Shades of the Heart

Chang Seok (Yeon Woo Jin) is a novelist who lives and works in the United Kingdom. After a seven-year absence, he returns to Seoul in the springtime to relive old memories of his days living in the South Korean capital. His life has become entangled with his work, blurring the lines between real life, fiction, and his writing. As he navigates the city streets, he stops by cafes, bars, museums, and restaurants. His wanderings lead him into a number of unusual encounters with strangers, including Sung Ha (Kim Sang Ho), a man who approaches him to tell the novelist a story about a mysterious Buddhist monk. He also meets Mi Young (IU), a young woman who says she has no interest in reading novels – and claims she cannot understand why people would ever read a fiction book. And then there’s Joo Eun (Lee Joo Young), a bartender who starts talking to him while he is writing in his notebook – offering to “buy” his memories in exchange for a drink. Meanwhile, an editor named Yoo Jin (Yoon Hye Ri) has a sad story she wants to tell him about a former boyfriend. As he listens to their tales, and tells them some of his own stories, the lines between reality and fiction begin to blur even further… “Shades of the Heart” is a 2021 South Korean movie that was directed by Kim Jong Kwan.