I Have a Date with Spring

Don’t be deceived by the lighthearted title. Filmmaker Baek Seungbin says he came up with this story out of a desire for a more humane society and pity for overlooked outsiders. A depressed film director sits on the banks of a lake. It’s his birthday, but that does nothing to lighten his mood. For ten years, he has been wrestling with a new script: what would a loner like him do with his last day if he knew the world would end tomorrow?

Just as he is about to throw in the towel, he hears a strange explosion and receives a visitation from four mysterious figures. They claim they are fans of his, and promise to give him a birthday present if he will read them his new script, which – coincidentally or not – is about people whose birthday falls on the day before the end of the world.
This is Baek’s frame narrative for three other stories, about a schoolgirl with no friends, an overworked housewife and an unhappy professor. All three receive an unexpected visit from someone who returns something important to them. So perhaps this unusual combination of mystery, bizarre incident and sensitive realist drama with a humorous touch is less pessimistic than the end of the world might lead us to believe. A contemporary fantasy that leaves lots of scope for interpretation.

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