Based on a novel,
about a poor and rebellious boy named Wandeugi,
meeting an oddball teacher and growing up.

From print to screen, it became an acclaimed coming-of-age film
It was also adapted as a play produced by Kim Dong-soo.

Wandeuk’s father is afflicted with kyphosis—
commonly known as being hunchback.

His live-in uncle isn’t completely normal either.

What’s more, his mother,
who makes an appearance in his life out of the blue,
is Filipino.

All of them, however, are precious to Wandeuk, played by Yoo Ah-in
as he gradually realizes.

And so is his homeroom teacher, played by Kim Yoon-seok
who is every bit the troublemaker Wandeuk is.

They are constantly bickering and fighting
as though they are enemies,
but become more inseparable than family.

Wandeuk seems troubled, with a lot of surprises thrown his way,
but he does a good job of overcoming them.

A rare individual who is able to let things slide,
and look on the bright side of life... mostly thanks to his teacher,
who provides him undivided care and attention in his own unique way.

One can relate to it, because I think we all
grew up with someone like that.

Not a father, but a father-figure.




Song Break: 슈퍼스타 - 러브홀릭

"Punch" begins firmly rooted in the coming-of-age genre,
but turns into a family drama and a social drama dealing with such crucial issues as
the generation gap, education, disability, and multi-culturalism.

It does all this and imparts some valuable lessons
while providing entertainment and inspiration.


But in some ways the movie tries to do too much.

And offers little in the end.

It lacks that final blow or the finishing punch as the movie as the title suggests.

It simply shows that there are people living different lives,
difficult lives and they can overcome obstacles
or accept the circumstances they're in and embrace it.

The movie starts off with... and the trailer suggests.
That it's a fun movie about growing pains.

But that's not entirely true.

It tries to touch on Korea's multi-culturalism.
But in my opinion, fails to do that.

Perhaps it is better paced and portrayed in the novel.

But the movie made it felt like...
that multi-cultural topic was somewhat squeezed in last minute.

The focus is dispersed so badly,
that you walk out of the cinema...
thinking about several different topics... and there's little
the movie has done to shed light on any of them.

It just mentions the fact that certain people
might be facing certain issues.

Tragically, all the movie does
when it tries to touch on so many issues,

is simply dilute the overall story and the character configurations.

What made me cringe the most
is the product placement ad that was so obvious throughout the movie.
Whether it was coincidence or intended,
it was too much to keep emphasizing on one particular product throughout.


우리의 사랑이 필요한거죠 - 변진섭