Poetry (2010)

Steady and stealthy, this film proposes to be as lyrical and compact as a poem, but then it keeps going and ends up larger and more impressive than you'd expect. And the acting by leading female actress, the Korean star Jeong-hie Yun, is startling and nuanced, a great performance.

At the heart of the plot are two plots. The first is the title line—elderly Mija has decided to learn how to write poetry, so she attends a class (filled with younger students). The second is about a sex crime—a gang rape it turns out—by her grandson, who she is raising alone. The two are nearly opposites in so many ways we see how life itself balances the beautiful and ugly, and responsibility and indifference. In a larger way, "Poetry" is about contemporary life in Korea, and the interactions of ordinary people in extreme situations will be revealing to many outside of Korea.

It's hard to overstate how well this movie pulls off something socially serious and yet makes it all understated and almost matter of fact. There are these several lines of thought that keep going throughout, and that don't quite converge until the very end, which is both tragic (truly) and a bit mysterious. What exactly is the implication of that last scene on the bridge, and the water that shows nothing? It hearkens to the beginning, of course, but we have our main character at hand.

In that sense, it's a brilliant, almost perfect evocation of contemporary Korea on the most normal, middle class level. Lovely and loving, and cold and brutal. And it shows the glib sexism of the men there, much like everywhere at various times. And how to survive you sometimes have to just proceed. And then, of course, sometimes you do not survive.

POETRY is, inevitably, a film that strives to be poetic throughout, and yet come the end a few infuriating flaws detract from the experience. The first is the running time, which is way too long for such a slender story. I know this was intended to be a realistic mood piece, dealing with the older generation so that a slow and sedate pace reflects the lives of the characters, but seriously? An hour could easily have been cut out to no ill effect.

Still, there are plenty of flashes of greatness in this production. The leading actress, Jeong-hie Yun, who came out of retirement to star in this film, is very good indeed and never less than authentic. The way the movie explores the relationship with the man she cares for is very intriguing. But, at times, I expected the film to be more harrowing, especially in regard to her character's plight. It's as if the director takes great pride in NOT showing the scenes you expect to see, but the end result is a lack of drama and involvement.

By far the most interesting aspect of the storyline involves the main actress's grandson, but it's more build-up than pay-off and the resolution, when it comes, is presented so insignificantly that you almost miss the significance. Nevertheless, the understated direction and sheer beauty of many of the scenes contribute a lot to the production, and sometimes it's nice to watch a movie that takes a step back or two to reflect on the human condition. I liked it, but didn't love it...

As this film opens we see a group of children playing by a river; then the body of a young girl floats into view... one could be excused for expecting a mystery at this point but that isn't what this film is about. We soon learn that the girl is named Agnes and she drowned herself; her dairy made it clear that the reason she killed her self is that she had been repeatedly raped by six boys at her school... the film follows the story of one of the boy's grandmothers; sixty six year old Mija who is suffering the early stage of Alzheimer's. Before we learn of her grandson, Wook's, involvement Mija learns that a girl in his year has killed herself; he appears indifferent and claims not to have known her. It is only later when the father of one of the other boys tells her crime that we learn what happened; there is no mystery as to whether it did happen as the boys all admit it. The only question is what will happen next; the school doesn't want the negative publicity and the other boy's fathers want to protect their children's futures; to this end they propose paying Agnes mother five million Won (~US$4.400) each so that she won't press charges. Mija doesn't have that sort of money but finds herself pressured to get it.

While this is going on she has started attending a poetry class and even though she can't find inspiration herself she also attends local poetry readings. She starts noting down her thoughts on little things such as the taste of a fallen apricot or the colours of some flowers; all the while though she can't stop thinking about Agnes and ultimately she provides the inspiration for her poem.

This film is quite different from any other I can think of; we are often shown crimes from the viewpoint of the police, the victim's family and even the criminal but here it is from the viewpoint of a perpetrator's grandmother; a good woman who clearly doesn't know what she should do; her grandson is clearly unpleasant but from what the father's say his victim's mother needs the money more than she needs to see the guilty jailed. Jeong-hie Yun is a delight as Mija; it was refreshing to see a woman her age in the leading role. Director Chang-dong Lee takes things slowly, which might put off some viewers, I found it just served to draw me into the story more thoroughly. Not speaking Korean I can't comment of the beauty of the poetry, a subtitled translation can't be a substitute; however I can comment on the visual beauty of those scenes where Mija left her town and headed out into the countryside where Agnes lived and died; it was beautiful without being overly dramatic. There is ugliness too of course; we have to wonder how the school and the fathers could countenance such a crime. This might not be a typical film but I'd certainly recommend seeing it if you get the chance.