Summer Scent
I love Summer Scent. For me it is neither slow nor is the ending ambiguous. Far from being confusing, the ending is crystal clear in its intended meaning and exceedingly romantic given the uncertainties felt throughout the story by both Minwoo and Hyewon whether their love for each other is true or not. At the start they were brought together through Eunhye’s heart beating inside of Hyewon: the feelings of familiarity that Hyewon has of places that she has never been to before or that Minwoo hearing his lost love calling out his name at the tea garden.
The simplicity of the ending brings out what I as a viewer only dare hope to see. Yes the love Hyewon has for Minwoo expresses itself through her heart erratic beating but her feeling of connection to him originates from the deep of her soul ; her donated heart may have quickened for Minwoo because it was still carrying Eunhye’s memories but the throbbings she feels on the stairs at the end comes from the depths of her own being.
The set up of the last scene is simply superb: simple and superb. The little details are there if you care to catch. Hyewon is carrying a bouquet of yellow roses, Minwoo’s favorite; they were in a huge crowd in the rain making it nigh impossible for them to find each other. And then, the sea of open umbrellas keeping them apart just magically melted away leaving them breathlessly looking at each other while their hearts beat in unison to the whispering admission of Hyewon that she never had any control over her heart whenever her true love is close.
Although the story line denies them much physical intimacy and contact, one can feel the tenderness they share for each other: when she got on her toes to blow the dust speck in his eye, one can imagine they are kissing like Jungah did, but they are not. Or when they danced barefooted in the grass at night and she gently got on his toes. Physically it is not much contact but symbolically and metaphorically it speaks volume.
Personally the two most romantic moments for me is when Hyewon shyly gave Minwoo a soft peck on the cheek at the beach. The expression of her thoughts as she kissed him are precious and the scene where her bare foot drew circles in the wet sand before she told him to close his eyes killed me. The indecision betrayed by the slow movements of her foot in the sand revealed she is coming to grasp with a nascent feeling of love buried deep inside her,below the layers of morality and obligations.
The second moment is when Hyewon asked Minwoo how she can repay what he has done for her and he replied: “with your whole life”. The tender look on Hyewon’s face on hearing it tells me that she understands it is no demand but an explicit declaration and a promise on his part to love her for the rest of his life from this moment on.
Both characters are burdened by the implications of their respective pasts: Hyewon feels guilty for all the things that Jungjae has done for her. She is confused between her feelings of familiarity with Jungjae,overburdened with her sense of obligation toward her fiancé and her new uncontrollable emotions for a seemingly complete stranger. As the story unfolds, this uncontrolled heart feeling becomes something much more deeply grounded in her being: when she lays sick in the hospital, his soothing words and his loving touch so completely healed her that even the doctor was surprised at the rapidity and completeness of her recovery. Every fiber in her body already knows for her what her true path in life is even as her mind,still burdened by her sense of obligation, refuses to see. "Before The I think,I should, there is the I AM”.
For his part, Minwoo has not completely let go yet of Eunhye and is confused himself in the beginning about his feeling for Hyewon. Both parties are wracked and tortured by their own respective guilt feelings: one for the dead and the other for the living. The slow speed of their resolution and revelation of their true feelings for each other come about in my opinion due to a common aspect of their character : they are considerate people. Their irresolution reflects the behavior of gentle people caught in a web of obligations while yearning and reaching for something seemingly unreachable. We all can imagine what not so considerate and unkind people would do in their place and quick too.
The casting is excellent : SSH is handsome and Son Yejin is just simply lovely as in looking like Love itself : demure, pure and innocent.
I realize I am in the minority who love Summer Scent but it does not bother me one bit. I know what my heart tells me: this is great romantic drama in the old fashion way of hopeless predestined love except that it is not so hopeless after all. Hyewon and Minwoo are meant for each other, their fates tied by that proverbial red string that no trial nor tribulation can ever render them apart.
