JOSEE (조제) (2020)

Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Kim Jong-Kwan
Cast: Han Ji-Min, Nam Joo-Hyuk, Jung Yi-seo
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 10 December 2020

Synopsis: A remake of the Japanese movie "Josee, the Tiger and the Fish". From the day he first met her, she kept on asking him to call her "Josée". Josée remains an unforgettable name for Yeong Seok. Josée lives alone with her grandmother, reading and imagining her own world there. Yeong Seok begins to feel special feelings for her by chance and begins to approach her slowly and sincerely. But while the first love that he experiences is exciting, heartbreaking Joseé pushes away the strange feeling that came to him...

Movie Review:

Romance dramas appeal to a certain group of viewers. These are audiences who enjoy a good love story, and appreciate the somewhat formulaic plots that speak universally to die hard romantics. Then there are Korean romance dramas – this genre of movies may not appeal to the impatient viewer (usually males), but they are a huge hit with those who want to indulge in a dreamy (and almost fantastical) world where the female lead is impossibly pretty, and the male protagonist is impossibly perfect.

Need an extra dose of drama? Throw in a life threatening illness or a physical disability for tear inducing effect.  This Korean remake of the Japanese movie “Josee, the Tiger and the Fish” (which is based on a short story by Seiko Tanabe) is a perfect example of how the right ingredients in a romance drama will make the right viewers shed buckets of tears. 

The guy in the story is Young Seok, a university student who helps Josee, a girl who falls from her wheelchair. He visits her house and it is not surprising that this is the start of a budding romance. The problem is, he is supposedly someone who is of a higher class status (a graduating student majoring in engineering and has a promising career in front of him), while she is someone deemed by the society as lower class (a jobless individual due to her physical disability and living in a run down house with a grandmother who picks up cardboard in the streets). Will true love prevail?

The 117 minute movie sees the two leads finding out more about each other. He makes repeats to her untidy abode, while she tells him whimsical stories and shares her knowledge of whiskey. If you had a relationship this sweet, you’d be smiling everyday. Things take a turn when she begins rejecting him, and he wonders why his sincerity isn’t acknowledged. Can you see how this bittersweet romance will end?

Han Ji Min and Nam Joo Hyuk are good lookers which are easy on the eye, and fans of this genre of movies will have no issues sitting through the movie. After working on 2019’s hit TV drama “The Light in Your Eyes”, the two stars have a natural chemistry. When the girl is this beautiful and the guy is this handsome, it is easy to enjoy what’s on screen. The cinematography captures the relationship in an almost magical light, and Josee’s big but messy house is a location that the filmmakers aptly made use of to create some fairy tale like sequences.  

The story moves along at an unhurried pace, and asks its audience to appreciate the developing relationship between Young Seok and Josee. While nothing new, themes of class differentiation and societal acceptance are explored. As the film progresses, you wonder where it will lead to, and when the ending presents itself, you may be shedding a few tears.  

Movie Rating:

(The formulaic Korean romance drama will please fans of the genre with its good-looking stars and tearjerking plot)

Review by John Li