Leon

Shape of my heart by Sting has been one of my favorite songs since very long time ago. However, it was only last week that I found out that this song is a soundtrack of the film, Leon. One of the students from “Advanced English Writing and Presentation” class introduced this film and the soundtrack in her presentation. For the plot sounded very interesting, I tried not to listen to her presentation on purpose, blocking my ears, not to “spoil” the film and waited for the end of my midterm exam to watch the film. Finally, “the day” came. As soon as I finished my last midterm exam yesterday, I ran home and downloaded the film Leon. And it was certainly more than what I had expected.

             Most of all, the actors and actresses were just “perfect.” What I mean by this is that they seemed to represent their characters in the film as if it was their own life. Jean Reno, who played the role of Leon, shows the character’s feelings very effectively only with his eyes. He does not speak very much in the film. Despite such fact, through his face expressions, especially his eyes, it was possible for me to read what he was trying to say and how he was feeling each time. And this character matched the traits of Leon perfectly, a “foreign cleaner,” who has no friends or family, but his plant and guns. I felt sympathy and awe at the same time looking at his life.

In addition to this, I was more than amazed by Natalie Portman, who played Matilda in the film. Matilda is a twelve year old girl whose life is really “twisted.” She suffers constant violence from her family and, without any time for her to recover from this, all of her family members get killed by a “police.” As a revenge for her little brother, she pleads Leon to train her to become a “cleaner.” In spite of the fact that she was actually very young when she played that role, she performs her role brilliantly. I was really charmed by her acting.

Moreover, the plot of the film was great. Not always, but some films fail to find the balance between action and love and story; in trying to show spectacle action, either the story becomes illogical or too simple. Nevertheless, Leon illustrates every element with profoundness. Even though this film does not really contain “blockbuster actions,” it creates great suspense and actions which made me to clench my fist for it made me very nervous. And the love between Leon and Matilda was also just beautiful. Whereas this love between an old man and a young girl could seem unrealistic or even unacceptable, the love they show was more than agreeable. Especially, at the end where Matilda plants the “friend” of Leon, I couldn’t stop myself from crying.

Whenever I read a book or watch a movie, I tend to become very critical. I always try to find faults or “holes” in them. And because I usually download past movies and watch them at home, I tend to skip parts and turn them off earlier, before the ending credits come out. However, for the music that was played at the very end, and also for that I could feel the movie lingering on in my mind, I could not turn it off even after all the ending credits were out. And to my surprise, I haven’t yet found any “holes” of the movie. Thank you, whoever it was that represented this film!

Addiction

Early in the morning, 7:00am, screaming “I’m broke!” in my head, I headed to a coffee shop almost automatically. To save money, of course, the best solution would be not to use money on any unnecessary expenses. Coffee is definitely not something that is crucial for me to purchase everyday. Being fully aware of that, nevertheless, I can not stop my feet moving towards any early opened coffee shop.

Not until I became an official adult, a university student, it was “prohibited” for me to take even a sip of coffee. Considering a proven fact that coffee, or to be precise, caffeine is not good for the development of the brain, for memory, my parents kept on telling me that I should not drink coffee until I graduated from the high school. Even with not very serious matters, I never thought of going against my parents not to insist fervently on doing something which I also know that is not profitable. For that, in spite of my deepest urge to drink coffee, I tenaciously waited for the graduation.

February, 2008. This was my revolutionary month. My high school life had finally come to an end! I was now an adult! Full of joy, whereas my friends went to dye their hair or to pierce their ears as a sign of “deviation” or “enjoyment of freedom,” I ran to a coffee shop and ordered my first coffee: Americano. The sweet-bitterness of the well roasted beans whirled in to my nose and wrapped around my tongue so sharply, yet gently that I nearly cried of happiness and even despair that I got to drink this “sacred juice” so late. It then became one of my goals to try all the drinks available to buy. I remember once, when I was to order “Americano” to enjoy with my sandwich. I was not really familiar with the names at the time and without realizing I had ordered “Espresso!” As soon as I saw the tiny coffee cup next to my huge sandwich, I first thought that the man had made a mistake. Before I embarrassed myself of asking, I realized that I had ordered a wrong drink! Still, it was quite enjoyable.

Being able to hear my parents’ voice saying that coffee is not good for my health, I limited myself from drinking no more than a small cup of coffee each day. However, as assignments piled up on my desk, coffee cups also started to level up beside it. It seemed as if though they were competing to see who would get higher up. After almost 3 years of this, now I find myself getting headache or feeling bloated when I don’t take any coffee on that day. For I know that it is really not good for my health and that I need to save money, I am going to put all my effort to reduce the amount first and eventually to cut it totally down.

German and Me

I still remember the reaction on the faces of my family, friends and even high school teachers, when I said to them that I was going to take German as my major. After my high school graduation, I received two acceptance letters from two universities with totally different major. First one was from a well known University and on the top of that, the major I got accepted at was International Business and Economics, which almost everyone in Korea is dying to go to. The other University was not as much well known as the first one and the major was German Language and Literature. I could read from everyone’s face that they were all expecting me to choose the first. However, I chose the latter.

Majoring in German has made my life very colorful. It actually has turned me into a quite different person! I had always been very much repressed by the thought that I should always concentrate on studying or only for employment preparation. Until my highschool years, I never watched TV nor movies nor books and I never let myself go out of any control. To compare to a movie, I felt like I was living in very olden classic days, where everything was under control and planned. I was almost never opposed to my parents’ opinion and listened and followed as what they suggested. Therefore, the decision I made meant a great deal for me; for the first time I had made my own crucial decision!

Even until now, people ask me why and how I could come out with such a conclusion. I sometimes ask myself the same question, too. And my answer is always the same : “I think I was destined to take this path.” It is yet impossible for me to put it in to words, but I felt this very strong urge inside me, craving for German. Eventhough I knew that choosing the first University would make my future easier, I just could not cope with the fact that I won’t be able to study German. Since then, I have never regretted this choice I made.

Walking on a “new” or “unusual road” makes people to meet difficulties and to go over it on their own, whereas walking on a “normal” or “standard road” helps people to make less mistakes and faults, for there’s already a lot of examples before them. Taking the path that people don’t usually take is surely a hardship. However, following others for easier life with less adversities results in something tragic. The statistics show that 80% of the employees in Korea feel unhappy with the job they have. I am sure the road that I am walking on now is not common. Hence, I am also quite aware of the fact that I’ll get to encounter a lot of difficulties. Nevertheless, what’s fun if life is all smooth and planned? Allow the ups and downs! Let’s enjoy the “life Roller-coaster!”