For today’s Patreon Exclusive Review I really wanted to write about the Korean film ‘Young-Ju’.
This 2018 film is about Young-Ju who’s lost her parents in a car crash and is trying to take care of her rebellious younger brother while also keeping her head above water. They’re struggling financially and emotionally. Their aunt cuts them off after they tell her they don’t want to sell the apartment they’re living in.
Young-Ju, played by Kim Hyang-gi discovers the address of the person who was the cause of the car crash that killed her parents. She goes and starts following the couple around, only to discover that they’re looking for help in their tofu shop. Talk about hitting two birds with one stone.
Sang-Moon (Yoo Jae-Myung) and Hyang-sook (Kim Ho-Jung) are super welcoming towards Young-Ju and easily accept her in the shop and their home. Their own son is bedridden ever since the accident and Hyang-sook clearly wants to be a mother to someone.
Young-Ju’s younger brother Young-in (Tang Joon-Sang) is in juvie and they need money to get him out. She plans to steal from Sang-Moon and Hyang-sook’s shop. She almost gets caught and has to flee before she can steal enough. Hyang-sook eventually gives her the money.
The couple is clearly haunted by their own ghosts. They don’t know until later on how exactly Young-Ju is tied to them.
Grief and family dynamics
This film is so heartbreaking. On the one hand there’s Young-Ju and her struggle. She’s still practically a child, too young to take care of her brother and herself. The moment Hyang-sook is showing her some motherly love, you can almost feel the yearning and conflicted emotions yourself.
This wouldn’t have worked if it hadn’t been for the amazing performances. The emotions aren’t explosive or theatrical. It’s all very small scope, sadness in the slant of someone’s shoulders who’s been carrying it for years. It was absolutely incredible.
Of course, things don’t just end there. The younger brother finds out what Young-Ju has been up to. Young-Ju discovers the full story and the couple connect the dots and are horrified. Young-Ju basically loses another set of parents. Yeah, this movie doesn’t end on a happy note. It’s basically the complete opposite. The last scene with Young-Ju bawling in the middle of a bridge with traffic rushing on one end and the river on the other feels quite appropriate. The score in this scene is fantastic, but I literally couldn’t find it online.
Writer and director Cha Sung-Duk did a really good job. This is her only feature film so far, but I really hope she brings out something else. I like her indie approach and the rawness of it all. It’s an interesting look at grief and family dynamics.
You can watch the trailer here.
