A rude Frenchman!
A French man, who is an artist of some sort, visits a coastal town, and a young woman, who lives and works there with her mother, becomes interested in him because she has heard that her biological father was a French man, but he left before she was born. She finds it suspicious that a French artist suddenly visits her depressing little coastal town, and she tries to get closer to him, but it is not easy, because he is French and rude, like most French people are, so that is why we do not like them. It is impossible to like the Frenchies.
Winter in Sokcho is a small movie with a first-time director, and this is also the first full-length movie that the main actress, Bella Kim, has starred in. I have no idea who she is, but I have to say that she is pretty solid in the role of a young woman who is longing to find her biological father. Her mother is not doing well because of health issues, and the coastal town she lives in is a depressing place. Many people living there want to move to the capital to get plastic surgeries, as many South Koreans dream about, since they are a little messed up in the head.
Is there anything special about this depressing movie that is not a visual feast for your eyes? No, I found the movie boring. I liked the protagonist, and I liked the actress, but I really did not like the Frenchman or the actor who played him. It is totally absurd that we are supposed to believe that this man, who looks like Shrek, could be the biological father of our dearest Bella Kim. How stupid does the director think the audience is?
I did not find the chemistry between them good, because of the Frenchman and the way his character is written. He is an intense man who is, like most artists, only caring about himself, and he gets angry when he cannot find inspiration and all the other nonsense that usually follows these maniacs. He has the look of Shrek and the aura of a serial killer you would not want anywhere near your daughter.
There was not much I got from Winter in Sokcho. It is a slow burner where the two most important characters lack chemistry, and, in the end, I did not feel that the story led anywhere. The only thing I found interesting was the relationship between the protagonist and her mother, but again, there is nothing special about their relationship or what awaits them. So, Winter in Sokcho is a waste of time if you are into this genre.