Dear Friend - The Ghost - 靈

Dear Friend (The Ghost/靈) is a 2004 horror film out of Korea. The film stars Kim Ha-neul, Ryu Jin, and Nam Sang-mi.

Kim Ha-neul plays Min Ji-won, an amnesiac sophomore sociology major at an university. Ryu Jin plays Park Jin-ho, a recent college student after 2 years of military service. Ji-won starts to see things and tries to confide in Jin-ho with no resolve. The ghost in Ji-won's dreams and conscience starts to increase in activity and kills off her high school buddies. will the ghost get Ji-won before she figures it out?

This movie was hard to watch because it employed all the stupid scare tactics used at an Knott's Scary Farm type deal. Lot's of off screen hands, hair a la The Ring, music to try to make you jump. Fortunately for this film, the story behind it was actually pretty interesting. As the main protagonist loses her memory and tries to regain it. In the process of trying to regain her memories, the mystery of the ghost seems to get closer to resolution.

The main appeal of the movie for me was primarily because of Kim Ha-neul. If she were not in this film, I would surely have passed. The story was interesting, but had so many major holes that I was scratching my head a lot. But the screen lit up with Kim Ha-neul around. Having a fresh faced Nam Sang-mi wasn't a bad choice either.

My Girlfriend Is An Agent - 我的特務女友

My Girlfriend Is An Agent (Secret Couple/我的特務女友/我女友係零零7/7級公務員) is a 2009 film out of Korea. The movie stars Kang Ji-hwan and Kim Ha-neul. This movie has quite a few names associated with it. 3 Chinese names and 2 English names.

Kang plays Su-ji, a government agent disguised as an Travel Agent. Kim plays Jae-jun, disguised as a nerdy accountant but is an Russian expert. The two dated for many years, but due to neglect, Jae-jun heads to the states to study. Su-ji however is two busy with her target to stop him. Three years later, they meet again when Jae returns to Korea. However, this time, they no longer dating and special Spy circumstances get in their way.

The movie was quite long. Longer than it should have been. It was also very Korean centric so i was a little lost at various times in the film. The two agencies, the level of government workers, etc. I would avoid this if you're not that familiar with Korean culture specifics. The two leads also didn't really develop any chemistry for me to cheer them on. If not for Kang, I wouldn't have finished the film.