Our Movie: Episodes 3-4 » Dramabeans Korean drama recaps
Our Movie: Episodes 3-4
by Dramaddictally
Romance picks up this week as our film crew starts to shoot. We’ve got exes on set, where new love also blossoms, and jealousy rears its ugly head. As our heroine’s illness leads to a close call, our hero starts to close the distance to be by her side.
EPISODES 3-4
Well, last week I asked for slower development on the romance, but that is not what we got at all. This romance is steaming along, and I’m a little perplexed about where all the fast feelings are coming from, at least on one side.
We jump back in with Da-eum getting the leading role in Je-ha’s remake movie. She’s floating on air, but there’s a little hiccup with the casting. Je-ha’s producer, BU SEUNG-WON (Seo Hyun-woo), has already sent the script to the leading lady from Je-ha’s last movie — a.k.a., Je-ha’s ex, CHAE SEO-YOUNG (Lee Seol). Seo-young has become a big name since her breakout role in Je-ha’s debut, and everyone thinks she’s perfect for this new role as well.
Everyone, that is, except Je-ha. He’s made up his mind about Da-eum and goes ahead with casting, asking Da-eum to sign a confidentiality agreement so that no one will find out she’s terminally ill — since, ya know, it might seem a little exploitative on his part. She agrees to sign on the condition that he doesn’t ruin the movie. The original makes her cry for its ode to love, and Je-ha’s rewrite is staunchly anti-love.
But Je-ha sticks to his guns, and his rational thinking, and says that it makes no sense for the female character (who’s based on his mother) to love the man who left her just as she was about to die (that would be his father). For Je-ha, the man is selfish and the woman is foolish (and I’m very interested in how this may or may not repeat in our main storyline as this thing shakes out).
Still, Da-eum signs the agreement, and then Je-ha heads over to negotiate with Seo-young about taking a supporting role in the film. Seo-young accepts, but there are some subtle implications. First, we know she’s not over him and it seems like she might take any role to be on his movie set. And second, when she asks who got the lead, adding “she must have something that I don’t,” I can’t help but read it as her calling him out on taking an interest in his female leads.
With both women signed onto the project, Je-ha needs to secure a crew and also do a test shoot to convince the investor that the casting is correct, since it feels like a risk with an unknown lead actress. To prep for this make-it-or-break-it shoot, Seo-young calls Da-eum to her studio to rehearse. Da-eum is a huge fan of Seo-young and, as Seo-young learns, they’ve actually randomly met before.
Da-eum is super happy to be rehearsing with someone she admires so much, but then has a seizure during practice. Seo-young rushes her to the hospital, as Da-eum pleads to not let anyone see her in this condition. The doctor doesn’t tell Seo-young what’s wrong with Da-eum, but Seo-young guesses that she might be sick, and we know that Seo-young has a motive to use this information later if it suits her.
Da-eum decides not to tell Je-ha about her seizure and goes forward with the test shoot. It turns out great and everyone’s nerves are calmed. Je-ha feels more secure about not having filmed in five years, Da-eum has more confidence about being a rookie actress, and the investor sees how good Da-eum’s acting is. But the investor also offhandedly mentions the original film, and how the lead actress was an unknown at the time, too. “What happens to these female leads after the movie ends?” he asks. (Hmm. Is this a theme? We know that Je-ha’s dad was rumored to be having an affair with his leading lady, too.)
When it all works out with the funding, Da-eum takes Je-ha to a spot in the hospital that she thinks would be perfect for shooting one of the scenes. She tells him it’s a scene where the female lead would likely fall apart because she wants to live so badly, but death keeps chasing her. Here, we see a rare break in Da-eum’s mask of over-saccharine smiles and Je-ha gently touches her head in comfort.
Later, when Seo-young’s agent, KO HYE-YOUNG (Seo Jung-yeon), tries to woo Da-eum to come to her agency, she tells Da-eum not to trust Je-ha. This is rooted in her seeing Seo-young devastated after their breakup. But Da-eum says she totally trusts him and declines Hye-young’s offer. She then runs smack into Je-ha and Seo-young in a lip lock in the hallway.
Da-eum looks shocked and backs out of the room, just before Je-ha pulls away and asks Seo-young what she’s doing. Seo-young says that none of the replacements made a difference to her, so she wanted to see if the original would satisfy her again. Je-ha looks disgusted and walks away saying that they should just focus on the movie because “that’s all there is between us now.”
We get a little flashback to how things started between Seo-young and Je-ha on the last movie set. She’s crying that she can’t get the emotions right for her role, and he tells her that he’s making the movie because he doesn’t know what it’s like to love someone. She’s very intrigued and the next thing we know, they’re sitting in a car and she’s leaning across to kiss him. In the present, she hurls the great line, “You’re like a grease stain that I can’t scrub off my heart.” Haha.
After seeing Je-ha and Seo-young kissing, Da-eum is pretty hurt. She makes excuses to have lunch with Je-ha and then finally tells him about the seizure she had in front of Seo-young. She knows she sort of violated the confidentiality agreement and expects him to be angry, but instead, he’s worried about if she’s okay. She tells him he’s a good person, but he’s not so sure about that.
And to make me question the same, we get a scene where Je-ha drives out to see the actress from the original Love in White. He confronts her about knowing that the script was not written by his father. For some reason, Da-eum is there, hiding in the back, and Je-ha is furious when he sees her. He didn’t want her to overhear what he just said.
Da-eum follows him outside and says she was only there to meet the woman who played her role before. She’s about to let him angrily leave, and starts to go back inside to tell the former actress goodbye, but he tells her not to. And then we see Da-eum in his passenger seat as they leave.
I know he’s got historical hurt to contend with, but this scene follows another one where Je-ha has told Da-eum not to meet the movie’s male lead outside of formal script readings. He says it’s because he doesn’t want her illness to be found out, but it feels to me like he’s isolating her — which reminds me of her father.
In the background of all this, Da-eum is still in conflict with her dad, LEE JUNG-HYO (Kwon Hae-hyo). After she left the hospital on her own accord, he was searching for her. When he stumbles on her, she’s practicing a scene where she falls to the ground and he thinks she’s really in trouble. He rushes up and calls for medical attention, only to have her excitedly exclaim that she landed the lead in a movie.
Later, when she goes to his office acting cute and hoping for him to come around, he initially ignores her. Then, he tells her that she has to live a little longer because he has hope in the new clinical trials. She doesn’t want to waste her time in a hospital and then have the trials fail, and she tells him that she’s scared and hurt every time he refuses to admit that she’s dying.
At an event with the whole movie crew, Je-ha watches Da-eum from afar. Seo-young catches him watching Da-eum and looks very upset by it. And then, the movie’s male lead, KIM JUNG-WOO (Seo Yi-seo), notices Seo-young looking at Je-ha and begins to stir up trouble.
The four of them end up eating dinner together, where Jung-woo blurts out that he and Seo-young have been seeing each other. Da-eum reacts with loud congratulations, while Seo-young gets pissed (she clearly doesn’t care about Jung-woo). There’s jealousy all around and Seo-young is spiteful, asking Da-eum if she’s not drinking because she’s sick. Je-ha and Seo-young go outside, where he tries to cover for Da-eum.
Da-eum and Je-ha leave and she asks if it’s possible to kiss someone when you don’t love them, or if you’re not even sure how you feel about them? It’s a question about the script, she tells him. He answers that they can talk about it later, and she should bring questions about the script to him.
They go their separate ways, but then later that night, she shows up at his apartment unannounced in the rain. She wants him to come outside and play in the rain to lower the pressure he feels. “It’s like you’re made of concrete,” she tells him.
But he’s worried about her health and holds an umbrella over her head. She asks him to lower it for one minute, he does, and they both start laughing. After one minute, he reinstalls the umbrella above them and she takes off his glasses. She refers to a scene that calls for a soft kiss, and then leans in and kisses him softly. He keeps his eyes open and at first appears unmoved. But when she reminds him that he told her to use him to understand the script, he drops the umbrella and begins kissing her under the rain.
That’s where we end and I want to like it, but where did all this intensity come from? Yes, she’s dying, so we have a ticking clock, and I get why she’s into him (she has no prior experience, he’s hot, and he’s right there — also, it might be her last chance). But I’m not so sure about the attraction in the other direction. Maybe we’re just supposed to see him falling in love fast so he can learn that not everything is so rational as he believes?
Whatever the reason is — even if I didn’t feel a real connection between them — is it really a good idea to start this up while she’s working on his set? Are we seeing a pattern? Or are we being misled about what happened between Je-ha and Seo-young? (And maybe about his dad’s case, too?)
Da-eum asked, “Can you kiss someone if you’re not sure how you feel about them?” While I’m still not totally sure how I feel about this drama, I will definitely be back next week for the kisses.
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