"Secret Sunshine"
Not a frame is wasted in this 142-minute Korean drama from director Lee Chang-Dong, which begins with a mother and son stranded on the road to Miryang, the Korean town whose Chinese characters translate as the film's title. The mother and son are rescued by The Host's Kang-Ho Song, here with another bad haircut, playing a friendly auto mechanic who falls hard for the woman, a piano teacher settling in the town of her late husband's birth.
The first 40 minutes or so comprise fish-out-of-water comedy/drama of the sort that might have Hollywood pursuing remake rights, but an awful tragedy sends the movie and its heroine into another direction altogether—a direction I think is best experienced with as little foreknowledge as possible, hence my skimpy plot description from here. The story's component involving religion evokes Bunuel without adopting his barbed irony; the theme of a woman losing control of her life recalls Cassavettes, but Chang-Dong Lee doesn't go for the burn-rubber emotionalism of the American director. What makes this movie so hard to pin down critically, especially in blog-time, is how little Chang-Dong Lee's style recalls other directors'. I admit that I haven't seen his three prior films. But I'm very much looking forward to catching up.
Traditional Korean names start with the family name first, therefore you would be referring to the director as Lee.
That is unless you meant to be informal.
Posted by: Caz | May 26, 2007 at 07:37 PM
Yesterday night, I saw it. I think about "Film"...Abatract term "Pain" makes concret term..vividly!! It's amazing! conglaturation the award!
Posted by: Jo | May 27, 2007 at 11:14 PM
Yesterday night, I saw it. I think about "Film"...Abatract term "Pain" makes concret term..vividly!! It's amazing! conglaturation the award!
Posted by: Jo | May 27, 2007 at 11:14 PM
He made a deep impression on the audience.
Posted by: kimmi | July 07, 2007 at 07:11 AM