Girlhood, Nostalgia, and Tears: Fans React to Netflix’s Korean language film, “20th Century Girl”
“Who the hell wrote this plot? I hate it here, oh my God,” said 20-year-old Erika Titus between sobs in a video she posted to her 3.7 million TikTok followers. She turns the camera towards her television, which is playing Netflix’s latest Korean film, “20th Century Girl.”
When I came across Titus’ video, I immediately knew I needed to watch the movie. Like her and thousands of other TikTok users who took to the app to share their reactions to the film, I also ugly cried for hours afterwards. But it was a welcome outpour of emotions.
“20th Century Girl” is a meditation on nostalgia and first love, and for many fans of the film, one of the most accurate depictions of the intensity of girlhood. And aside from its last ten minutes, the film was filled with joy. Set in South Korea in 1999, the movie follows a pair of female best friends, Bora (Kim Yoo-jung), a spunky and unyieldingly loyal 17-year-old girl, and Young-do (Roh Yoon-seo), who in the beginning of the film is leaving South Korea to undergo a heart transplant in the United States. Before Young-do leaves, she asks Bora to spy on a classmate she had a chance encounter with and developed a crush on. Bora diligently complies, spending her first few weeks of school doing whatever she can to find information about the boy in question, their popular classmate Hyun-jin (Park Jung-woo), and updating Young-do through a string of emails. In the process, she falls in love with Hyun-jin’s best friend Woon-ho (Byeon Woo-seok).
The film ranked number seven globally on Netflix the day after it was released. It’s been described by critics in South Korea as “Korea’s representative first love movie” — a description that hasn’t been uttered since the release of 2012 Korean film “Architecture 101” which launched the career of Korean actress and singer Bae Suzy and earned her the title “the nation’s first love.” If “Architecture 101” was the film that depicts the nostalgia that young men feel for their first love, “20th Century Girl” is its female counterpart.
In one scene, Woon-ho visits Bora at her place of work to let her know he’ll be working at an ice cream shop across the street. It’s pouring outside, and Bora is clumsily trying to tape a sign to the inside glass of the store window when a breathless and soaking wet Woon-ho comes by. The sun hits his face in a dreamy shot, the sky behind him is yellow and something about the cinematography screams wistful. A credit to Kim Yoo-jung’s powerful performance, –you can see in Bora’s eyes that this is the moment she was absolutely smitten.
“The sun is setting and the camera is on Woon-ho and he just looks so good. I fell in love with him right there as well,” said Orielle Harris, 28, and cohost of the Korean Drama podcast Seoul Sisters. “It’s a simple look at what it’s like to be a girl growing into a woman and falling in love.”
For Harris and her cohost Nasreen Jones, 32, the film perfectly depicted the innocence of girlhood.
“When you’re that young, you’re just focused on your immediate world, like your family, your friends, and just being happy and doing things that you enjoy and being your authentic self,” said Jones, who feels the film captures the tone of youth and girlhood. She contrasted it with Western films like “Lady Bird” and “10 Things I Hate About You” and said while those movies capture the angst of teen–hood, they fail to capture its innocence. For her, the movie evoked “simpler times” and the awkward stumbling that comes from navigating young love and friendship.
Viewers compare the film to a roster of Korean movies and dramas set in the 90’s, shows like “Twenty Five- Twenty One,” the “Reply” series, a set of dramas that celebrate the 80’s and 90’s with coming of age stories set simultaneously in the remembered past and ongoing present, and “Youth of May.” Along with “20th Century Girl” these works show that nostalgia crosses borders. It is universal, VHS tapes, clunky computers, and Eastpak backpacks are anchors to different and often simpler times for millions of people.
But even simple times can be rife with conflict. Just as Woon-ho and Bora’s romance blooms, Young-do returns in a touching and teary reunion. In a sudden twist of mistaken identity, Bora discovers that she had been spying on the wrong boy and that Woon-ho was actually the object of Young-do’s affection. In return, she tries to swallow and hide her feelings, pulling away from Woon-ho for Young-do’s sake. In another film, this plotline could culminate in a dramatic fight between Young-do and Bora and a dissolution of their friendship. But in a refreshing turn of events, when Young-do discovers the truth, she is only upset that Bora felt the need to hide her feelings from her.
For Karla Dionio, 23, a violin teacher and YouTuber, these scenes between Young-do and Bora were a much needed positive representation of female friendship.
“It was so beautiful, because they realized their friendship comes first,” said Dionio. For her, female friendships were the cornerstone of girlhood. Growing up, Dionio rarely saw female friendships reflected in films, and the only one that came to mind was the early 2000s films series based on the books of the same name, “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” The scenes of Bora spying on Hyun-jin reminded her of the times she’s internet stalked her friend’s crushes, sending them detailed lists of her findings; their tearful reunion reminded her of the “dramatic” reunions she’s had with friends she hasn’t seen in a while. “Platonic love for me is the most special love out there, more than romantic love, and this film showed the strength of them both.”
Just as Young-Do and Bora work out their misunderstanding, and Bora finally allows herself to be honest about her feelings towards Woon-ho, Woon-ho announces that he is moving to New Zealand to live with his mother and younger brother. They have an impassioned farewell at a train station, because train stations remain the most intense and romantic backdrops for goodbyes, and continue their relationship via email. But one day, Woon-ho stops responding.
Days turn into years as Bora goes to college and graduates. She moves on as best as she can, lamenting her lack of closure and always wondering what happened to her first love. Twenty years pass by in what seems like moments, and an adult Bora is now played by veteran Korean actress Han Hyo-joo. It’s 2019 now, and Bora receives an invitation to an art exhibition from Woon-ho’s younger brother, and it is there that she discovers that Woon-ho had actually passed away all those years ago.
It was a dark twist of events, especially for a movie that was cheerful up until its last moments. And while some critics felt the death was unnecessary, others saw it as a metaphor for the fleeting nature of youth.
“It played into your hopes and dreams, what you thought life would turn out as it’s juxtaposed against the present day, and what life looks like now,” said Jessica Kirby, 36, who runs Daebak K-Rambles, a blog and podcast about Korean dramas and films. Although she “hasn’t forgiven the film for breaking her heart,” she ultimately felt the ending served a narrative purpose. Woon-ho is forever memorialized in an art exhibition by his younger brother made up of VHS recordings Woon-ho took during his time with Bora. He’s essentially frozen in time, and in a way, so is Bora, hence the title “20th Century Girl.” “All of us would love to believe that love lasts forever. And in this case, that is certainly true. Because she did really love him, and he loved her. But are they together? No. And that’s what’s realistic about it.”
Kirby said the decision to cast Han Hyo-joo as older Bora was a welcome surprise.
“I think it was an excellent stroke of genius to have Hyo-joo play the older version of her. She is such a great well known household name. If they had a Walk of Fame in Korea, she would be on it already. That ending twist might not have been as compelling had it probably been someone else. She brought something that was very melancholy and mature to this phase of the character’s life.”
The film left many questions unanswered, such as the cause of Woon-ho’s death, and the fate of Young-do and Bora’s friendship, and while the former question can be taken as an artful omission, the latter was a bit disappointing to fans who viewed the female friendship as the anchor of the film.
The film’s tragic ending is also a painful reminder that things rarely ever stay the same, but the memories of those times are beautiful and can remain so. Watching the film again with the knowledge of Woon-ho’s passing was an even more powerful and painful viewing than the first time around. Every second Bora spent trying not to act on her love for Woon-ho felt longer and more intense. The gradient no longer felt like a hazy depiction of the 90s, but a rose colored memory.
In the end, you can forgive the directors for the pain they cause you because of the joy you feel in the moment as a spectator. You remember it’s a blessing to have something you want to hold onto. You remember every second is precious and you hope to have the courage to live each one fully. And you feel that feelings are eternal, even if moments are fleeting.
