After being dumped by her boyfriend, Kim Soo-Jin (Son Ye-Jin), finally meets Choi Chul-Soo (Jung Woo-Sung). Falling head over heels for one another, the two have to overcome the problems that come with every relationship. Chul-Soo, who has a troubled childhood, isn’t about to commit to a serious relationship because he feels he’s “below” her. Soo-Jin’s father doesn’t approve of him.  But none of these problems will ever come close to match what they are about to face, something that will prove to be the ultimate test for their relationship.

Korean has done it again. Another melodrama tearjerker about people with terminal illness. But A MOMENT TO REMEMBER tops it all. It is loaded with somewhat formulaic ingredients for tears but the film is nicely put together and it is engaging. As I stated it, the film is tearjerker about a fatal illness. And our heroine is the one with it. She has Alzheimer’s Disease that makes her lose her memories. And soon her memories of her love and their time spent start get erased from her mind. No matter how good the story is or how contrived characters are, films like this really depends on the stars in it. If we don’t buy them, there will be no tears shed. And Son Ye-Jin and Jung Woo-Sung sell and carry the film to the extreme. Son Ye-Jin is a fabulously pretty actress, who can convey every emotional state of her character without forcing it. Jung Woo-Sung plays her husband who is sensitive and super loving as he tries help her recall her memories. They are the perfect on screen couple and audiences will wish to be them.

John H Lee has managed to create a film that is bittersweet yet heartfelt—something many Korean filmmakers have been tried to do but failed. The film takes it time to thoughtfully and carefully develop the characters and foreshadow what is to come. This slow study of their life becomes powerfully effective when we learn that she has “an eraser in her head”. (She actually says it and that was it for me). And for the rest, the director relies totally on its stars and audiences anticipation. The audiences’ knowledge of what’s going to happen to these beautiful couple is what makes it so engaging.

Everything gets overly cinematic and even more so is the ending, which is somewhat manipulative but I just couldn’t help it. I haven’t shed my tears this much since watching GRAVE OF FIREFLIES.

That said, MOMENT TO REMEMBER is one of the best tearjerkers of recent years regardless of whether the situations are believable or not. It’s such a powerful romantic film that questions love without memories. It is a slow film but its storytelling is appropriate for all that happens in the last thirty minutes of the film.