Synopsis
Johnny in New York is a penniless actor. Life for him is a living hell. As if he’s not troubled enough with trying to land a role and paying the rent, his girlfriend creates havoc for him. As a kind of last resort, he earns some pocket money playing Santa during the approaching Christmas season. Playing Santa on the street, however, is not such an easy job either. Johnny gets into fist fights with pedestrians and doesn’t make that good a Santa for children. Then along comes a girl wearing an angel’s outfit, and calling herself, well, “Angel”. Although the film is about Christmas and Santa Claus, this ain’t a typical Christmas movie. There’s no white snow blanketing the city. There are no loving reconciliations between conflicting people. The carols sung by the characters throughout the film sound rather dreary. Just like the life Johnny is leading, the world featured in the film looks gloomy - even barren. This is not a world where Christmas is something all warm and fuzzy, as it was in Love Actually. Against this dreary background, the film tries to talk about ‘salvation’. Angel’s appearance in Johnny’s stark and empty reality clearly symbolizes redemption. She brings joy to his life but he drives the angel away by his own mistake. Eventually the film tries to show that salvation is not given from outside but should be found from within, but this conclusion only adds unfathomable depth to the already unbearably grim atmosphere of the film. Still, on it talks of salvation anyhow. Does it mean we could, after all, call this a Christmas film? (LIM Ji-soo)