In one scene on a bus, we see college student Yeong-seok (played by Nam Joo-hyuk) sitting in the bleak night in front of an ad that promises learning English will grant him freedom. It s a bitterly ironic moment, but just one of many in Josee that uses the trappings of seeming romantic melodrama to ask what it really means to be free. Yet writer/director Kim Jong-kwan takes his time getting to this very moody point, ultimately starting the action off with Yeong-seok accidentally crashing into the wheelchair of the disabled Josee (Han Ji-min).