Overview of Romang
‘Romang’ is a 2019 South Korean romance movie which revolves around the love between an elderly couple suffering from dementia. The screenplay and direction of the movie were done by Lee Chang-geun. The movie was released on 3 April 2019 and distributed by Merry Christmas Entertainment.
‘Romance’ features Lee Soon-jae as Jo Nam-bong and Jung Young-sook as Lee Mae-ja, the old couple. They married with the hope of enjoying life long companionship and love. To their manifestation, they spent 45 years of happy married life holding one another’s back in every hurdle of life. The movie shows the unwavering love that the couple share in their old age. Though dementia succeeds in wiping out most of their memories, love becomes the only thing that dementia is not able to lay its hands on.
Profile
- Name: Romang
- Genre: Drama, Romance, Elderly
- Director: Lee Chang-geun
- Starring: Lee Soon-jae, Jung Young-sook
- Written by: Lee Chang-geun
- Producer: Shin Young-il
- Release date: 3 April 2019
- Country: South Korea
- Running time: 112 minutes
- Distributor: Merry Christmas Entertainment
- Cinematography: Lee Jung-in
- Language: Korean
Cast
- Lee Soon-jae as Jo Nam-bong
- Jung Young-sook as Lee Mae-ja
- Jo Han-chul as Jo Jin-soo
- Bae Hae-sun as Kim Jung-hee
- Lee Ye-won as Jo Eun-ji
- Jin Sun-kyu as young Jo Nam-bong
- Park Bo-Kyung as Lee Mae-ja
- Ki-cheon as Mr. Kim Kim
- Yeo Mu-yeong as Mr. Cheon
- Ok Joo-ri as middle-aged woman
- Lee Kyu-hyung as traffic police
- Lim Chul-soo as young Mr. Kim
- Ko Kyu-pil as young Mr. Cheon
- Ahn Ji-hye as emergency room doctor
- Cherish Maningat as Southeast Asian wife
Synopsis
45 years ago, Jo Nam-bong proposed to his wife, Lee Mae-ja at a seashore. Settling as a family man, Nam-bong begins to invest most of his time in making money so that his family will always be financially secure. Now the old parents, Jo Nam-bong and Lee Mae-ja, live with their son, Jo Jin-soo, their daughter-in-law, Kim Jung-hee, and their granddaughter, Jo Eun-ji. Their son is a PhD holder but is unemployed, and his wife is busy chasing her career and managing her family life.
After living long years with his wife, Nam-bong lost the excitement that he felt years ago. Adding to the current scenario, Mae-ja starts to show signs of dementia. One day she leaves her granddaughter alone in the park, and on another day she almost pours hot milk on the face of the sleeping child. When she is out of consciousness, she recognises her grandchild as her long-dead daughter.
Fed up with Mae-ja’s crazy acts, Nam-bong decides to send her to a nursing home. He asks his son to find a nursing home for his mother. However, he does not like the nursing home suggested by Jin-soo and takes Mae-ja to a sophisticated hospital. After arriving at the nursing home, Mae-ja becomes friends with the other inhabitants there and starts to enjoy her life.
After the departure of his wife to the nursing home, Nam-bong finds no one to talk to at home. The emptiness caused by the absence of Mae-ja spreads from the kitchen to Nam-bong’s heart. The call that he gets from his friend conveying the message of his wife’s death makes Nam-bong bring Mae-ja back to his house.
He starts to give attention to Mae-ja. However, her illness becomes a problem in her son’s marital life. Therefore, with the permission of Mae-ja, Jin-soo leaves with his wife and daughter. After a while, Nam-bong realises that dementia has taken hold of his memory as well. Being alone in the house gives them a space to start a new kind of intimate bond.
They start to do the household chores together and stick notes on the door whenever they come back to their rationality to make each other aware of the situation. They live happily like newlyweds until Mae-ja watches the video clip of her acting out of her mind and attacking her daughter-in-law. The realisation of the troubles that Mae-ja caused her family breaks her heart, and she becomes hospitalised out of sorrow.
When Mae-ja regains consciousness in the hospital, she writes a letter to Nam-bong and tries to commit suicide. Understanding the pain that Mae-ja is going through, Nam-bong decides to go on a final trip with his wife. He drives her to the beach, where they enjoy the beautiful scenery together for the last time.
Theme
Elderly Romance
‘Romang’ is a rare gem that tells the pure love story of an elderly couple affected by dementia in their old age. The romantic connection between the couple dried off long ago when they entered a serious family setup. They got married after spending a dream-like romantic life together. However, the excitement blows off when Nam-bong starts chasing money for the good future of his family.
However, he realises the importance of a companion when he starts to feel empty inside. After bringing his sick wife home from the nursing home, the couple restarted their happy life together, enjoying the companionship of one another.
Dementia
Dementia is the other theme discussed in ‘Romang’. The movie portrays the difficulties both the patient and their family members face. Also, it conveys the pain that a person affected by dementia goes through when they learn about the troubles that they caused others when they are out of their consciousness.
Family
Family is another dominant theme in the movie. It presents an elderly couple who sacrificed and compromised a lot of things to keep the family safe and secure. Nam-bong, after becoming a family man, works hard to make money so that his family will be financially secure. Mae-ja, the cooperative and understanding wife, sacrificed the companionship of her husband since she knew the good intentions of her husband.
Later, their only son chose his family over his sick old parents when the situation demanded it.
Awards
No information is available.
Interesting Facts about Romang
- Lee Chang-geun is the writer and director of ‘Romang’.
- ‘Romang’ tells the love story of an old couple, Nam-bong and Mae-ja.
- ‘Romang’ is distributed by Merry Christmas Entertainment.
FAQs
- Who is the director of ‘Romang’?
Lee Chang-geun is the director of ‘Romang’.
- When was the K-movie ‘Romang’ released?
‘Romang’ was released on 3 April 2019.
- What is the genre of the K-movie ‘Romang’?
‘Romang’ belongs to the genres: romance, drama, elderly, and films about memory loss. - Who play the lead roles in ‘Romang’?
The lead roles in ‘Romang’ are played by Lee Soon-jae and Jung Young-sook - What is the Instagram ID of Jin Sun-kyu?
@knuababoda96.
