‚Love Letter‘ reclaims Korean hearts amid lead actor’s passing

Miho Nakayama in a scene from 1995 movie “Love Letter.” Courtesy of Waterhole Firm

Is there a Japanese movie that resonates with Koreans as a lot as „Love Letter“? The 1995 romance movie was rereleased in Korea on Jan. 1 and has been gaining appreciable reputation once more, drawing over 50,000 viewers in 9 days.

Business consultants mentioned Friday that the background of its field workplace revival contains the environment of mourning for lead actor Miho Nakayama, who handed away final month, and the growing variety of followers coming to take pleasure in what has now turn out to be a traditional masterpiece.

„This is without doubt one of the uncommon Japanese movies, excluding animations which were an enormous hit in Korea. This film remains to be quoted by many individuals, and it appears that evidently curiosity within the movie has grown after the unlucky passing of the lead actor,“ an business official in a neighborhood movie business mentioned.

Directed by Shunji Iwai, “Love Letter” was the primary function to be launched in Korea in 1999, drawing over 1.15 million audiences. The movie gained immense reputation for its gorgeous snowy landscapes of Hokkaido, candy music and heart-wrenching story.

Nonetheless recorded because the highest-grossing non-animated Japanese movie launched right here to this point, the film left a deep impression on many Koreans, with the road „Ogenki Desu Ka? Watashi Wa Genki Desu“ (How are you doing? I am doing properly) shouted by Nakayama to her deceased lover nonetheless being quoted by many Koreans.

Miho Nakayama in a scene from 1995 movie “Love Letter.” Courtesy of Waterhole Firm

On this film, the story begins when Nakayama, unable to neglect her useless fiance, sends a letter to his outdated deal with and receives a reply from his feminine center faculty classmate of the identical identify (additionally performed by Nakayama).

The rereleased movie attracted 14,957 viewers on Jan. 1, touchdown at eleventh place within the field workplace, in keeping with Korea Field Workplace Info System (KOBIS). Since then, the movie has drawn 50,814 viewers over 9 days till Thursday, fluctuating between tenth place and simply exterior the highest 10 on the field workplace.

A poster for the 1995 movie “Love Letter,” which was rereleased in theaters in Korea on Jan. 1. Courtesy of Waterhole Firm

Watcha, a neighborhood streaming service supplier, mentioned it imported the movie for rerelease in commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of its launch in Japan.

„On Watcha, a platform persistently beloved by film followers for its wealthy assortment of masterpieces and numerous movies, ‚Love Letter‘ is a film that each movie fan has reminiscences of, and has established itself as a gentle vendor, particularly in style in winter,“ a Watcha official mentioned. „For this rerelease, we launched vertical subtitles to additional emphasize the movie’s traditional sensibility.“

Hyun In-chul, a 45-year-old workplace employee in Seoul, mentioned he determined to look at the film once more after listening to the information of the lead actor’s sudden passing.

„I used to be unhappy once I heard the information that she had sadly handed away. The picture of her within the film from my childhood would not go away my thoughts. So I am planning to go see this rereleased movie,“ he mentioned.