Crush and Blush / Misseu Hongdangmu

2008 Korean movie that stars Kong Hyo jin, Bang Eun jin, Hwangwoo Seul hye, Lee Jong hyeok, and Seo woo.

Winning Best Actress at the 7th Korean Film Awards and the 11th Director's Cut Awards, Kong Hyo Jin (Dachimawa Lee, M) transforms into a homely teacher in the quirky dramedy Crush and Blush (a.k.a. Miss Carrot). Lighting up the screen with her spunky, idiosyncratic charm, Kong turned her comically tragic black-sheep character into an unlikely audience-favorite heroine. Lee Jong Hyuk (Radio Dayz, A Day for an Affair) co-stars as her romantic interest, or rather obsession, and newcomer Seo Woo (My Son) makes a delightful turn as Kong's partner-in-mayhem. The first film produced by renowned director Park Chan Wook, Crush and Blush marks the impressive directorial debut of Lee Kyung Mi who won Best New Director and Best Screenplay at the 29th Blue Dragon Awards.

Personally, I'm not sure what all the hype is about, but this wasn't as bad a movie as it first presumed to be based on the title and cover image.

It was just, plain weird imho - but, in that creepy, waiting to see the gruesome gore of a train wreck kind of way.

I kept checking everywhere to find out if bRush was a type-o, but it's not and that has me confused as well - thinking it should read bLush since that is what the story is all about - a girl with frizzy hair, a weight problem of sorts, and rosacea (capillary issues on the cheeks).

The blockquote above uses L, and aznv.tv and wiki use R - so I guess it's up to us to decide which is right and which is wrong.

I'll stick with the L since it makes grammatic sense to me.

Yang Mi sook (Jin Kong hyo) is a girl who teaches Russian and has had a ten-year, one-way romance with a fellow educator Seo (Lee Jong hyuk), when one day the principal enters her classroom (filled with uninterested students) to announce that Russian isn't a hot topic anymore and will be replaced with English, along with her position, which will be replaced by a new teacher, Yuri (Hwangwoo Seul hye).

Seo is married to a wealthy woman connected with the academy, and she is a lot older than Seo as well, contemplating divorce against the pleading wishes of their daughter - a girl as misfit and disshevled as Mi sook.

The two form this awkward alliance, and from there, the movie takes off on the odd, modern twists, turns, and '...wait, are we still in reality mode here?' moments that gave the impression the writer/director was aiming for something other than mainstream all around.

Maybe because it's so out of the box, not predictable, and quirky that it was such a hit back home, but for me ... I still don't know what to think or even say about this movie, other than you need to give it a chance if you're looking for something so far from ordinary that it isn't funny.

Here are side-by-sides of the main actress: