Twinkling Watermelon is a wonderful story of how a CODA (child of deaf adult) suddenly travels back in time and got to interact with his teenage parents, where he learns about their youth while discovering more about himself.
It may be your usual time travel trope, but Twinkling Watermelon gives a different feel, a heartwarming story of family and friendship and how one will take great lengths to make sure his family stays together.
Meet Ha Eun Gyeol, he is the only hearing and talking member of his family. As long as he can remember, he has been their voice, an interpreter so people would understand what his father, mother and brother wants to convey. He's a diligent student and he loves music.
He meets an old man in a music store who taught him how to play the guitar and he learned that he was actually good. But a near-tragedy made him hide his love for music, until he secretly joins a band and then, he got discovered by his father. This will catapult a series of events that will lead him back to 1995, where he meets his teenage parents.
There, he meets Ha Yi Chan, his 18-year-old father, who he discovers, can actually talk and sing. He starts a band to impress a girl, Choi Segyeong and has not met his mother, Yoon Cheong Ah, yet.
What do I love about Twinkling Watermelon?
First off, the actors have given such excellent performances. I was really impressed with how Ryeoul and Jung Hyun Jung (present and young Eungyeol) convey their emotions while doing sign language and talking at the same time. And their eyes shows off any emotion that they have at that moment and you feel it. Choi Won Young (older Ha Yi Chan) and Seo Young Hee (older Yoon Cheong Ah) emotes so effortlessly, you would think that they're not just acting. But Ryeoun hits different as he shows off his anger, his guilt, anguish, confusion, happiness so naturally.
Also, you see the strong bond between Eungyeol's family. You see how there's always a positive atmosphere whenever the family is together, the way their parents raised them with optismism and encouragement and never even once showed despair over their situation. Even if Eungyeol is younger, he looks after his hyung and makes sure he is taken cared of. He has this memory of his great grandmother, how she stayed until she was sure that there is someone who will be the voice of the family. Even in 1995, the closeness between his father and his grandmother shows how strong their family bond is way before he was born.
We also see how music plays a big part in the story. From the start when Eungyeol heard Tears in Heaven, we know how this will impact his life. Music will be his source of strength. This will also be the reason for his time slip and music will bridge him and his younger father as they form a band together called Watermelon Sugar.
Ryeoun and Choi Hyun Wook look so good on stage, too. This father and son own that stage every time they're on it. Giving us that wonderful reminiscent feeling of watching our school bands perform in school.
There was a scene where Eungyeol was talking to his mentor and he gets asked, "who is the real you?". When he's tormented on whether to continue his passion but his guilt stops him from doing so, this was what gave him the reason to continue on with his secret band. Although it's clear from the get-go that it's school first before music and family first before anything else, that confusion eats him up inside as he really wants to play. For him, music is life and he felt that after living for others for so long, he also needs to live his own life.
Segyeong who always followed what her mother planned out for her to please her, has no life other than the cello. But was also taken aback when Yichan tells her that her life seems a bit stuffy. Or Yichan who thinks he needs to help his grandmother earn money, so he does not plan to go to college, who forms a band to woo a girl. Cheongah's very silent life, where she is hidden from the world and not allowed to "talk" lest everyone see her disability.
I will wait for that moment when all of them gets to see their real selves, not the person others perceive them to be, or others want them to be. But like Eungyeol, who decided to be true to himself.
This is life. We may have difficulty articulating it, but once we understand ourselves, we will be able to navigate life as life intended it to be.
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