In this blog post, I’ll examine the story of Mi-ja—who is forced to confront the incident involving her grandson Jong-wook and the harsh reality surrounding it—through Director Lee Chang-dong’s ‘Poetry’. I’ll also reflect on Mi-ja’s sensitivity as she tries to connect with the world through poetry, as well as the human selfishness depicted in the film.
We Are Weak Toward the Powerful and Strong Toward the Weak
A pale corpse floats down the riverbank where young children are playing, and the children discover it. Yet the riverbank remains eerily quiet, as if unaware of the circumstances.
Released in May 2010—three years after ‘Secret Sunshine’—’Poetry’ tells the story of Mi-ja, a grandmother living with her grandson Jong-wook, a middle school student caught up in a sexual assault case.
Mi-ja, who possesses a young girl’s sensibility, is someone who knows how to focus on even the smallest things and how to embrace them. However, when she learns that her grandson is involved in the suicide of a female student in their neighborhood, she is plunged into a harsh reality. Ultimately, that reality forces Mi-ja to stand at the crossroads between reason and emotion, and holds the immature Jong-wook back.
Why Poetry Must Exist in an Age Filled with Dead Poetry
In an interview, Director Lee Chang-dong said the following:
“I believe that film, poetry, and novels are essentially the same in that they all observe the world, ponder it, feel it, and seek to communicate with others through something within themselves.”
In this way, Mi-ja attempts to express the sensitivity she holds in her heart—sometimes shyly, sometimes confidently—through the medium of “poetry.”
Disagreeing While Agreeing
If we were to identify the difference between documentaries and feature films, the most obvious distinction is between an objective perspective and a subjective one. It is often said that documentaries use camera angles and narration to guide the audience toward an objective viewpoint, while feature films employ elaborate mise-en-scène and sound design to draw viewers into the world of the film.
In that regard, “Poetry” is clearly a feature film, but unlike other feature films, it uses no background music at all. Considering that typical feature films rely not only on the screenplay and camera angles but also on sound design and music to create a powerful impact, “Poetry” can be considered a special case.
Nevertheless, viewers can still fully empathize with the story and the protagonists. In fact, the absence of background music comes across as a major strength. Rather than perceiving the flow of the story or the protagonist’s genuine emotions as something derived from artificial effects, the film possesses the power to evoke empathy and draw the viewer in through the visuals, dialogue, and actions alone.
In this regard, it shares similarities with documentaries in their restrained use of music and objective perspective.
Their Own World, the World They Live In
In the film, Mi-ja has two desires: the desire to finish her poem and the desire to come up with the 5 million won needed to settle the incident involving her grandson. For Mi-ja, who struggles to make ends meet working as a part-time housekeeper, 5 million won is an enormous sum.
The root cause of this situation stems from the direct and indirect causes of the sexual assault and subsequent suicide of a female classmate involving Jong-wook, the grandson Mi-ja’s daughter left in her care. The parents of the students involved in the incident, along with school administrators, begin negotiating a settlement to cover up the incident.
Among the news articles published daily these days, it is not uncommon to see reports on crimes such as excessive school violence, sexual assault, rape, and murder. Furthermore, we often see cases where the perpetrators are not adults subject to the law, but young students themselves. My initial impression is that it’s no longer surprising to see these incidents becoming more brazen and frequent.
In that regard, the overall narrative of “Poem” seems to offer food for thought in today’s world. Often, rather than addressing the issue after an incident occurs, people try to resolve it with money or tacitly sweep it under the rug.
We can see that this is observed through the eyes of Mi-ja—a woman who possesses a girl’s sensibility yet has lived longer and is more seasoned than the others. By circling around the incident from a single vantage point, she gently yet thoroughly dissects the selfishness and thoughtless, immature behavior we exhibit today.
