Secret Sunshine is a beautiful (long) movie by Korean director Lee Chang-dong. It follows Shin-ae, a thirty-something woman who is moving from Seoul to the small town of Miryang after her husband's tragic death in a car accident. She's with her young son who is nervous about going, but follows her dutifully. She sets up a piano school in the town and looking for meaning in her new life, begins investigating purchasing some land on which to build a house.
As this is going on, she is being doted on by the local car mechanic who met her when she first got to town. He begins following her everywhere and joining all the clubs she joins. One day her son is tragically kidnapped and killed sending her on a turbulent ride through the worlds of Evangelical religion and depression.
This is a very interesting film that begins very calmly and naturalisticaly and builds into a fascinating piece about the extremes of humanity. Shin-ae is looking for meaning in life, so she asks everyone if they know that the name of their town, Miryang, means "secret sunshine" in Chinese. One man answers that they don't think about the name - they just live there. For her, she's constantly thinking about everything and looking for purpose in all that she does. She can't just sit back and "live there", she has to know what she's living and why.
The very realistic calmness and normalcy of this film is reminiscent of fellow Korean Kim So Yong's Treeless Mountain and In Between Days. There is a brutal frankness to everything, and unvarnished immediacy that is refreshing and elegant. At the end of the first act, however, the film turns a bit and becomes a bit more like a Dardenne Brothers film (like The Promise or The Son, in particular). It's about normal places and times, but the ugly underbelly of those places. Things seem nice on the surface (nice people, nice places), but there is lots of rot and bitterness beneath.
There is also a beautiful ontological examination of faith and fundamental truth here. We are forced to deal with issues of forgiveness and how religion gets in the way of our human emotions for betrayal, mercy, love and hate. There is one scene where actress Jeon Do-Yeon goes from pure exaltation to desperation in a split second due to a religious revelation. She gives one of the best performances of the year here, showing a tremendous range of emotion.
This is a long movie, but it is worth watching. It is subtle and beautiful and deeply interesting. I am so happy there are such wonderful films coming from Korea these days. It really is one country that has produced some of the most amazing films in recent years.
Stars: 3.5 of 4
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