Definitely my favorite movie of the pandemic is CRASH LANDING ON YOU, but I also think it epitomizes how to show romance by each giving, doing for each other, and taking care of the other. The romance is so good, as is the comedy and the drama. It’s written by female screenwriter Park Ji-Eun.

I am taking a Gotham Screenwriters Course with Doug Katz, and he gave some great advice on my scene sequence (which is a romantic comedy, of course):

• What do they each do for the other? As an example, he said, look at how Katharine Hepburn takes out the splinters from Humphrey Bogart’s foot in THE AFRICAN QUEEN.
• What does he need that she can do for him? What does she need that he can do for her?
• Give them conflict as to what each like to do (i.e., he likes eating sushi, she doesn’t).

As in all romantic comedies, how will they change each other unexpectedly? As Billy Mernit writes in Writing the Romantic Comedy,

“Create two incompletes who complete each other, seeming opposites who unite in a belief that love comes first–that’s the key to crafting a chemical equation that will set off sparks.”

Writing the Romantic Comedy by Billly Mernit at p. 155

Park Ji-Eun definitely achieves that with Yoon Se-ri (played by Son Ye-jin) and Jeong-hyeok (played by Hyun Bin). Happy sigh.

CRASH LANDING ON YOU and Doing for Each Other

In the first scene where we see Yoon Se-ri and Captain Ri Jeong-hyeok meet, Yoon Se-ri lands on North Korean Captain Ri. She tells him that she was paragliding and there was a storm and she landed here in North Korea by accident. Eventually, he tells Se-ri how to get back to South Korea. But can she trust him? He also gives her advice on how to avoid the landmines.

What does she do for him? She makes him smile. He has resolved not to be happy and not to care about anyone again since the death of his brother. But, as he overhears her on her walkie-talkie trying to reach her employees to be rescued (promising them bonuses), he smiles.

In their next scene together, he whisks her inside his yard, saving her from being spotted by the State Security Department.

While he tries to remain closed and aloof, she chats to him and keeps asking questions.

How do they complete each other?

Both teach each other to love and to care about each other—to open up to another person and not to remain closed off emotionally or socially. I particularly love the lyrics of the Flower song: “So, I am worried about you,” but the whole soundtrack is amazing.

Giving and Conflict

In another early scene, Captain Ri carefully prepares noodles for Yoon Se-ri from scratch. So, we could have a scene without any conflict where she happily eats the noodles. But what happens instead? Se-ri is worried that the food is poisoned and wants him to try it first. “But in the South, this is what we do. When you are eating at someone else’s house, the guest usually offers the first bite to the host.” He gets offended that she thinks the food is poisoned. This follows Doug’s third point about how to create conflict even when they are giving to each other. She tries to negotiate with him, saying she will repay any kindness. Eventually, he takes away the food, saying he won’t show her any kindness.

Let’s Talk

Anyway, I highly recommend CRASH LANDING ON YOU, but I must warn you that it’s highly addictive. It feels like every scene ends on a cliffhanger. It’s directed in such a way that we revisit scenes and get more information, almost as if from a different POV in that scene. Close friends have now recommended THE DESCENDANTS and BOYS OVER FLOWERS. But I also need to write :), so I’m actually worried about starting another K-drama.

Have you seen CRASH LANDING ON YOU? If so, what is your favorite part? And if not, what movies or books do you recommend?

Here’s hoping that spring is just around the corner as I sit here typing, the sun streaming in my window.