Play Girl

So, I can’t believe it has taken me this long to make the connection (it hasn’t been that long really) but when watching ‘The Silenced‘ I had a feeling that I had seen the girl who played Yeon-deok somewhere before. I am not talking about the fact that she reminds me of A-reum by the way. So over the weekend, I select randomly a bunch of movies to re-watch and one of the movies is one that she was in.

That movie is ‘The Youth’.

Seo Eun-A as Go-Eun

Park So-Dam as Yeon-Joo

 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 

  
 
 
 

The movie is a collection of troubled teen short movies and one of those, the last one actually, is about a gang of girls. The title of that short movie is ‘Play Girl’. Play Girls go around disciplining who ever is put on the ‘Bitch List’ and as the title suggests, if you are considered to be one, you will be on that list and will be getting straightened out soon by the Play Girls.

I was really lucky to find this hidden gem because to sit through this movie until the end was a pain! What kept me going was the fact that I hadn’t seen parts I had seen in the trailer yet and just as I was about to give up, the time for Play Girls arrived and it was such a great feeling! My sitting through almost 90% of the runtime of the whole movie totally got rewarded with those last few minutes of Play Girl.

The fun actually begins from the very opening scene but you don’t see it as important a scene until a bit later on. I say a bit later on but this short movie had the runtime of a Music Video. Anyway the main girl and leader of the Play Girls is Go-Eun who is portrayed by Seo Eun-A. Our other relevant girl is actually a victim on the Bitch List named Yeon-Joo (Yeon-Joo, Yeon-deok, it’s only a coincidence). Yeon-Joo is the girl played by Park So-Dam. Yes, that Park So-Dam that played Yeon-deok in ‘The Silenced’. Funny how she did not catch my attention then but totally hooked me during ‘The Silenced’.

Yeon-Joo is the girl at the beginning who gets saved by Go-Eun’s gang – Play Girl. No.3 in the gang seeks out ways to always go after Yeon-Joo (or ‘The Masked Bitch’ as she likes to call her) but the leader Go-Eun seems to be against the idea for some reason. She doesn’t even put her on the Bitch List despite the rumors going around about Yeon-Joo. We later find out why this is.

It seemed like Go-Eun had found an interest in this masked girl and they get a couple of alone-time in which they act like the cutest couple ever. Well, it always seems like Go-Eun is hitting on Yeon-Joo who though doesn’t seem to be interested at first, she doesn’t show any resistance either. But even as they come off as a cute couple in the making, there is always this feeling of familiarity about them. Like there is this scene where they are on top of a building somewhere and Yeon-Joo finds that she doesn’t have any lighters. Go-Eun tries again to get her to switch to the electric smokes but then Yeon-Joo pulls out an electric smoke of her own.

In their first private meeting (which happened in the bathroom) Go-Eun had given one to Yeon-Joo as thanks for lending her some pads. Yeon-Joo had deceived us into thinking that she had not taken the smoke but it turns out that she did. Still, she didn’t know how it operated so Go-Eun showed her. Anyway that scene was out of nowhere. It just happened! There is no way they would have met at such a place at such an hour by coincidence. They don’t show them meeting but we find them already together. This decision kind of rubbed me the wrong way the first time watching but we soon find out the truth behind everything.

No.3 was still bent of gong after Yeon-Joo and during a certain disciplinary meeting, as Go-Eun says that they should finish up and go, No.3 surprises all when she brings out Yeon-Joo. A fight soon breaks out but Yeon-Joo kicks everyone’s ass and soon it is her and Go-Eun facing off. Yeon-Joo says that she doesn’t want to fight but Go-Eun is a leader and has ideal and duties to uphold. Or maybe it is a grudge from the past.

Speaking of the past, No.3 spilled some juicy details about Yeon-Joo when she brought her out. Apparently Yeon-Joo was kicked out of her other school because she was having an affair with a female teacher. It is because No.3 and her henchmen were making fun of Yeon-Joo about this that she lost it and beat the crap out of them. That would totally have earned her a spot on the Bitch List now that I think about it. Not my list but theirs.

Yeon-Joo didn’t want to fight and it is Go-Eun that threw the first punch and the two went at it. In the end Go-Eun falls into the pool where she cools off and the scene where Yeon-Joo goes to pick her up as she asks her if she is okay in that soft voice should tell you all you need to know where their story takes them. It was essentially a Love Fight of sorts and it isn’t a Love Fight unless it all ends in Love, am I right!

But before the movie ends we are dropped the bomb – Go-Eun was the teacher that Yeon-Joo had been in love with. They do it in a kind of a reflective mirror thing where you have Go-Eun and Yeon-Joo on one side and Yeon-Joo and the female teacher reflected besides them.

Don’t ask me, this makes no sense to me either! How could Go-Eun be the female teacher?! It would mean she was new at this school too and thus there is no way she had built Play Girl and acquired such a dedicated number of members. Unless of course the other members also were in cahoots and had secrets like Go-Eun.

Seriously, that reveal just didn’t make any sense to me at all. But there was a moment in that scene where it looked like Yeon-Joo was leaning in for a kiss and the two had this intense eye thing going on between them but then it cut right there! Not only was this the shortest story of the whole movie but we didn’t even get something to make up for that shortage! Oh well, it was the only yuri and worthy segment on the whole reel so I will settle for that. Better than nothing, eh?

Be seeing ya around…