Secret Sunshine
2007 ‘Milyang’ Directed by Chang-dong Lee
Synopsis
Sin-ae moves with her son Jun to Miryang, the town where her dead husband was born. As she tries to come to herself and set out on new foundations, another tragic event overturns her life.
Popular reviews
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My Chang-dong Lee journey is now officially over (well until he makes a new film) and it has been somewhat of a revelation this year. I’ve put off reviewing Secret Sunshine because I am still unsure quite what to make of it as it is arguably his most difficult work to date. It is tricky talking about the film without mentioning particular plot points but I will try my best.
The film is emotionally raw and complex featuring a protagonist that goes through near-inconceivable ordeals. It is these ordeals that made it such a troubling film for me as the key scene that turns the narrative on its head seemed forced and deliberately manipulative. After the ‘event’ (it really is…
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Lars Von Korea. But seriously, Jeon Do-yeon's huge performance is the teary glue that binds this gently-paced and harrowing melo. But there are problems, notably Lee's insistance on sly narrative wrongfooting and a stubborn habit of floating in some kind of emotional respite or redemption, then yanking it away again. That's not a bad thing per se, but by the final reel, you're naturally attuned to this counterintuitive MO and so primed not to expect things to be all neat and tidy. Plus, for a 140 minute movie, there are a couple of major developments that happen far too swiftly. Elipses are awesome and everything, but there's a whopper in the middle of this movie that beggars belief. Like, an…
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Never has a character that goes through so much tragedy and bullshit still be so unlikeable, what a great performance.
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Emotionally powerful, however I don't think I could fare this again.
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One of my favourite female performances of all time. Devastatingly beautiful look at the downwards trajectory of a woman suffering from a loss, never relying on an easy or quick solution. The road to happiness is a windy one with many stops along the way.
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I liked it, but the pacing of the film was... well, not very effective on me. But I did find it to be a realistic drama of a woman struggling to adapt to tragedy --- I bought it, and there were some great scenes.... but as a whole, not something I was very impressed with. Still, it's worth a watch if you like foreign film.
I prefer Poetry over this.
Recent reviews
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A truly devastating and exhilarating film about a widow who starts over by moving to a small town as she would encounter tragedy as she struggles to find salvation as it features an outstanding performance from Jeon Do-yeon.
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Lars Von Korea. But seriously, Jeon Do-yeon's huge performance is the teary glue that binds this gently-paced and harrowing melo. But there are problems, notably Lee's insistance on sly narrative wrongfooting and a stubborn habit of floating in some kind of emotional respite or redemption, then yanking it away again. That's not a bad thing per se, but by the final reel, you're naturally attuned to this counterintuitive MO and so primed not to expect things to be all neat and tidy. Plus, for a 140 minute movie, there are a couple of major developments that happen far too swiftly. Elipses are awesome and everything, but there's a whopper in the middle of this movie that beggars belief. Like, an…
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More and more now I find myself gravitating towards films like this. Lee Chang-dong's 2007 film is mostly a quiet, contemplative experience, without anything in the way of directorial showmanship or obvious plot elements. It may seem deceptively simple as first, but it has continued to reveal new layers as I've thought about it consistently for the last week. The film starts with a mother journeying with her son to her late husband's hometown, where she hopes to live and work as a piano teacher. As they near their destination, their car breaks down, and the local mechanic comes out to help her and drive her into town. He immediately falls in love with her, but the rest of the…
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Acting tour-de-force.
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This is a grueling and saturnine descent into despondency with a central performance for the ages. I don't think I could watch it twice.
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Rarely do I feel as ambivalent about a movie as with this. The camera doesn't quite let us see everything and we never get to listen in on the phone, as if we are simply another character in the room. This distancing from the protagonist is frustrating at times when we don't understand or approve of her reactions or lack thereof.
On the other hand it's easy to sympathize with the protagonist and her difficulty dealing with limitless grief with people around her telling her how to do it right. The religious aspects of the story are nicely balanced and should make anyone with strong opinions uncomfortable but intrigued.
It's all very honest and believable, but also cold and distant.
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A remarkable film about a woman's journey from isolation and abstraction to a more connected and human existence. Lee uses melodrama beautifully, the shifting tones balancing perfectly on one another. His portrayal of religion is one of the fairest and charitably rendered in recent memory, the film illustrating its interest in every significant character. The two leads are especially good, and while Jeon has gotten the accolades, it's the tender and comic performance from Song that endures for me.
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Never has a character that goes through so much tragedy and bullshit still be so unlikeable, what a great performance.
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A film that has stayed with me. I'm a huge fan of Lee's 2002 OASIS, and while the social relevance of that film and his recent POETRY is greater, something about the style, performances and existential themes of SECRET SUNSHINE make it resonant in a way few movies have. The film so obsessed me that I wrote a long article trying to analyze and understand it. I still don't believe I have. Not that I'm complaining.
Essay available here:
http://ejumpcut.org/archive/jc52.2010/RaymondSecretSunsh/index.html