In this blog post, I will examine the forms and structures of love revealed through the documentary ‘The Snail’s Star’.
Reasons for Selecting This Work
Love takes many forms. There is love that makes people laugh and cry, love that permeates everyday life, and even love that exists in ways we rarely imagine. I was curious about these diverse forms of love, and while searching for a related documentary, I came across “The Snail’s Star.”
Although the characters might seem somewhat unfamiliar to an outsider’s eye, they appeared to be completely filled with love. I wanted to know what love would look like in the absence of the things we consider essential to it.
Sequence Summary
Sequence 1 – Young-chan and Soon-hee fly a kite along a field ridge. – Young-chan and Soon-hee eat a meal in the living room. – Young-chan takes a Hebrew exam. – Young-chan and Soon-hee change a light bulb.
Sequence 2 – Soon-hee receives treatment at the hospital. – Guests visit their home. – They discuss marrying Soon-hee. – Young-chan and Soon-hee go sledding with friends at a sledding hill.
Sequence 3 – Young-chan and Soon-hee take a train. – They meet members of the theater troupe at the station. – They watch a play and give acting advice. – They spend time strolling along the seashore.
Sequence 4 – Young-chan writes, and Soon-hee helps him. – They walk down the street, enjoying the spring weather. – Young-chan caresses a tree. – They play by picking up pinecones and throwing them at the director’s face.
Sequence 5 – Young-chan is rejected from the Korea Scholarship Foundation’s essay contest. – They visit a friend in the hospital. – They talk about wishing they could die on the same day.
Sequence 6 – Young-chan walks alone. – Soon-hee stops helping Young-chan, and he begins practicing standing on his own. – He feels the rain falling on the balcony with his hands. – Young-chan and Soon-hee talk while soaking in the atmosphere of the rain.
Sequence 7 – He touches a tree. – He practices for a play. – He has a sand bath, leaving only his hands exposed. – Young-chan swims in the ocean.
Analysis
This work takes the form of an observational documentary, following the daily lives of Young-chan and Soon-hee in a manner where the filmmaker’s intervention is largely invisible. However, there is a single scene where the filmmaker’s presence is revealed: the moment when the two play by throwing pinecones at each other. That scene gives the impression that the boundary between the observer and the subject is briefly opened.
A distinctive feature is that Young-chan’s narration is layered over each transition between sequences. This narration sensually reveals the world as seen and felt by Young-chan, who is deaf and blind, adding depth to the scenes on screen.
So, can this work be viewed solely as a typical observational documentary? Not only through cinematic techniques like editing and composition, but also through Young-chan’s words and narration, which serve as powerful narrative tools, the film creates a distinct cinematic atmosphere. Young-chan’s words are at times more evocative and expressive than those in a feature film, and they are directly revealed within the film’s reality, creating a unique atmosphere that conventional documentaries or feature films struggle to achieve.
Review
I believe this is a work that portrays the people considered least free in the most liberated way.
The fact that it features characters rarely seen in mainstream media is one of the film’s strongest features, but I was particularly impressed by how effectively this was conveyed through the title and the film’s constant expressions.
I don’t know how to put it into words. It was beautiful. And there was a deep longing for what they felt was missing and absent. I got the impression that this longing was a form of love that made them rely on one another and move forward together, even if only by feeling their way.
