The movie "Counting the days away from mother" (English title: Number One) is adapted from a famous Japanese short story, a story about the value of everyday moments and the finiteness of time.
The film follows Ha Min (Choi Woo Sik) - who suddenly sees a number gradually decreasing every time he eats food cooked by his mother - Mrs. Eun Sil (Jang Hye Jin) and discovers that when the number reaches 0, his mother will die.
Since then, Ha Min's peaceful life has been disrupted, forcing him to choose a paradoxical way to protect his mother: creating distance himself, staying away from meals, mother's care and love.
Counting days away from mother" will be released in theaters in Korea on February 11. Although expected to be a "healing film for families during the Lunar New Year", however, according to the Korean Film Council, by the afternoon of February 12, the film had only sold more than 37,000 tickets, earning more than 355 million won (about 6.4 billion VND).
This is a rather low number compared to works screened at the same time, especially when the project marks the reunion of a pair of actors who were once famous with "Parasitism" - the first Korean film to win 4 Oscars.
Previously, after a screening for Korean media, "Counting the days away from mother" was considered a family psychological film with content "safe to the point of disappointment".
In addition to the fairy tale idea: the male lead sees mysterious numbers hanging in mid-air, diminishing every time he eats food cooked by his mother, the diversion of the deceased father appearing in the dream to tell him the meaning of everything: when the number counts to 0, the mother will die and receive a criticism.
According to Korean newspapers, with the fictional plot of "Counting the days away from mother" and the story of motherhood, the director can do many interesting things, but in fact, the only attraction of the film comes from the acting of the cast.
Having played mother and child roles, Choi Woo Sik and Jang Hye Jin acted well together, creating many humorous situations, natural real-life slices for viewers. Unfortunately, this "trump card" is not enough to save the film.
Counting days away from mother" will officially premiere in Vietnam from March 13.
