On March 8, according to Chosunbiz, the film "When life gives you tangerines" has just aired its first 4 episodes and has risen to No. 1 in the top 10 Korean films on Netflix. The film also entered the top 10 most watched films in countries, including Vietnam.
Chosun newspaper hopes that IU's new work, Park Gum Bo, can create an explosive effect, welcomed by the audience like the fever of the movie "The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call".
On Rotten Tomatos, critics gave the film many positive comments, such as "A sweet but bitter story", "In spiring message, adding hope in difficult circumstances", "S simple plot, but well expressed, sophisticated acting and depicting the reality of a vivid book".
The film tells the story of Ae Sun (IU) and Gwan Sik (Park Bo Gum), set on Jeju Island, South Korea in the 1950s.
With content about life on Jeju Island, the story of female divers and the love of a young couple, "When life gives you tangerines" was once commented to have many similarities with Ji Chang Wook's "Welcome to Samdal-ri".
However, IU's film depicts a completely different Jeju. That is where Ae Sun's mother - Mrs. Jeon Kwang Rye - dived hard, to the point of "not being willing to look up" to earn money to support the whole family because her husband was a wasteful person.
Ms. Kwang Rye is determined not to let her daughter follow the career of a sea captain because she thinks that "it is better to be born with a cow than to be a sea captain". Meanwhile, her daughter lacked the care of her mother, to the point of being jealous of the fish because they were lying on the seabed, getting closer to her mother.
In the first 4 episodes, the audience commented that the film brought many emotions, joy, sadness, and torment. IU and Park Bo Gum's acting was natural, a notable combination on screen, according to Korean media.
Right from the project was announced, director Kim Won Seok expressed his confidence in the film, especially the chemistry of the IU and Park Bo Gum couple.
He believes that the audience will see a different side of Park Bo Gum from what they have seen before, while IU will be able to express all the charming aspects of themselves.
Regarding the film's production budget of 60 billion won (41 million USD), the director said that the majority of the budget was allocated to visual elements and building an open setting.
Because the story spans decades, from the 1960s to 2025, we have invested a lot in art and even used VFX technology to make the film look more realistic.
