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Review
by
Kevin Ma: |
My father used to tell
me stories from his childhood growing up in the streets
of Hong Kong. One of those stories was about the odd
jobs he would take as a child to support his family,
one of them being a delivery boy for a neighborhood
restaurant. He would ride his bike around the dangerous
streets of Hong Kong in the 60's, delivering food.
I think my father would've certainly connected with
the young protagonist of Ice Bar, a bittersweet
coming-of-age drama from South Korea that should bring
back childhood memories for baby-boomers around before
the advent of child labor laws.
Set in 1969, Ice
Bar takes place in a small seaside town of South
Korea, where life for 7 year-old Young-Rae (promising
child actor Park Ji-Bin) is not easy. Living under
an indifferent landlady, his mother (played by television
veteran Shin Ae-Ra) struggles to make a living as
a single mother peddling smuggled cosmetics in the
streets. However, she gets arrested so many times
that she can't make enough money to pay Young-Rae's
school tuition. Meanwhile, Young-Rae gets bullied
by the neighborhood kids because he's a "fatherless
brat," and his only friend is the scheming orphan
Dong-Su. One day, his mother's best friend accidentally
tells Young-Rae that his father, whom he believed
to be dead because mom says so, is actually alive
and well in Seoul.
Defying his mother, who lied
to Young-Rae because she believes that the father
will take him away, Young-Rae-Rae decides to save
money for a trip to Seoul to find his father. With
Dong-Su's help, Young-Rae gets a job peddling ice
bars in the streets. Young Rae earns one won at a
time, but he is unfortunately not very good at his
job, encountering bullies, lack of customers, and
angry train stationmasters. Luckily, with the help
of In-Bak, a young man working at the ice bar factory
who is forced to deliver smuggled goods for his boss,
Young-rae begins to find success despite a few stumbles
along the way. Even then, Young-rae will still have
to get over his biggest obstacle in the search for
his birth father, namely his mother.
On the surface, Ice Bar
may seem like an innocent little comedy, but in many
ways it's not. First-time director Yeo In-Kwang treads
carefully between childhood innocence and much of
the melodrama that has defined Korean film over the
years. An adult may find much of the film's melodramatic
touches to be mild in comparison to what they've seen
previously (Ice Bar received a "suitable
for all audiences" rating in South Korea). However,
children might come out rather shell-shocked after
seeing kids getting hit repeatedly (by both other
kids and adults), and also get into a rather brutal
accident involving a train. Just because a film is
told from a child's point of view doesn't exactly
guarantee a clean time at the movies. Yeo, however,
does manage to keep a light tone to the proceedings.
Except for the aforementioned accident, the kids never
suffer any serious consequences as a result of their
actions, but rather a sort of "kids will be kids"
lesson. This, along with the surprising, albeit contrived,
happy ending, makes this an overall children-friendly
affair.
Of course, that depends on
where you're from. Ice Bar carries with it
30-some years of history that may raise more questions
for foreign viewers. How is it possible for Young-Rae's
mom to sell "smuggled cosmetics?" What exactly
is In-bak's family history (kids might not even quite
understand what a "commie" is)? Why do people
beat each other up so much? There are a number of
purely Korean references that may bring up nostalgia
for Korean baby boomers (who I suspect are the real
target audience of Ice Bar), but everyone else
will be left scratching their heads, looking to connect
the dots. Fortunately, these references don't hinder
much of the enjoyment viewers can get from Ice
Bar since the film is really about the struggles
of childhood and the simple joy of everyday life rather
than cultural nostalgia.
What keeps Ice Bar
engaging are really the performances. Park Ji-Bin
pretty much has to carry the entire film as the inquisitive
Young-Rae, and he does it with a childish charm that
makes him such an immediately likable character that
your heart might die just a little every time Young-Rae
gets hit. Shin Ae-Ra, being a veteran of TV dramas,
is no stranger to melodrama, and her convincing performance
as a struggling single mother can range from heartbreaking
to smile-inducing. However, her character's motivation
is never entirely clear. Unless there was some kind
of alternative motivation for her actions not expressed
in the subtitles, there was not really any reason
for her actions throughout the film. Nevertheless,
Shin still manages to craft a likable character, given
what she had to work with.
Ice Bar may be just
another typical Korean melodrama, but it does successfully
stray from the "pure love" formula for a
mostly enjoyable, albeit somewhat brutal family-friendly
drama where, for once, no one suffers from a terminal
disease. While the cynic in me might have hoped for
Ice Bar to end 10 minutes early for a darker
and more realistic ending, the happy ending is certainly
less punishing for viewers who sat through 90 minutes
of bullying, punishment, and just generally unkind
characters. Heck, it even comes with a nice little
life lesson for the kids. For family entertainment,
you can do a whole lot worse than Ice Bar.
(Kevin Ma 2006)
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