I have been bingeing alot on videos but mostly Youtube and Korean Variety Shows so I decided on watching a movie… I found this online and it was a movie that I wanted to watch because I know it caused alot of controversy in Korea last year
My Synopsis:
The story of Kim Ji Young a girl that dreamed to be an author but was hired in a marketing firm and lived her older years as a housewife. It tells her story of her mental illness and struggle to live as a woman in the setting.
Movie that touches on the gender stereotypes in Korea and the struggles with being a mother…
Not too heavy, yet not a very light movie to watch
If a girl, leaves you thinking how blessed you are in this modern age and society you are in that has less strong gender biases…
-Rebecca
My Storyline:
It starts off with a normal setting, families during new years. This is when the wife goes to the husband’s home and cooks up a feast. Here, we see signs of the problem, she suddenly starts talking as if she was her mother and not her.
Throughout the film, it showcases the things that girls had or even now have to go through: from being looked down upon when being a working mom/ housewife, to being harassed on the bus, to having secret pictures taken of them in the toilet, to being less favoured compared to their brothers, basically everything Asian girls grew up with which was a much stronger stereotype in the past.
She has that mother in law that loves her son and puts her son above everything. She has that father and aunt that loves her younger brother the most. Her saving grace is her husband that loves her so and her mother and sister that believe that girls should be cared for and should be treated equally compared to males and stands up for equality. There is also a character called Chief Kim, who is a female superior in the company that has put up with so much gender bias but also is the one who offers her a job in the future.
My Reflections:
Honestly, like more themed movies, it was slow paced with cinematic scenes to display emotion. But I am not the type that greatly appreciates those and like monologue alot better. Nevertheless, it is a great movie that talks about the hardships of being a wife in the Korean society. I am sure alot of these scenes are still happening, but hopefully significantly less.
I loved how the husband was trying to take care of her and his character honestly saved the film. Because without him, I would feel so bad for Kim Ji Young, because it would seem like only her family would be on her side.
At the end, it also shows that he sacrificed for her too and became the one taking the lead in parenting by picking up their child at the daycare center. While, Kim Ji Young fulfilled her writer dream by having a published article in a magazine. The last few scenes were very impactful.
It ended with her staring into the sunlight and smiling which was unlike before. Before, she used to sit down or stand and stare, looking very out of it or sad and the sky was always dark or not as bright. But the last scene, where it was so bright and she looked so proud of herself, really hit me.
And the final scene, was her typing and in her voice, telling her story. She was Kim Ji Young, born on April 1st 1982…
Bex's Cinematic Reviews 