4K Restoration
Director: Lee Chang-Dong
Language: Korean with English subtitles
Country: South Korea
Runtime: 139 min
Rating: NC16

Awards

BEST SCREENPLAY
PRIZE OF THE ECUMENIAL JURY – SPECIAL MENTION
2010 Cannes Film Festival

BEST FILM
BEST ACTRESS (Yeon Jeong-Hee)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (Kim Hee-Ra)
BEST SCREENPLAY
2010 Grand Bell Awards

BEST ACTRESS (Yeon Jeong-Hee)
2010 Blue Dragon Film Awards

BEST FEATURE FILM
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
BEST ACTRESS (Yeon Jeong-Hee)
BEST SCREENPLAY
2010 Asia Pacific Screen Awards

Synopsis

Mija (Yun Jeong-hie) lives with her teenage grandson, Jong-wook, while his single mother works far away. When Mija finds out she is at the onset of Alzheimer’s and starts forgetting words, she decides to fulfil the unlikely dream of writing poetry. Her teacher at the local cultural centre remarks, “To write poetry, you must see well. The most important thing in life is seeing.” Yet her initial quest to look for beauty in nature is derailed by an urgent incident involving Jong-wook. Reluctantly getting herself involved, Mija sees the ugliness in human nature and the collapse of morality. It is pain, sadly and ironically, that ultimately inspires poetry. This achingly indelible picture won the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Poetry is part of the film programme Retrospective: Lee Chang Dong. For the full programme, please click here. 

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