KL Movie Marathon (The Return)

On my night flight back to Sydney, I decided to watch something slow - something like April Snow (a.k.a. Oechul). Felt a bit like In the Mood for Love, but not quite. The slow pacing is the same, but ITMFL has more tension and electricity. April Snow stars Korean screen favourites Bae Yong Joon and Son Ye Jin. They first meet at a hospital in Samcheok where both their spouses were involved in a car accident and in critical condition. His wife and her husband were in the same car. They later find out that their spouses were college classmates and had been cheating on them for quite some time now. During this emotional and painful time, In-su (Bae Yong Joon) and Seo-young (Son Ye Jin) find solace in each other's company. They became closer as they kept on bumping each other at the hospital, at the hotel, and the cafeteria, at the pharmacy, etc. One time, after having a drink too many, Seo-young wondered out loud if they should have an affair to get back at their spouses. It didn't happen immediately, but as fate would have it, that's what eventually happened. If I were In-su, I would've taken up Seo-young's offer right then and there. In between feeling guilt and happiness, the couple even organized a romantic getaway where they can be together openly. During their shared vacation, Seo-young's husband Kyung-ho dies in the hospital. She feels all the more guilty for not being at his side during his last moments, so she ends the affair with In-su. In-su goes back to caring for his wife Su-jin until she fully recovers. Then, he confesses everything to her. Cut to spring. Does it snow in April? It does in romantic Korean movies. In-su reminisces about his winter fling with Seo-young. The movie ends with In-su driving to Samcheok with a smile on his face. Seo-young is on her way there, too. Ah, I think I know how the story ends even though it was not shown. You sly dog, In-su. Did you tell the wife?

For a change of tempo, I watched The Constant Gardener next. Apparently, even big-name stars such as Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz are not enough to keep me awake. Based on John le Carre's novel, the plot is a bit slow-moving and has a political slant. Story is about a greedy capitalist pharmaceutical company exploiting the helpless Nairobians with tuberculosis for the purpose of testing and marketing an experimental drug. Tessa (Rachel Weisz) is onto the pharmaceutical company, and thus had to be silenced. Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) doubts the cause of death of his wife, and travels around the world looking for answers. Most of the characters in this movie are cardboard caricatures: the fiery activist, the reluctant hero, the scheming CEO, the conniving politician, the backstabbing friend, the wisely spy, etc. The cinematography is very nice, as this is Nairobi, Africa. I'm getting tired of Fernando Meirelles' jarring and messy camerawork though. It worked fine for City of God, but not in this one.