And so I make the
Big Move to Los Angeles, the world capitol of the
Entertainment Industry. (At least, that is, when the WGA
isn’t striking.) Living on the fifteenth floor of a
high-rise apartment complex in a downtown setting is
certainly a different experience from what one is
accustomed to when one has spent one’s entire life
meandering around the tame territory that is North San
Diego County Suburbia. That being said, this experience
doesn’t exactly come equipped with the intimidating sense
of culture-shock that, say, living in an Indian Village
might. Then again, I must remind myself that I could
probably walk six blocks from my building in any given
direction and find a Los Angeles-based Indian Village.
Whatever its
downsides, living in Los Angeles certainly presents me
with a host of new opportunities. Not the least of these
opportunities was the ability to attend the 2007 American
Film Institute Film Festival in Hollywood (“AFI Fest” for
short), an event far bigger in scope and significance than
I had ever before imagined. Before partaking in AFI Fest,
I was aware of all of the glitz and glam embodied by the
“big” film festivals—Cannes, Sundance, and Toronto are all
highly populated and lavishly assembled—but I didn’t know
that a “minor” film festival would be such a production.
This is something I am able rejoice about; the seven days
that I spent at AFI Fest provided me a far wider (and much
more enjoyable) range of cinematic experiences than those
of the past three San Diego Film Festivals combined.
My first day at
AFI Fest (the second day of the festival; I skipped the
Opening Night Gala presentation of Lions for Lambs
for monetary reasons) consisted of only one screening:
Chang-dong Lee’s Secret Sunshine. Propelled by its
abundance of stunning plot-twists, the film is marvelously
unique in the way that it blends situational irony and
dense humanism (hell, even Renaissance Christian
Humanism). This is the rare challenging work that allows
the viewer to unconditionally sympathize for its
characters and simultaneously contemplate the abstract
social implications of these characters’ actions. Aided by
numerous electrifying performances, Chang-dong is able to
craft a work that functions, all at once, as a tragedy, a
satire, and a piece of folklore.
The film’s
heroine is a young widow named Shin-ae (Do-yeon Jeon),
whose vulnerably elusive presence strikes the viewer from
the film’s opening frame. We first meet Shin-ae and her
fruitful grammar-school-aged son, Jun, as their car breaks
down on the tail end of their journey to a new home. The
two are moving to their late patriarch’s native town, the
South Korean city of Miryang, a locale that Shin-ae
believes will lead to a calmer life than the one that the
bustling Seoul was able to offer them. She and Jun are
rescued from the side of the road by Jong Chan (Kang-ho
Song), a local auto repair shop owner, who she instantly
befriends despite his overall strangeness and the juvenile
crush that he develops for her.
From here,
Secret Sunshine develops in completely unexpected
ways. It would be shameful of me to comment on what
unfolds because it would require spoiling the surprising
turns taken by the plot. I will say, however, that I was
challenged by every single one of said turns. In Miryang,
there is a violent death, a (perhaps hypocritical)
conversion to Christianity provoked by this death, and a
developing imaginary love-affair. Chang-dong’s story,
co-written by Chong-jun Yi, struck a resonant chord in me,
particularly because I never knew where it was going but,
once it got there, I completely understood (to the great
benefit of the characters) why it progressed in the way
that it did.
At the heart of
the story, Do-yeon gives a virtuoso performance as Shin-ae.
That the actress is able to preserve such a strong level
of emotional purity in Shin-ae as Chang-dong manipulates
the character to form external social and religious
statements is a true testament to the raw power of her
work. Even as Shin-ae turns a bit loony toward the end of
Secret Sunshine, the viewer’s sympathy for her is
unwavering. Do-yeon’s work succeeds for similar reasons as
the rest of the film: it develops an emotional connection
with the audience and uses said connection to get the
audience to consider the greater effects of a story that
has so intimately unfolded in front of their eyes. If you
ask me, this is quite an accomplishment.
Secret
Sunshine represented a terrific start to my time at
this year’s AFI Fest. It offered just what I like to find
in a festival offering: an involving, quietly affecting,
and sure-to-be underappreciated gem of a film. I encourage
everyone to check the movie out when it is released
theatrically.
-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews
(post date: 11.19.2007)
