Castaway on the Moon
2009 ‘Kimssi pyoryugi’ Directed by Lee Hae-Jun, Hae-jun Lee
Synopsis
Mr. Kim is jobless, lost in debt and has been dumped by his girlfriend. He decides to end it all by jumping into the Han River - only to find himself washed up on a small, mid-river island. He soon abandons thoughts of suicide or rescue and begins a new life as a castaway. His antics catch the attention of a young woman whose apartment overlooks the river. Her discovery changes both their lives.
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I have always longed for a primitive kind of living, where money is irrelevant and I happen to live with nature, close to it, kissing it, lying in its arms and having all the time in the world to live in my own world, create my own needs instead of buying them, living without the pressure of work, money, heart breaks from relationships and, the most excruciating, the death of beloved ones, of a normal worldly life. I know that living in the wild would not be easy but there atleast I can live and die my own life however long or short it may be. All the pain that would come to me would be because of my decision…
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I've put off watching Castaway on the Moon for quite a while now; my main reason for this being the incredibly amateur looking poster it had here on Letterboxd. Never have I regretted putting off watching a movie so much.
I went in expecting a corny and overly quirky film but instead got an absolutely beautiful film on all levels. It is funny, endearing, true to life, and yet with a bit of a fairy tale feel. Boasting a lovely story of two damaged people working to overcome fears, build self confidence and discover who they really are, it will make you laugh and cry.
It's a real gem of a movie and I can't recommend it highly enough.
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A cry for help turned into a hello. A suicide attempt turned into a lost life found. 2 people who are aliens in their own home world.
Castaway on the Moon is all of those things, on top of one of the most strange and uniquely beautiful cinematic experiences I've ever seen. I found it in that strange part of Netflix where a majority of people probably don't tread. I had only heard this film name dropped, but I knew nothing about the plot or what the film will make you feel...
The plot focuses on a man who is neck deep in debt, unemployed and recently heartbroken. He is in a place emotionally that some of us have been…
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There is something very intriguing about human interaction without much knowledge of who you're conversing with and Castaway on the Moon shows that even if you can't see, hear or interact in a meaningful way with the other person, they can still have a hugely positive or negative impact on your life.
This is a really quite fantastic movie, it's a journey of hope and self-discovery for the two lead characters, both of which are trapped but in different senses. The man is literally trapped on an island that he washes up on after a suicide attempt, and the woman is trapped mentally by her fear of the outside, confined to her room. They form the unlikeliest of bonds and…
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Strangely beautiful, oddly poetic, quirky and charming, these all perfectly describe this film. It's a kind of bizarre mash up of Castaway with Tom Hanks and Rear Window.
The performances are terrific as we see two characters flawed in completely different ways connect in the oddest of circumstances. There connection is like an Internet relationship minus the Internet.
The film is also beautifully shot. Director Hey-jun Lee has created a gem of a film that needs to be seen by more people. Trust me it'll charm the pants right off of you, you'll put them back on eventually only to have them charmed off again. SEE THIS FILM you'll be glad you did.
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The Good: Genius concept (don't be fooled by the title; this is nothing like the Tom Hanks movie) -- a man who just finds out he's deep in debt after losing his job and his girlfriend decides to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge, only to wind up stranded on a deserted island in the middle of the city. He later decides to live a new life there while being unknowingly observed through a camera by a young, disfigured shut-in who spends most of her time Catfish-ing people online. Endearing and relatable characters. Stellar performances from Jung Jae-young and Jung Ryeo-won. Strong chemistry between the two leads, which is even more impressive since both spend nearly the entire film…
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A hopeful, optimistic survival romance filmabout two people stranded in different senses of the word. I have to apologize for my very late review of this film. The amount of time I've spent playing video games and watching anime has drained my motivation to review films. Castaway on the Moon is a leftover film from Tetramoose's films he wanted to introduce me to, and we are more than ready to get those out of the way so we recently viewed it. I have to say I'm very impressed by this film.
This film is very similar to Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks, except it doesn't fuck everything up. It keeps a consistent tone and it doesn't bash you over the…
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Never cheered for someone eating noodles so hard in my life.
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I have always longed for a primitive kind of living, where money is irrelevant and I happen to live with nature, close to it, kissing it, lying in its arms and having all the time in the world to live in my own world, create my own needs instead of buying them, living without the pressure of work, money, heart breaks from relationships and, the most excruciating, the death of beloved ones, of a normal worldly life. I know that living in the wild would not be easy but there atleast I can live and die my own life however long or short it may be. All the pain that would come to me would be because of my decision…
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Everytime it tiptoed up to the edge of too precious, it elegantly backed away.
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Castaway on the Moon is a beautiful story that ponders the choices we make to avoid discomfort, how we create importance and ultimately what makes life worth living. The story of both the main characters begins in an extreme version of how one can often critique their own life. This is true for me and I imagine also for many people of my generation and most generations.
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There is something very intriguing about human interaction without much knowledge of who you're conversing with and Castaway on the Moon shows that even if you can't see, hear or interact in a meaningful way with the other person, they can still have a hugely positive or negative impact on your life.
This is a really quite fantastic movie, it's a journey of hope and self-discovery for the two lead characters, both of which are trapped but in different senses. The man is literally trapped on an island that he washes up on after a suicide attempt, and the woman is trapped mentally by her fear of the outside, confined to her room. They form the unlikeliest of bonds and…
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The Good: Genius concept (don't be fooled by the title; this is nothing like the Tom Hanks movie) -- a man who just finds out he's deep in debt after losing his job and his girlfriend decides to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge, only to wind up stranded on a deserted island in the middle of the city. He later decides to live a new life there while being unknowingly observed through a camera by a young, disfigured shut-in who spends most of her time Catfish-ing people online. Endearing and relatable characters. Stellar performances from Jung Jae-young and Jung Ryeo-won. Strong chemistry between the two leads, which is even more impressive since both spend nearly the entire film…
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*MINOR SPOILERS*
Castaway on the Moon is a movie where I really didn't no what to expect before watching it. All I knew was that a suicidal man tries to kill himself by jumping off a bridge but ends up stranding on a deserted island in the middle of a river that runs through the city.
But I thought that the movie turned out to be something much more different than that, and I felt kind of relieved that the focus of the movie wasn't on Mr. Kim's survival, because I thought that that would almost feel like a rip-off of Castaway starring Tom Hanks. Even though his survival is a part of the movie, this movie really is a…
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Very good Korean light drama about a man who disconnects from society and finds himself. Uplifting and entertaining.