Movie Digest
Following the announcement of a poetry contest, bored and sluggish Hyun Sil feels irritated. She aspires to be a poet for some reason and has written four poems so far. She does, however, require five poems to enter the competition. Furthermore, there is only one day remaining till the deadline. Midsummer Madness, which centers on Hyun Sil’s struggle to write the fifth poem, depicts the maturation of a woman in her late twenties while also questioning the substance of art.
The Feel-Good Part
The plot of the drama is quite relatable and has a feel-good screenplay.
The Disappointing Factor
A pretty slow and exaggerated movie.
In-Depth Analysis
The story revolves around a young woman named Hyeong-sil on a hot summer day who is dissatisfied with how things have gone in her current life. While she is still healing from her recent break-up with her lover, she has been concentrating on creating five poems to submit to a major poetry contest that could help her career. She manages to compose the draught while being under pressure from the impending deadline, but she has no idea how to refine and condense it further to add more aesthetic elements, and she grows increasingly bored and dissatisfied as time passes with little progress.
Star Power
Kim Ye-Eun, who has previously acted in a number of prominent South Korean films such as “Microhabitat” (2017) and “A Resistance,” lends a delightful lead performance to the picture (2019).
While she captures the humorous aspects of her character’s emotional/artistic turmoil expertly, she also gives her character a lot of life and personality, and we end ourselves rooting for her more than we expected.
Han Hae-in, Shin Gi-hwan, Kwak Min-gyoo, and Oh Gyu-Chul, the film’s other primary cast members, are all excellent in their supporting parts, with a particular mention going to a scene-stealing dog who plays Hyeon-pet SIL’s dog.
Overall Opinion
Midsummer Madness is a leisurely but interesting comedy-drama about poetry and life, and it has a fantastic flavor thanks to its laid-back tone and clever great sense of humor. This is essentially another simple but talky South Korean independent film heavily influenced by Hong Sang-work, soo’s but it has enough depth and personality to stand out, so I recommend giving this small but strong work a shot someday.
