Film Review: 'Jjanggu' Revives a 'The Wind' Character 16 Years Later

"It feels romantic. The lighting, the temperature, the humidity ..." a cast member said on a variety show. The point was that place, weather and even how you feel can add up to a mood. Movies are no different. A viewer’s emotions and experiences can become the yardstick for judging a film. In that spirit, "Choi Family Review" introduces films through the writer’s own perspective, in a more relaxed, everyday tone. <Editor’s note>
Some films do not end when the theater lights come up. Lines and expressions linger, replaying in the memories of people who lived through that time. The 2009 film 'The Wind' was one of them. Its box-office numbers did not tell the whole story, but it later gained the label of an "unofficial 10 million" hit through IPTV and VOD, becoming a phenomenon. 'Jjanggu' (directed by Jung Woo and Oh Seong-ho) expands that world and brings back a figure from those memories 16 years later. Rather than leaning only on nostalgia, it looks straight at the harsh reality of youth that can feel stuck in place. After taking off his school uniform and moving to Seoul, Jjanggu does not find a breakthrough but a long, grinding stretch of endurance. The film’s engine is the reality of young people who cannot give up on their dreams, yet must get through today and line up again for tomorrow.

In 2010, Jjanggu (played by Jung Woo), a young man from Busan, heads to Seoul on a single hope: to become an actor. He cannot even pay the electric bill and gets by on a bowl of ramen, but in front of friends back home he mixes in Seoul slang and puts on a show of confidence. Living with his younger roommate, Kkangnaengi (Jo Beom-gyu), Jjanggu bounces from audition to audition, where life is not a spotlight but a cycle of rejection and trying again.

As with 'The Wind,' Jung Woo’s autobiographical story anchors 'Jjanggu.' The sense of peeking into a page of his youth is reinforced through audition scenes tied to major works that shaped his career, adding a sharper feeling of reality. That is why Jung Woo is often described as the film’s identity. Viewers are positioned like longtime friends watching Jjanggu’s struggle up close, laughing and hurting with him as they sink into his inner life. Jung Woo’s performance does not simply recreate a character; it lays out, plainly, both the brightest and most humiliating parts of his past, forging a strong bond with the audience.
Though the story flows around Jung Woo, its energy is completed by the people around Jjanggu. The back-and-forth among Jjanggu, Jjangjae (Shin Seung-ho) and Kkangnaengi is the film’s strongest draw. These are recognizable, everyday characters who add momentum while sharpening the texture of Busan as a place. The film leans on the sense that it is showing real Busan people, not a polished imitation, along with views from around the city. The actors’ raw performances, paired with Busan’s night air, pull viewers quickly into the period’s atmosphere.

The handling of female characters, however, leaves room for criticism. Minhee (Jung Soo-jung), who is paired with Jjanggu in a romance, is drawn in a familiar "male fantasy" mold, and the way the relationship unfolds can feel out of step with today’s sensibilities. Because the film is strongest when it focuses on Jjanggu’s pursuit of acting, his day-to-day struggle and his lived-in rhythm with friends, it raises the question of whether more weight there would have helped.

Even so, 'Jjanggu' remains funny, bittersweet and, in the end, intense, because the characters’ sincerity is embedded throughout and ultimately persuades the viewer. Echoing a line in the film — "It’s darkest before dawn" — it aims to accompany those moving through their own dark tunnel, offering presence rather than easy comfort. Following behind Jjanggu like someone watching a best friend’s growing pains, viewers may find themselves looking back on their own past seasons. The film opens April 22. Running time is 95 minutes, and it is rated for ages 15 and up.