Monday, August 1, 2011

Poetry – review

poetry-chang-dong-lee Yun Jeong-hie in the Korean drama Poetry: 'a remarkable central performance'.

The body of a teenage girl floats down a river in Korea. Mija, a neatly dressed, 65-year-old, working-class widow, is diagnosed with early Alzheimer's. Every afternoon, she attends to an old man suffering from a stroke who seeks sexual relief from her and she waits hand and foot on her lazy, ungrateful grandson while her daughter is working in Seoul.

PoetryProduction year: 2010Countries: Rest of the world, South Korea Cert (UK): 12ARuntime: 139 minsDirectors: Lee Chang-Dong, Lee ChangdongCast: An Haesong, David Lee, Kim Hee-Jeong, Kim Hira, Kim Yongbaek, Yun JungheeMore on this film

Meanwhile, she joins a poetry class at a social centre and wonders about personal creativity. What unites the various strands of an apparently simple woman's life and a society she struggles to understand? The answers are gradually provided by a thoughtful, cleverly developed script.

As her mind becomes clouded by dementia, Mija is drawn into a conspiracy by a group of parents at a school to cover up a suicide brought about by rape and humiliation involving her grandson. Steadily, she acts with a new moral and social awareness, organises what remains of her life and discovers the inspiration to write poetry. A fascinating, satisfying film with a remarkable central performance.


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