Few movies successfully manage the sometimes hairpin turns of the comedy-drama genre as well as South Korea’s The Poet and the Boy. Hyon (Yang Ik-june) is a sad sack poet and comic foil who can’t get a break. Other members of his poetry group are dismissive of his verse, the students in a writing class he teaches don’t listen to a word he says, and a low sperm count (unhappy news to his baby-craving wife) only adds to his profile of a hapless schlub. When a doughnut shop opens across the street from his home, Hyon repeatedly pigs out on boxes of pastries, which naturally swells his belly over time. But the shop has another attraction pulling Hyon in: Seyun (Jung Ga-ram), a young, handsome school dropout working behind the counter. Seyun awakens a repressed gay desire in Hyon, and the film shifts gears to become a tragic tale of impossible timing between men from separate generations. Hyon lovingly tries to help Seyun attain an education and better future, while also coming to terms himself with the next steps in his own destiny. Director Kim Yang-hee proves equally at home with laughter and heartbreak in this well-cast tale of star-crossed loss. Recommended. (T. Keogh)
The Poet and the Boy
Altered Innocence, 110 min., in Korean w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $21.99, Oct. 9 Volume 33, Issue 6
The Poet and the Boy
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