[Herald Review] ‘Hear Me: Our Summer’: the power of speaking through the eyes

Watching “Hear Me: Our Summer,” Hong Kyung and Roh Yoon-seo’s latest romance that opened in theaters Wednesday, one may have noticed how the movie lacks three elements typical of romance movies: a villain who sabotages the main characters, a protagonist’s dramatic, near-death experience and, most surprisingly, the pouring out of emotion in heartfelt spoken lines.

In director Jo Sun-ho’s coming-of-age romance flick, “Hear Me: Our Summer,” most of the three protagonists’ scenes rely less on speech and more on sign language, body language and written text.

How director Jo localized the 2009 Taiwanese movie “Hear Me” for the Korean adaptation is impressive. While sticking largely to the original plot, details such as the characterization or emotional development of Yong-jun (Hong Kyung), Yeo-reum (Roh Yoon-seo) and Ga-eul (Kim Min-ju) have been added to make it more relatable for Korean audiences.

The setting of how 26-year-old Yong-jun falls for Yeo-reum at first sight is much the same as the original, but “Hear Me: Our Summer” has made Yeo-reum an older sister who takes care of her little sister Ga-eul (Kim Min-ju), a swimmer with hearing impairments.

This change more clearly portrays Yeo-reum as a strong and nurturing character who supports her sister in achieving her dream of becoming an Olympic gold medalist. As Ga-eul makes strides closer to her goal, Roh Yoon-seo admirably delivers Yeo-reum’s unfamiliar emotions toward Yong-jun and expresses guilt for feeling close to Yong-jun.

While the actors speak mostly through their hands and eyes throughout the 109-minute running time, the audience remains captivated as the actors diligently carry out the lines in sign language.

Since the film mostly lacks verbal dialogue, the music and background sounds especially stand out. Such a setting encourages the audience to pay special attention to the facial expressions of the actors, a unique experience that draws the focus of the audience away from the visuals of the background or other characters.

“In sign language, facial expression makes up 70 percent (of the language’s meaning). It’s that important. And looking at a mirror and practicing the language enhanced my acting skills in expression,” Roh said in a recent interview with reporters in Seoul.

Because sign language is only readable by looking into the other persons’ eyes, Roh said staring into others’ eyes while acting helped her better demonstrate emotion.

“Standing in front of an actor and looking into his eyes, I could sense even the smallest movement and feeling in the eyes,” she added.

Seeing actors acting through their eyes and hands inevitably slows down the pace of the movie, yet despite the slow pace, “Hear Me: Our Summer” shows how taking things slowly can break barriers in human relationships and take things to the next level in pursuing one's dreams.

"Hear Me: Our Summer” opened in theaters Wednesday.