Antique (2008)

Waste of time

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This story first seems to be a romantic comedy and throughout gives a light hearted treatment of 4 men working in a French pastry boutique and the relationships between them.The main character Jin-hyeok is a rich and seemingly spoiled heir who decides to throw away a conventional career path and opens a French pastry shop in an old antique store.His side kick Seun-woo is the best French baker in Korea, trained by a French master chef, and a super popular flaming gay and seemingly carefree guy. Joining the crew is a young delivery boy Gi-beom who is crazy about the pastry that is turned out by Seun-woo, and Soo-young.Throughout, we are exposed to these beautiful French pastry, to make us and those that are actually eating them melt with desire.Surprisingly, the store owner and boss Jin-hyeok actually gets physically ill every time he eats cakes. Surprisingly Seun-woo does not first recognize Jin-hyeok who reminds him that he had a crush on him in high school, confessed and got rejected by the manly acting Jin-Hyeok.Little by little we learn more about each man's past. Each has had a traumatic past that still interferes with their lives and none seem to be able to break free from it. Through their interactions however, their developing friendships and increasing fondness for each other the 4 are eventually able to overcome their trauma and start to heal. This process is also helped by the a seemingly side plot: the pursuit and eventual capture of a serial child killer and likely molester who attracts kids by offering them cake. The whole is given a cartoonish treatment, which seems befitting of the comic book origin of the story and helps incorporate the dark elements of the 4 men's pasts while maintaining the light tone of the movie.The execution is not flawless but overall it is still a very good movie. It is well worthy of watching and will appeal to a broad audience although it is often dubbed as a gay romantic comedy complete with a single men on men french kiss.**Spoiler alert from here on**Many reviewers seem to think that the dark pasts and subplots are poorly integrated distractions but they are clearly crucial elements to telling the story that is meant to be told.Jin-hyeok's inability to eat cake without getting sick dates back to his childhood when he was kidnapped and disappeared for two month. He was eventually found but could not remember that dark time albeit we know that he was fed cake by the kidnapper, who was possibly a child molester.Sean-Woo's seemingly carefree life is in fact his own way of emulating what he believes was the lose behavior of his mother, who in his mind deserved punishment for her actions. .. And if you watch carefully you will discover how the trauma of each men affects them and how eventually they all are healed.. The movie ends with the last of the two men overcoming their traumas. Jin-Hyeok is being hugged by a man without needing to freak out about it, and Seun-woo is finally able to address and talk to women. Enjoy the movie.

What a bizarre movie. It was adapted from a Jap yaoi (gay) comic so that probably accounts for why it's so fantastical in nature and why all too many things don't make sense. While they gave the four characters interesting back stories, their motivations were still often random and unexplained. The lead character is a rich kid who decides to open a patisserie to meet girls. He is determinedly straight but gives in a lot to his flaming chef (though resisting his advances). The chef, who's a "gay of demonic charm," lol, has an unrequited crush on the straight guy and a French ex-boyfriend who's trying to steal him away for his own patisserie. Then there is the apprentice chef, who's an ex-boxer of indeterminate sexuality and totally devoted to the chef. And the last guy is the straight guy's "bodyguard" and the most underdeveloped character. It seemed like he was crushing on the chef but that vanished and he didn't do all that much later in the movie.So the four of them run the place and cute hijinks ensue. This lighter half of the movie was all kinds of silly but frequently had me smiling and laughing. The cinematography made the movie look like a dream so it was easy to just let logic go and enjoy the comedy and the sight of the many lovely cakes they paraded. It's too bad Antique gets bogged down later with dark drama involving kidnappings and implied pedophilia that were quite discordant to the fluffy earlier half. These scenes are still punctuated with some humor but the movie just never quite recovers. If it had all been sunshine and rainbows, I would've given the movie a solid 10 and put it as a potential favorite but as it is, I'm still considering buying the DVD.

I must say this movie can be a torture at times, not because it's a bad movie but it really made me crave sweets. Okay so the plot is about a bakery run by gay guys, maybe semi-gay and also has to do with kidnapping and murder which mainly revolves around the character Jin-hyeok Kim. Although it doesn't have pretty actresses playing the main roles, but it is sure to satisfy female and gay viewers. If you're comfortable and sure of your own sexuality you should be able to watch it and enjoy the movie for its own merits. It's a pretty funny movie, but the main positive thing I can think of to compliment about this is the cinematography and creative editing. On the negative side, the creators tried to cram a lot in it's running time to the point it can be confusing sometimes, even if it's based on a manga. So in another words I enjoyed the fast pacing of this film, but also disliked some aspects of it, but enjoyed it more than dislike it. It's a enjoyable and funny movie, if you ain't a super homophobe. And although the building of the bakery is fun to watch with it's creative editing with it's bright and colorful cinematography and all, when it came to the thriller it really did fall into the cheesy territory and not very intriguing. Basically it's a charming film about a bakery run by attractive gay guys, that will give some fan service to girls and gays while also being entertaining to watch for heteros.7.4/10

Korean film based on Fumi Yoshinaga's comic called Antique Bakery which was the basis for Japanese TV series and an upcoming animated series. its concerns a man can't stand cake who opens a bakeshop, his chef who went to high school with him and who is love with his boss, the son of the owners former house keeper and a young man who answers the help wanted sign and is training to be a chef. How the quartet interact and how they build their business is the story. And what a story it is. It mixes comedy, drama romance, food (lots of food- enough you'll want to raid a bakery after finishing it) and musical numbers all together into a frothy confection that makes you feel good and smile from ear to ear. I've seen the film now more or less three times and I find myself smiling from ear to ear every time thanks to the interaction of characters.You like the four men and you care deeply about them. Their chatter between each other is witty and on target and you can't help but enjoy watching them go through their paces. Yes several of the characters are gay but don't let that stop you since the film is all about the people and not the sexual orientation. I really like this film a great deal because it makes me smile. High art its not. Heart warming and laugh inducing it is. As they say in the film How can anyone be unhappy when they are eating cake? this film is the cinematic equivalent of cake and will make you happy.