Secret Sunshine

WINNER of the Best Actress awards at CANNES Film Festival 2007
Director: Chang-dong Lee (Peppermint Candy, Irreversible, Oasis)
Starring Do-yeon Jeon, Kang-ho Song (The Host)

Life Goes On
What is left of your life when your husband dies, followed by your son? When the husband dies in a car accident leaving their only son, the wife decided to uproot the two of them to her husband’s birth place, a place the husband has always wanted the son to grow up, far away from the bad influence he will most probably come into contact with if he were to stay in Seoul – the big bad city.

But why bother when the husband is a philanderer? Why go to his hometown when you can start afresh elsewhere? Perhaps it’s fate that led her to the little, claustrophobic town called “Secret Sunshine” (translated from Korean). Perhaps she wanted to eagerly find a piece of her husband, perhaps she is afraid of her son and herself, forgetting her husband. But fate is cruel and you can say heaven is blind when her son is killed in a kidnapping incident.

The director does not bother to explain how the son died but focuses instead on how the wife handles the tumultuous emotions that she goes through subsequently. Her struggles in daily life, her attempts in forgetting and moving on. But we know, humans being humans, can we simply forget when we will ourselves to? We are made of flesh and blood. Let alone someone she has cared for ungrudgingly, even when her marriage put a stop to her budding musical talents and that all the best she can do is to fake her awards and make a living as a piano teacher.

The wife’s quiet struggle in moving on despite knowing that her husband cheated on her, her resoluteness in wanting to bring up their son to the best of her abilities. She accepted her lot in life, tried her best for her son to assimilate into his new surroundings, bore with his tantrums which were probably brought about by the lack of a fatherly figure. We see her reject the advances of an admirer, her trying to fit into the small town herself and doing the best she can with the situation.

Upon the son’s death, we are thrown into the pits of turmoil where she grapples with forgiving the murderer and eventually going against Heaven when she discovers how inadequate it is for her to truly move on. In her final attempt to seek a peace of mind, she made the tough decision to forgive the murderer only to discover that God has already forgiven the murderer, way before she, the one who is suffering for the sins he committed, does.

Unable to take the insult and seeming betrayal of her faith in God, she decided on an about-turn and sought to prove to God that he is not omnipotent and that God has made the wrong decision in forgiving someone who should not have been forgiven. In her half crazy and imbalanced state, she seduced her neighbour’s husband. What better way to get back to someone who relentlessly introduced and promised her the almighty ways of the God? She made it a point to commit all the sins in full display of God, as if mocking his omniscience. It was a good thing she had the undying support of her admirer who was constantly by her side, watching over her and eventually there for her when she tries her best to move on in life, despite being treated so unjustly by Heavens. This treatment is typical of the Director’s subtle or not so subtle take towards certain social observations.

The end was purposely left open-ended, without a ‘happily ever after’ ending which only goes to prove the reality of life. Life goes on, no matter what it has been dished out to you, regardless of whether you feel that it is just or not.