It's Okay!

Story: Oh In-yeong (Lee Re) attends the Seoul International Arts Company. While she is performing with her group, her mother dies in a car accident. A year later, she is still attending school but living alone. She somehow gets by thanks to welfare and has to repeatedly avoid the officials who are waiting outside her apartment to discuss a permanent solution to her situation. However, her landlord eventually has enough and evicts her. From then on, she lives secretly at the dance school. But In-yeong is soon caught by her teacher and choreographer Seol-ah (Jin Seo-yeon). The emotionally distant, former professional dancer doesn't have a good solution right away and so she takes the girl in for a few days. Meanwhile, In-yeong has to endure the ridicule of the other dancers, who are being egged on by her classmate Na-ri (Chung Su-bin). Na-ri is the top dancer in the group, but she dislikes In-yeong and sees her as a rival, as the girl is getting better and better. At the same time, Seol-ah is putting increasing pressure on her students, as an anniversary show is planned soon. In-yeong's carefree attitude is also quite exhausting for the teacher, but the two are slowly growing closer.

Review: The beginning of this drama immediately suggests that we'll be treated to nonstop tragedy and tears. After the death of our protagonist's mother, however, we simply jump ahead a year, and only in a flashback and an emotional scene in a pharmacy do we get the kind of drama we might have expected. Otherwise, "It's Okay!" is a surprisingly optimistic film, particularly captivating thanks to In-yeong and her direct manner and zest for life. It's clear that some of this is a defense mechanism, but she herself is also aware of it, as we can see in a fascinating scene with her rival. Much of this drama is familiar, but the positive overall tone and, of course, the traditional Korean dance as a canvas are unique selling points that make this drama work well. Despite some weaknesses, primarily concerning the characters and the script, a wonderfully life-affirming drama unfolds over the course of just over 100 minutes.

Perhaps we should first address the shortcomings. Choreographer and teacher Seol-ah comes to mind in particular. She seems extremely aloof and is a carbon copy of the perfectionism — only being number one counts — that leads to so many burnouts and suicides in Korea. Accordingly, it's difficult to sympathize with her. Then, however, she takes In-yeong into her home, and unsurprisingly, the girl's open and at times somewhat pushy nature finally makes Seol-ah open up. It would have been nice to have presented the teacher's transformation more vividly here. Instead of her simply changing and even occasionally bringing out a smile, it should have been shown that she was actually always this person, simply buried behind perfectionism. Every now and then, we get a glimpse that this was probably even the intention of the script, but the transformation is less satisfying than one would have hoped. There are also enough scenes between teacher and student scattered throughout the film that turned out nice, but there was potential to do even more with the characters.

Jin Seo-yeon ("Believer") clearly puts some effort into her role, though, and we even get a few moments where the first small changes in Seol-ah emerge, for example, when she tries a small piece of breakfast meat in In-yeong's absence. The armor she's worn for decades is slowly crumbling, and this is thanks to the always cheerful student. Lee Re ("Peninsula") is the unrivaled heart of the film. She manages to infuse each of her lines with a joie de vivre and snappiness that are simply disarming. This also gives the drama a good dose of humor. Lee exudes immense charisma, and this is what grounds the film and sets it apart from similar dramas. Of course, there's also jealousy and resentment among the dancers, but even here it becomes clear that not everything is as it initially seems. There are many individuals of whom we're sure we've only seen the surface. And just when we begin to glimpse beneath the surface, the script has more or less written the character off. What a pity.

A good example of missed opportunities among the characters is the pharmacist. Played by Son Sukku, who is better known for his roles as a villain in "The Roundup" for example, the man in the white coat provides excellent emotional support for In-yeong and connects with her, probably because he's cool without necessarily trying to appear cool. Still, he's only ever brought out for specific moments in the story. Likewise, there's In-yeong's best friend since kindergarten, who should actually be an important person for the girl, but who is just there without any sort of chemistry between the "couple". Another point of criticism is that there are some scenes that are supposed to rely on natural acting and almost seem slightly improvised, but they don't always hit the mark. Perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh on the film in this regard. The way In-yeong deals with the people in her life, how she always has a biting or humorous answer ready and yet sometimes shows her vulnerability in a very understandable way, is particularly convincing.

Ultimately, In-yeong is simply a wonderful person, even though she's still partly a child and feels lost, and not only because of her missing parents. She may talk a lot, but she's honest, reliable, and empathetic. Besides a protagonist who inevitably has to win you over, "It's Okay!" also offers a few appealing dance scenes and drum performances. The traditional dances almost seem like martial arts choreographies, and not just when fans or knives are used. What's particularly pleasing is that the dance scenes aren't just loose accessories, but they also don't push themselves into the foreground: the director simply found the perfect balance. This drama isn't a dance film that sticks to the formula of a sports film either, so that our heroine wins in the end. No, "It's Okay!" is much more down-to-earth and still manages to exude the same kind of optimism as a sports film. An unusual drama, but one that's very accessible and entertaining.

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