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Kim Seung-Keun has reached his end. Mounting debt and the loss of all that he holds dear leaves him contemplating his mortality on a busy bridge high above the Han River. He chooses to take the plunge. As proof that God has enjoys a good bit of irony, the non-swimming Mr. Kim wakes up on an island within eyesight of the city he so desperately wished to leave. He is a castaway in a bustling urban South Korean city.

Kim Jung-Yeon is a reclusive, agoraphobic young lady who lives her life in a cyber world, her only interaction with the real world is to take nightly pictures of the moon with a high-powered lens, her walls adorned with the images of her obsession. Twice a year Jung-Yeon opens her curtains on the daylight world to take images of an empty city, and on the latest of these rare occasions she notices the word “HELP” scratched in the sand on the island in the Han River. Unable to turn away, those four desperate letters are about to spark cataclysmic changes in the lives of the Kims.

Suicide and crippling fear…sounds a bit depressing, doesn’t it? Don’t be fooled, dear readers. Castaway on the Moon is a sweet, quirky, romantic South Korean comedy from director Lee Hae-Jun that will put a whimsical smile on your face.

A few weeks ago I found myself in the increasingly rare position of being home alone for the evening. I pulled up Netflix online and began combing through various film categories, ending up in the foreign films section. As I added films to my streaming queue, Castaway on the Moon came up as a recommendation. I pulled up the trailer and was smitten. I plopped myself down in front of the television, fired up the XBox 360, and streamed this lovely, funny, touching film into my home.

Ah, what delight!

Castaway on the Moon is a film with a very small cast and principally focuses on the two protagonists who are stranded in lives of desperation. Jung Jae-Young plays castaway Kim Seung-Keun and actress Jung Ryeo-Won plays agoraphobic Kim Jung-Yeon to such perfection that within minutes of meeting each character you are mesmerized by their lives and the certainty that they will intersect in some magical way. And indeed they do. But of course I won’t tell you how (although the trailer below gives some idea). Suffice it to say that it is with baby steps that both characters begin to take an active role on the stage of their own lives and as they do their lives are filled with small triumphs that leave the audience cheering for them both.

This is a delightful and very funny movie that doesn’t shy away from the pain that each character is experiencing. But it examines that pain in such an effective way, with quirky humor, that you find yourself deeply touched by the film. The smile on my face at the end of the movie was so bright I swear you must have all seen it and been momentarily blinded. The fates were smiling down on me when I stumbled across this, knowing it was exactly what I needed. I enjoyed the film so much that I planned a movie night the very next night and watched it with my wife. She loved it too.

If you normally shy away from foreign (subtitled) films, I would urge you to give this one a try. The dialogue is minimal compared to many other films. Much of the story is told through the visuals and those visuals are terrific, the work of a creative, talented film maker. And allow me to say that you know a soundtrack is good when you don’t understand any of the words and yet you find joy in the music.

Castaway on the Moon is a treat that I just had to share with you. I do so hope that you’ll give this film a try. It is the very definition of a “feel good” movie, one that manages to be light on saccharine and heavy on hope.