to his mother – to at least graduate with a high school diploma. At the same time, a national swimmer, Woo-Sang (Lee Jong-Suk) acted on violence and is currently on probation. To salvage his own name and to secure a place to represent Korea in the upcoming Olympic games, he was also arranged to go to the sports school. At these least-wanted-to-be-seen moments, these two big boys who were at loggerheads since elementary school cross paths again.

The movie wastes no effort in setting up the premise of the narrative. The love-hate relationship between Won-il and Woo-sang was quickly sketched out, putting a focus on the contrast of their characters. Woo-sang the perfectionist trained hard and was strict with himself to attain good results at competitive swimming. On the other hand, Won-il is lazy and laid-back, and even has a hysterical fear for water... however he just has that flair at swimming, and can do the 'no breathing' trick that all swimmers apparently desire.

The storyline was quite well paced, and has a nice progress to it. The main leads' characters were also well developed, giving a good background as well as an appropriate depth as they got set out to pursue their aspirations. In particular, Seo In-guk stood out with his role as the miracle boy. Although he is not the most familiar face around, this Superstar K 2009 winner made a breakthrough in acting after starring in a television series in 2012. His role in this movie albeit not challenging, he managed to charm the audience with his innocence and simple-mindedness. His anchor role brought much laughter (and even tears) to the audience.

The other big boy, Lee Jong Suk was definitely an eye candy to many (heard far too many squeals in the cinema). He's proved to be more than just a pretty face, and nailed his role. The only flaw of the movie is a rather redundant romance arc. The story would have been worked perfectly fine even without Jung-eun (Kwon Yoori). Her presence seems more like a publicity effort to bring up the ticket box office sales, borrowing her popularity from her group Girls' Generation.

Overall, this uplifting and positive story on the young men's pursuit of their dreams was pretty inspiring and makes a good casual watch. The drama and humor also strikes a good balance. It is just a small pity that the main leads most likely didn't have the time to train and attain the swimmers' bod prior to filming. Still, they make pretty good eye candies. 

Movie Rating:  

(Fancy some Korean water boys? You’re in for an eye feast!)

Review by Tho Shu Ling