My Beautiful Girl, Mari (2002)

That was an excellent one.

From my favorite movies..

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The animation looked shoddy from the start, especially facial expressions, but I thought I would give this Korean anime a chance. It is about two close childhood friends that meet when they are adults and reminisce about the good old times. Or at least, this my interpretation of the vague plot. The reality of the film is that these two adults meet, you get a feeling they are old friends, and then there they are, as children, for the rest of the movie.Now, the story is something of a childhood fantasy, where the two boys find a magical marble that transposes them into an alternate reality. It doesn't happen all the time, only at random moments that seem to have no connection to what goes on around. Then there are bits of school and personal life that defines the characters. It all ends when one of the boys has to leave for Seoul.I felt it tried to be a Korean Miyazaki clone, but failed. The animation could have been better, but then again, if the story was good, I could have ignored it. The story was good in principle, too, with the childhood friendship, the mysterious girl (I guess she was a girl) from the fantasy world, the fluffy things, etc. However, it was all fragmented, unclear, like they wanted to make a series and then they collapsed all into a anime movie, with only the relevant bits salvaged for the end product.Bottom line: If they wanted a masterpiece of atmosphere and animation, they couldn't do it. If they thought they were doing something with a deep plot and emotional story, they failed. The result is somewhat in the middle, not one nor the other, and feels unnatural, broken.

Truthfully, I was lost trying to follow this South Korean important but I suspect it didn't make that much sense in the original Korean. It seemingly deals with a boy who finds a magic marble (I wonder what that would be worth on Antiques Roadshow?) which grants him entry into a magic realm where the furry Mari flies around on a big...uh dog maybe? The fantasy realm takes Jun-Ho out of his rather poor, rural world where his parent own a fish shop. That's about it as far as the plot goes but yet the 86 minute running time still crawls on by. Having said all that, it is a beautiful exercise in animation particularly the opening seagull sequence.

MY BEAUTIFUL GIRL MARI (2002) Call this the not-so-WONDERFUL DAYS, if you will, a sentimental, perceptive tale of a young boy, Nam-woo, coping with the loss of his father (which probably has even greater resonance in a patriarchal society like Korea's), the illness of his grandmother, his mother's new boyfriend and the impending departure to the city of his best friend by retreating into a world of fantasy where he meets the title character, a mute girl who becomes the only character in his life with any sense of permanence: his mother is trying to move on, his grandmother has a very pragmatical sense of her own mortality, his best friend will be continuing at school in another city (something repeated in the present-day opening sequence, in which the friend announces again that he's off to study abroad, underscoring the sense of separation we all feel from even our closest friends with the passage of time).It's ultimately a cautious, profound tale about letting go and moving on, something the main character deeply wishes he could avoid, and something that can stir-up similar childhood memories in even the most hardened cynic. Director Lee Sung-gang wisely shuns conventional Japanese and western animation styles to create something entirely new and heartbreakingly beautiful in its deceptive simplicity. Computer animated but approximating traditional hand-animation in a wholly original style, the film boasts an absolutely gorgeous muted colour palate that brightens whenever Nam-woo enters the world of his mind. In many ways, I prefer the honesty and simplicity of this film to the high-tech sheen of WONDERFUL DAYS, which suffers from a painfully straightforward story.

Just as the above user states - a unique and visually stunning animation piece from Korea! Highly recommended!Namoo, a young boy living with his mother and grandmother, explores an old lighthouse with his friend Junho and his cat, Yeo. They discover a mysterious marble which transports them to a rich and vibrant fantasy world.Unavailable outside of Korea? - Well, I recently (May 2004) imported the Region 3 DVD to the UK from Hong Kong for a very low price. Beautiful cover - that's what initially grabbed my attention! I'm certainly glad it did! My copy's entitled "Love Fantasy* My Beautiful Girl, Mari". Seek it out!