Marriage Material

The film “Marriage Material,” is a look inside the relationship of two

people, Andrew and Emily, who because of a simple gesture of friendship
are forced to take a serious look at their relationship. In this case, it’s the
unexpected consequences that come about when Andrew and Emily offer
to babysit their friends’ seven-month-old son for the day. At first
babysitting is a novelty for both of them, actually more for Emily than for
Andrew. Andrew seems ambivalent about their babysitting
adventure. Emily is curious about the cost of having and caring for a
baby, and when her friend divulges that “babies don’t cost that much,” it
intrigues her. However, Andrew seems more interested in just getting
through the day and handing the child back to the parents. For Emily, it is
the time she spends with the baby that she discovers her maternal,
nurturing instinct has been awakened and feels her biological clock has
begun to tick. It is this new revelation that has her contemplating the idea
of marriage and starting a family—with her boyfriend, Andrew. On the
other hand, the vibe from Andrew is he sees the child as nothing more
than a distraction to his everyday routine, the reason that is keeping him
away from his computer and his writing. Andrew is a man self-absorbed
in his work. He is happy with the status quo, but Emily is now longing for
something more. It is their different reactions to the experiences of the day
that causes them to question their life together and the possibility that
neither one of them might be “marriage material.” This short film does a
fairly good job of showing how social devaluation, dominant cultural
values and even self-concept play a role in our daily interactions, as well
as the choices we make. It is these choices and interactions that affect
not only us, but the people around us. It is through the eyes of Andrew
and Emily that we see how these concepts are played out throughout the
film in sometimes verbal and silent interactions.
It is apparent that Emily is entranced by this child and the thought of
having her own family. She delights in all aspects of mothering from the
feeding of the baby; to bath time even to nap time…unfortunately, it is
apparent Andrew does not feel the same urge to be a father. He is a so
absorbed on the computer with his writing, that the baby and to a certain
degree, Emily are nothing more than an annoyance. A few days after their
friends leave Emily is sent a photo of the baby. When she goes in to show
Andrew a photo of the baby, Andrew is on the computer and basically
ignores her. When Emily inquires if he enjoyed having a baby in the
house, his only reply was, “yeah, it was good to see them.” She is so
desperately trying to find a way to approach him about her feeling on
having a baby, but he just turns back to the computer; seemingly bored
with the topic. Again, when Emily is telling Andrew about how little it
cost to have a child, that even someone as poor as she can afford it, she
just wants him to validate her feelings…instead, he says nothing, puts
back on his headphones and turns back to the computer. I think his
behavior is a form of social devaluation. I think because Andrew does not
place the same value on marriage and family that he tends to look down on
those who feel differently.
The scene where Emily and Andrew are in bed, and she has engaged
him into a discussion about marriage is one of the most powerful scenes of
the film. This is the point where you can clearly see that their cultural
values are not the same. You can just feel the tension building between
the two of them as the conversation continues. Emily keeps urging
Andrew to talk about getting married and starting a family until he finally
blurts out that he’s not interested in marriage. I felt that this was the spot
in the film that showed just how divided they were not only on the social
institution of marriage, but their dominant cultural values as well. The fact
that it is important for her to be married before she gets pregnant, gives an
insight to values that were probably instilled in her as a child. The fact that
Andrew sees the life they have as just fine the way it is and doesn’t want
or need marriage/baby says a lot about how he feels about her. Andrew
and Emily have been in a relationship and living together for at least four
years, yet they are on completely different pages when it comes to where
they want the relationship to go. A good visual image of just how far apart
these two are is the collage of photos of Andrew and Emily dangling from
ceiling fan. You see photos of Andrew and photos of Emily, but no photos
of them together as a couple.
 In the beginning of the film it seemed as if Emily had a positive self-
concept; however this changed throughout the film. The first glimpse of
this was when she confided to her friend about the “tug of her uterus.”
Emily wants to have a baby, but she’s afraid to voice her desire to Andrew
for fear of rejection. This is further explored in the scene from the
bedroom, where Emily finally expresses her desire for marriage. It is
during this tension filled conversation that Andrew, feeling cornered about
expressing his own feelings, snaps at Emily. In a demoralizing rant, he
goes off on how Emily never stops talking, she never allows him to talk.
He continues on further, saying that no one can talk when she’s around
and even though he has publicly chastised her about this, she still has not
stopped. This might explain why Emily has a poor self-concept. Maybe
Andrew thinks if he can make her mad enough, she’ll drop the subject of
marriage—but she doesn’t. Andrew’s answer of not wanting to get
married hurts Emily, it is not what she was expecting and is clearly a blow
to her ego. You can just feel her hurt and rejection as she asks him, why he
doesn’t want to marry her. She’s got to be feeling that it’s her fault that
Andrew doesn’t want to marry her. The sense of sadness that Emily feels
as turns over to go to sleep is very evident. The next scene cuts to where
Emily is working out on the floor. It poses the question, “is she working
out because she likes to work out?” or “is she working out because she has
body-image issues?” We know she has a trust issue by the way she says
that since Andrew travels all the time, it would make her feel better if he
had a ring on his finger. However, do these trust issues stem from her
childhood or has Andrew done something to break that trust?
Marriage Material allowed the viewer to look at the complexities of a
relationship through the lives of two young people. We could see how
things as dominant cultural values, social devaluation and a person’s
own self-concept can lead to a breakdown in how we communicate. To
me, I felt the film was like a three-part play with each act allowing us to
look a little deeper into their relationship. Each act connecting to the other
to show how one little event can snowball into a much larger event. In the
case of Andrew and Emily, it was something as little as a seven-month old
baby that caused Emily to stop suppressing her desire to have a baby. For
Andrew, the caring of the baby only proved to be a distraction in his
writing. From watching the interaction and dialog between the two of
them throughout the film, it became apparent they did not place the same
emphasis on society’s institution of marriage. In the last few scenes of the
film, we see both of them outside doing yard work. They are still together,
but somehow there is a great divide between them. Something has
changed for both of them. There is a sense of defeat in Emily, a kind of
sadness. She knows that Andrew is not “marriage material,” so where does
she fit into his life. Andrew must also re-evaluate his feelings for Emily.
Can he change his values to fit hers, does he even want to? Initially, I
thought based on the description of the film, “a couple agrees to watch a
friends’ baby,” that it might have some light-hearted moments…two
inexperienced twenty-something’s trying to care for a baby. Instead it was
the complete opposite. It was a great film to watch from a sociological
standpoint. It was just sad to watch the breakdown and deterioration of a
relationship.

ReelRundown»Movies»Foreign

In your opinion, what is the reflection in this movie?

Answer

It’s interesting since you get wrapped up in Kim Ja-Hong ’s story, but you reflect on the not so pleasant times of your life
as his are shown to you. The film leaves the impression that nearly anything can be reprimanded and amended when
your time comes in the afterlife and an amazing world of wonder awaits us all once our life cycle ends.

First, I want to point out that the visuals for this movie is truly awesome. The use of CGI and green screen is perfect.
Even though Along with the Gods is a fantasy drama, the special effects doesn't seem to be really really fake at all.
Thumbs up for the one of the best visuals I've ever seen!

I love how the trial system in the Korean underworld works and how Gang Rim, Hae Won Maek, and Duk-chun find a
way to defend that Ja-hong is not guilty for the things he is doing. While the judges think that Ja-hong is not as innocent
as he thinks he is, Gang Rim, Hae Won Maek, and Duk-chun bring up memories that prove that Ja-hong is really a kind
man who is willing to work hard for his family.

It's not just Ja-hong proving himself innocent in trials that I like, but the movie gives in to another important story with
Gang Rim finding a specific spirit that has been roaming around the real world and finding out why he died. It turns out
that the spirit is Ja-hong's brother, Su-hong. Gang Rim founds out through looking back through the memories that Su-
hong was buried alive by Lt. Park and Su-hong's fellow partner Won Il-byung after Il-byung accidently shot Su-hong.

I thought that Su-hong was someone who has an attitude during the beginning of the movie. But as I saw his
relationships between Gang Rim, Il-byung, and the other characters from his military unit from Gang Rim's investigation,
I turned 180 on my perspective on him. Even Gang Rim would do an offer from Su-hong when his partner and also friend
was at risk.

From both Ja-hong's trials, Gang Rim's investigation, and also from Ja-hong talking about his life to the guardians, I found
out more about Ja-hong like his mother being mute, how he works hard to buy his mother an electric rice cooker as a
gift, and how he ran away from home 15 years before his death due to his guilt. It really shows Ja-hong as a true human
being.

I especially love the end of the movie when Ja-hong has to prove that he was innocent one last time with King Yeomra
having say in the final verdict, in which will determine on what Ja-hong will due for the rest of enternity. The trial was
based on when Ja-hong was fighting with his brother because Ja-hong was about to kill his mother.

He ended up running away due to his actions. He pleaded with King Yeomra that he attempted to kill his mother and
almost tried to kill his brother and himself because his mother was not feeling well and his brother had malnutrition. But
at the end, King Yeomra let Ja-hong reincarnate due to his mother's speech in her dream while Su-hong was talking to
her in the dream. Even the judges were tearing up by the end of her dream and so was I.

I was not actually planning to watch this Korean film since I had not heard about it before. That was the case until I saw
ads that it will actually have screenings in 4DX! Now that caught my attention as 4DX are usually reserved for Hollywood
blockbusters. I thought that was convincing enough a reason to go catch its release in local theaters. As of this writing,
this film had just overtaken "Ode to My Father" (MY REVIEW), and is now the second biggest Korean box office hit OF
ALL TIME!

A fireman named Kim Ja-hong (Cha Tae-hyun) died a heroic death in the line of his duty. A head guardian of the afterlife,
Gang-rim (Ha Jung-woo), and his two assistants Haewonmak (Ju Ji-hoon) and Deok-choon (Kim Hyang-gi) escort the
soul of Ja-hong in the world beyond. They will have to defend Ja-hong in front of the gods heading the seven hells,
namely Murder, Indolence, Deceit, Injustice, Betrayal, Violence and Filial Impiety. Only if he can pass these trials in all
these courts can his soul be reincarnated.

I had seen the lead actors in at least one previous film before. Ha Jung-woo also played the lead in "Tunnel" (MY
REVIEW) and "The Handmaiden". His portrayal of Gang-rim was noble, fair and willing to go against the rules. Cha Tae-
hyun was most famous for "My Sassy Girl" (MY REVIEW). His portrayal of Ja-hong never gave away how the story was
going to go. Ju Ji-hoon was in "Asura: The City of Darkness." His character here had a gangster-like vibe to him. Kim
Hyang-gi is only 17 years old, but she held her own as Ja-hong's kind and empathetic guardian.

As far as tear-jerking drama is concerned, Korean filmmakers really know how to hit that sensitive spot. Whenever Ye
Soo-jung (as Ja-hong's mute Mother) was on the screen, get your hankies ready. Do Kyung -soo, who was so good in
"My Annoying Brother" (MY REVIEW), also had dramatic moments as the guilt- tormented soldier Won Il-byung. There is
also a touch of humor in the characters of two persistent prosecutors against Ja-hong, played by veteran actors Oh Dal-su
and Lim Won-hee.

The whole film was a visual effects extravaganza, though some effects were better than others. The various courts of hell
were set in various fantastical landscapes which presented a particular challenge for Kim. Murder was in a volcano.
Indolence was in a waterfall, Deceit was in a forest. Injustice was on a glacier. Betrayal was in a heavenly passage.
Violence was in a sink hole. Filial impiety was in a desert. Kim and the guardians also had to fight with "hell ghouls"
unleashed by a vengeful spirit which crossed over in both reality and the afterlife. There were really a lot of exciting action
sequences worthy of a 4DX platform (though I only watched in regular 2D).

I found the concept of the afterlife presented by this film to be very interesting. I do not know how much of this was based
on actual Korean folklore and how much was just from the imagination of Joo Ho-min who created the webcomic upon
which writer-director Kim Yong-hwa based his script. It says that we have committed some variation of all of these seven
crimes in different levels of severity, and we have guardians to help us argue our cases before the gods of the
underworld. It was an idea that was as innovative as it was also quite thought-provoking.

On the debit side, the film tried to squeeze in too many subplots in its 140 minutes such that there are parts that may feel
confusing and long. Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to its coming sequel to be subtitled "The Last 49 Days." 7/10.

Recently securing the second best most-viewed South Korean film of all time, Along with the Gods justified the efforts of
the production team and cast in committing their hearts to make the film a certified masterpiece.

Along With The Gods has been stirring buzz even before its local release due to the A-list film actors participating in the
movie. The visually appealing cinematography, powered by state-of-the art computer generated imagery (CGI), fuses
popular South Korean mythology about reincarnation.

The hero of the movie journeys to the underworld in 49 days, with afterlife guardians protecting him as he faces 7 trials,
derived from 7 deadly sins, which are dependent to the deeds he incurred as a human.

REVIEW

K-Movie Review: “Along With The Gods” Conveys Heartfelt Family Love In Stunning Visuals

By abbyinhallyuland | February 10, 2018

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ALONG WITH THE GODS SUCCEEDS NOT JUST WITH ITS RECORD-BREAKING GROSS SALES, BUT ALSO HOW THE
LINGERING LESSONS WARM THE HEARTS OF THE VIEWERS TO HAVE LOVING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR FAMILIES.

Title: Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds

Director: Kim Yong Hwa
Cast: Ha Jung Woo, Cha Tae Hyun, Joo Ji Hoon, Kim Hyang Gi, Kim Dong Wook, Oh Dal Su, Lim Won Hee, Do Kyung
Soo, Lee Jun Hyuk
Special Appearance: Lee Jung Jae, Jang Kwang, Kim Hae Sook, Jeong Hae Gyun, Kim Su An, Kim Ha Neul
Produced By: Realies Picture, Dexter Studios
Distributed By: Lotte Entertainment
Runtime: 139 min

photo credit: all photos from Lotte Entertainment

Recently securing the second best most-viewed South Korean film of all time, Along with the Gods justified the efforts of
the production team and cast in committing their hearts to make the film a certified masterpiece.

Along With The Gods has been stirring buzz even before its local release due to the A-list film actors participating in the
movie. The visually appealing cinematography, powered by state-of-the art computer generated imagery (CGI), fuses
popular South Korean mythology about reincarnation.
The hero of the movie journeys to the underworld in 49 days, with afterlife guardians protecting him as he faces 7 trials,
derived from 7 deadly sins, which are dependent to the deeds he incurred as a human.

HIGHLIGHTS

Along with the Gods takes the premise of the laws of Afterlife – that all deceased must go through seven trials over 49
days, divided into seven sin categories: betrayal, violence, filial piety, murder, indolence, deceit, and injustice. Once the
deceased clears all seven trials, he can be reincarnated and start a new life.

The film takes on a visually animated adventure, incorporating the heartwarming message of the joys and sorrow of
human life. It bravely proves how the seamless yarning of the story is able to draw its strength from the creatively
conceived narrative, solidified by the amazing portrayal of the cast.

Viewers can feast on the vivid and spectacular production design of Along With The Gods. At the same time, the dynamic
relationship between the main cast as they go together on each thrilling trial is another strength of the movie. The lively
cast brings out the humorous highs and heartrending emotional frames of the story in a way that you cannot single out a
character that stands out. The collective efforts are manifested with the impressive outcomes of the film.

On the culminating part, the heartbreaking revelation will surely tug movie watchers as the perfectly captured poignant
scene reverberates sentiments that are worth the tears.

The film caters to general public in varying age groups. It’s best served if you watch it with your family. Along With The
Gods is a groundbreaking movie that blends the future of South Korean cinema with bonus life and love affirming
lessons.