Yang Mi-sook, a frumpy, frequently flushed, high school teacher has had a secret ten-year-long crush on Seo Jong-chel— her former teacher, current colleague and a family man. When she learns he is having an affair with pretty teacher Lee Yu-ri, Mi-sook joins up with Seo’s unpopular daughter, Jong-hee in an effort to save the marriage and keep the family together…until she can have the man for herself.
Director Lee Kyoung-mi makes her directorial debut under the wing of producer-co-writer Park Chan-wook with an odd, dark comedy that simultaneously subverts both the stalker and the underdog pics. By combining the two conflicting types in this one character, Crush and Blush questions the fine line between a viewer rejecting one and supporting the other.
The film takes a major risk with a horribly selfish protagonist and rendering her uncomfortably likeable—viewers will no doubt sympathize with Mi-sook’s honest, pathetic moments and later be repelled by her darker side. But it’s impossible to ever pass judgment because the solid writing and Kong Hyo-jin’s splendid performance make every bit of the character understandable.
Crush and Blush loads up on entertaining comedy in the first half (while winning the viewer to Mi-sook’s side) and slowly gives way to serious complications in the dramatic second. The plot keeps steadily moving until the relationships and emotions are so tangled that there doesn’t seem to be any hope for a neat solution. Viewers will be nearly as conflicted as the characters are about their wants; and the pivotal third-act scene finds an inspired location to play off of this whole mess.
The pic is also strengthened by its female talents, who all put in solid performances to fill out each distinctive character from the ‘too-perfect’ Yu-ri played by Hwang Woo-seul-hye with a suspicious innocence to Mr. Seo’s calm and exhausted wife acted by Bang Eun-jin. Kong Hyo-jin, of course, is getting the most acclaim for her lead role and it is much deserved, but wide-eyed newcomer Seo Woo as the daughter is perhaps the actual breakthrough performance in this pic for her expressive looks and endearing delivery. Viewers should watch for her in the years to come.
In the end, Crush and Blush is a highly welcome, atypical Korean comedy that flips and twists characters, takes a unique, involving story and finds a satisfying way to tell it. Some of the humor may fall flat for viewers, but there’s much more beyond just the comedy. This a little outcast of a film that does not quite fit in anywhere, and is all the better for it.
Reviewed by Tarun
