The Summer／あの夏 The Summer

SYNOPSIS

地方のある高校で知り合ったイギョンとスイ。２人の運命的な出会いはグラウンドで始まる。運動場を歩いていたイギョンは、スイが蹴ったボールに当たって、うっかりメガネを壊してしまう。そんな偶然の出会いから、惹かれあうようになっていく2人。高校卒業後、彼女たちはソウルに移住し、イギョンは大学に進学し、スイは社会に出る。それぞれに異なる道を進み、新たな喜びが生まれるとともに、想像も出来なかった葛藤や、目をそらせない違いが生まれていく―。

The Summer is an animated film about Suyi and Yi-Gyeong, who met and started dating in the summer when they were 18 years old. From short advertisements to omnibus-style works, director Han Ji-won has consistently demonstrated a unique personal style that incorporates delicate emotions. The same is true of the romance landscape of The Summer, which is based on a short story of the same name by author Choi Eun-young. After sharing a summer full of affection, Suyi and Yi-Gyeong promise to also share a happy future together. Although they appear on a soft and detailed background not unlike watercolours, their lives are not always as bright as they seem. After leaving school and heading for the city, the couple, now 20 years old, face another season, one coloured by the weight of reality and a growing distance between them. The Summer is both a queer romance and an unhesitating depiction of a love shaped by the conditions of the world. In a similar way, the film also traces how the innermost facets of a relationship can connect with the world around them.