I would love to see busker performance art treated as pro-wrestling, wouldn’t you? Instead of a guy in the subway with a violin, you have Vince McMahon show up in the middle of your commute and loudly announce “LET’S GET READY TO BUSKLE!!” Then from out of nowhere, a makeshift dance troupe faces down a guy with an acoustic guitar covering James Taylor.
On second thought, maybe I wouldn’t want that, but it sure would make the commute go faster.
Writer/director/star/guitarist/songwriter/anesthesiologist Bobby Choy is Korean-American “Bobby.” How in the world did such an awesome film title spring from the same source of such lame character naming? As I understand it, Bobby’s dilemma is not uncommon: having Korean ancestry, but no Korean influence in his life, he’s culturally lost. His Korean mother has no interest in schooling him on the past she left behind, so he’s torn between going all-in as an American and actually learning a thing or two about what put him in his present time and place.
Bobby’s buddy Billy bandies ‘bouties burgies. Um, that is to say, Billy (Todd Goble) has a band going on a multi-city tour. His group “Dirk and the Digglers” or whatever (I didn’t catch the actual name) is good enough for the tour to be international; Billy asks Bobby to be a Diggler roadie, and when Billy points out the tour will pass through the capital of South Korea, Bobby is Seouled.
In seeking the origin of his father, Bobby finds a busker name Ina (Hwa-Young Im), and it is on like Dong-Soo Kong. Apparently, the best way to get a busker to go out with you is giving her waaaay too much money. I daresay this particular tack will work with many people, but not everybody you encounter is laying out a hat, y’know? Watching these two give up on normal communication and simply compose for one another is kind of adorable and the best reason to watch the film.
Like most good romances, there’s nothing entirely complicated here: boy meets girl, boy likes girl, girl likes boy, boy decides to cut the roadie crap and stay in Seoul, girl introduces boy to bizarre real estate agent, boy, girl, and agent form band … well, you know the rest. When it comes right down to it, all the cities, people, and music is just noise; Fiction and Other Realities works because you like the kids and want to see them fall in love. That’s a good enough reason to watch this or any other film. .
♪She waits for me, I think, she stands there playing guitar
I give her fifty thousand won and take away her pain
And so far she hasn’t run, although I look like a stalker
I still believe this land holds something culturally germane
It’s all about Seoul
It’s all about lugging your axe on the subway
It’s all about Seoul
It’s all about snorting kimchi in a cafe♫
Not Rated, 85 Minutes
Director: Bobby Choy, Steve Lee
Writer: Bobby Choy
Genre: The downside of love
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Buskers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who insist that John Carney has already made three of this film
♪ Parody Inspired by “All About Soul”
