| If the Sun Rises in the West | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster |
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| Hangul | 해가 서쪽에서 뜬다면 |
| Hanja | 해가 西쪽에서 뜬다면 |
| RR | Hae ga seojjog-eseo tteundamyeon |
| MR | Hae ka sŏjjog-esŏ ttŭndamyŏn |
| Directed by | Lee Eun |
| Produced by | Hwang Jae-woo |
| Written by | Kim Hyun-seok |
| Starring | Lim Chang-jung Ko So-young |
| Music by | Cho Young-wook Kim Gyu-yang |
| Cinematography | Byun Hee-sung |
| Editing by | Ko Im-pyo |
| Studio | Myeong Film Co. |
| Distributed by | Il-Sin Investment |
| Release date(s) | 19 December 1998 |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Admissions | 145,752 (Seoul) |
If the Sun Rises in the West (Hangul: 해가 서쪽에서 뜬다면; RR: Haega seojjog-eseo tteundamyeon) is a 1998 South Korean film, and was the commercial directorial debut of Lee Eun.[1]
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Beom-soo is a traffic control officer who aspires to become a baseball umpire. By chance he meets Hyun-joo, a theatre major who crashes her car into a tree while he is on duty. Instead of fining her, Beom-soo gives her driving lessons and they soon become friends, exchanging letters with each other when Hyun-joo returns to university. When they next meet in person Beom-soo declares his love for her, only for Hyun-joo to reject him as she plans to go overseas to study.
Three years later, Beom-soo is making his debut as a professional baseball umpire, and his feelings of love are reignited when he realises that up-and-coming actress Yoo Ha-rin is none other than Hyun-joo. The two are eventually reunited via the baseball field and resume their relationship, though Hyun-joo's affections are also pursued by Ji-min, the president of an advertising company for which she has appeared in a series of commercials. Hyun-joo eventuntually rejects Ji-min and shows up at the opening game of the Korean Series to throw the first ball, where she kisses Beom-soo in the middle of the field.
If the Sun Rises in the West opened in South Korea on 19 December 1998, and received a total of 145,752 admission in Seoul.[2]
Andrew Saroch of Far East Films compared the film favourably to Richard Curtis' Notting Hill, and said, "[If the Sun Rises in the West] accomplishes its modest directives and creates two characters we quickly warm to throughout their moments together. Lee Eun utilises tried-and-tested genre techniques, but it is hard to be too resistant to these when the story moves along so effortlessly." He also praised lead actress Ko So-young, saying that she "illuminates this popularist fable and lends her character some much needed humanity."[3]
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