Antique is one of my absolute favourite BL films. I watched it when there weren't that many BL films available for me and that probably had something to do with why I liked it so much. Who knows. I had it on my laptop for a while, along with other of my favourites, and re-watched it I don't even know how many times. Even now I wouldn't mind a re-watch.
I like to describe this movie as funny, cute, and painful. The tone is set from the very start, you fully know what you are getting into.
What's it about
Jin-hyuk was brought up as the well-bred heir to a corporate fortune. He has got the looks, the money and the charm, but even so. Jin-hyuk opens up a cake shop and hires Sun-woo, a talented patissier who had a crush on Jin-hyuk back in high school. Together with Gi-beom, an ex-boxing champion, and Su-young, a clueless bodyguard, four unique and handsome men stir up a quiet neighbourhood when they show up at the cake shop, Antique.
What I think about it
This being one of my favourites it comes as no surprise that I liked all of the characters. Each one of them has their quirks and their backgrounds that makes it unlikely for them to be able to work together, but somehow things work out. After a lengthy hiring process, these four guys finally form the staff at Antique and their adventure begins.
Besides the main plot, which is the bakery, the main characters also deal with various aspects of their personal lives, aspects that are neatly brought to attention. Jin-hyuk has a well kept secret, Sun-woo left behind a different life, Gi-beom had to make an important choice, and Su-young is... Su-young. Their different personalities is what makes this movie so entertaining; the way they come together, how they work and interact is a beautiful thing and we see some really special relationships forming.
Watching Antique you really get the whole package, it's a comedy, a drama, a thriller (I might be going a bit too far with the thriller bit). I admit I might be biased, but this sounds like a great deal to me.
What else
Antique, or more accurately, Antique Bakery is first of all a manga written by Fumi Yoshinaga. The manga, published in 1999-2002, was first adapted into a 12 episodes Japanese series in 2001. In 2008 Antique Bakery also got an anime series, 12 episodes long, the same year when Antique, the Korean movie, was released.
Originally, the manga is a shounen-ai, but in the Japanese TV series the BL aspect of it was reduced to... nothing, while the Korean version follows the manga's plot more closely. I did try to watch the Japanese version, but I didn't get past the first half of the first episode. The characters were so stiff it didn't really match the whole idea of Antique Bakery I was already used to, so I didn't really try.
I didn't read the manga and I'm not sure I will, but, as of 2011, there are also 14 dōjinshi available featuring some of the stories mentioned in the manga, as well as some explicit situations involving some of the characters for whom might be interested (me included).
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