“Tune in for Love” (유열의 음악앨범)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
December 20, 2021

☆☆☆☆
Mi-Soo (played by Kim Go-Eun)
Hyun-Woo (played by Jung Hae-In)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

Set in the 1990s, “Tune in for Love” is a beautiful slice-of-life film focused on a young couple who meet as teenagers, lose touch, and reunite on and off throughout their twenties.

Mi-Soo works at the bakery that had previously been her late mother’s. Her first encounter with Hyun-Woo is when he enters her cafe, asking for anything with tofu in it. In Korea, it was customary to eat tofu upon release from prison.

Sure enough, the high school student had served time in juvenile detention after a classmate’s death. The film leaves it ambiguous whether the boy had been pushed off a roof while playing with his friends, accidentally fell or chose to die by suicide. But the incident left Hyun-Woo broken … and with a record that would hinder his ability to live the normal life he had always craved.

Kim Go-Eun and Jung Hae-In share wonderful chemistry together, as teenagers who briefly grow up together, before they are separated again, and again, and again. You may remember them from “Goblin,” where Jung played Kim’s first love. Their flirtation there was so sweet that I was rooting for their relationship more than the driving force of Kim and Gong Yoo’s dokkaebi/도깨비.

Their puppy love turns into real friendship, before they allow themselves to delve into a romantic relationship.  Mi-Soo and Hyun-Woo are reunited the evening before he leaves for mandatory military service. She sets up an email account for him, but forgets to give him the password. They lose touch, as young adults do, but run into each other again when his new job is located in the same building as hers.

Misunderstandings will arise and Mi-Soo’s predatory boss will cause strife. But the ending is satisfying and will leave viewers feeling warm and content.

At just over two hours, the film feels much shorter and left me wanting to see more of the couple’s future. Director Jung Ji-Woo does a great job of keeping the plot moving, without rushing through it.

For people who lived through the 1990s, there are nostalgic moments, such as Mi-Soo’s computer running on Windows 95. And for people who didn’t, it may be difficult to imagine a time when staying in touch wasn’t something that was easy to do for everyone.

Theatrical release date: August 28, 2019. The film has a running time of 2 hours and 2 minutes.

Spoiler Alert: The couple breaks up seemingly for good when Mi-Soo learns from one of Hyun-Woo’s friends about the death of their high school classmate. Worried that his guilt is something he will carry forever, she tells him he doesn’t have to worry about it anymore: the deceased boy’s family has moved. Hyun-Woo doesn’t have to visit the family anymore on the anniversary of the boy’s death to pay his respects, she tells him. Hyun-Woo loses it and storms out of his apartment. When he returns, Mi-Soo is gone.

The film title refers to a radio show that both Mi-Soo and Hyun-Woo enjoy listening to. The movie closes with the radio host giving a shout out to Mi-Soo. She guesses correctly that the dedication is from Hyun-Woo and rushes over to the radio station. The two stare at each other through the window, smiling.

© 2021 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved