I have watched this film for the nth time, but it still has the same effect on me. It still leaves me giddy, in love, and well, kind of frustrated, for the same reason that I still don't know the names of the characters.
My reason may be quite funny, but I know you agree with me. Tell me you didn't groan or wanted to pull your hair out when the movie got cut when the guy (stranger) was about to tell his name. The ending was so open-ended that it leaves the watchers to think of so many possibilities of what might have really happened between the two characters. And I chose to believe that they eventually met and have gotten together.
I might still get pissed when I get to the part where the guy (stranger) chooses to go with his ex-girlfriend than to go home with the girl (stranger), but somehow, along the way, realization hit me. I kind of get it why he chose his ex. The male lead and his ex were together for 8 years and have just broken up recently over a petty misunderstanding. If you were the guy, would you throw away the chance to mend up what's broken and be with the one you have pictured your future with? Almost everyone would choose that and only a few would be brave enough to risk and choose an almost stranger you just met while traveling abroad.
However, as some philosophers or people in love would say, you'll find love at the most unexpected time and most of the time you have to just jump from a ship and take a chance. So I guess in a way, his choosing between the two could have gone both ways. He could have chosen the girl (stranger) and found out that they're incompatible but he chose his ex, and have realized the same thing, that they were incompatible.
If only he followed his instinct, he wouldn't be having difficulty finding the girl (stranger). If only the ex-girlfriend didn't leave him, they would've both traveled to Korea and he wouldn't have met the girl (stranger). They would've been married. If only the girl (stranger) told her feelings to the guy, then maybe, he took a chance and chose her instead. But none of that happened.
This brings me to the conclusion that love, however inappropriate, when you are infected, will affect your decisions and how you perceive life. If you really want to be happy, then you must not think and just chase and catch that love. That way, you'll not live to regret it, whatever the outcome may be.
Labels: Hello Stranger, Movie Review, Ranting