"The Old Garden" tells a doomed love story set against a gloomy backdrop of South Korea in the 1980s.
The idea of mixing love and politics may sound banal, but director Im Sang-soo does it with genuine intentions to recall the era that evolved with the sacrifice of many young people and the result is a convincing melodrama.
Adapted from the novel of the same title by acclaimed writer Hwang Suk-young, The Old Garden brings the viewers to the era when young activists sometimes set fire to themselves or jumped off buildings to protest against the military dictatorship. Hyeon-su (Ji Jin-hee) and Yun-hi (Yeom Jung-ah) fall in love in the era when pursuing romance almost felt like a sin.
The plot development is faithful to the original story, but the characters are more easygoing and light-hearted than the ones conveyed in the book.
"It's the story about the activists in the eighties, but I can say it's not boring, it doesn't smell old," said the director who has gained international attention with unconventional films "A Good Lawyer's Wife" and "The President's Last Bang."
"Those people used to be depicted as being always full of convictions and speaking in literary style, and that would be the reason why they are boring. People who are high-spirited can also be simple and goofy sometimes, so we made this movie with that in mind, in a realistic way," he said after a press preview in Seoul on Monday.
The story unfolds with the release of Hyeon-su, then in his late 40s, who served 17 years in jail for opposing the military government of Chun Doo-hwan. The first news he gets to hear is the death of his long-lost love.
The story evolves through a narrative he finds from Yun-hi's diary in a place where they once lived together. After the civilian uprising in Gwangju was crushed by the military junta in May 1980, high school teacher-turned activist Hyeon-su becomes a member of the underground, spreading socialism and organizing protests aimed at topping the military regime. While he seeks a temporary shelter in the face of an intense crackdown, Yun-hi, an elementary school art teacher who had an activist father, volunteers to be his caretaker and brings him to a remote rural home near her school. They fall in love.
In the utopian shelter called Galmoi they share the prime of their lives, going on picnics in lazy afternoons and taking a shower naked in the rain, but the bliss ends in six months. As the authorities tighten their grip on activists and his friends get caught and tortured and some set fire to themselves in protest, Hyeon-su increasingly feels guilty about his happiness and decides to leave for Seoul where he will lead the movement.
But not long after his departure he gets arrested, and after a farcical trial he is sentenced to life imprisonment for opposing the government.
While Hyeon-su is at the center of the development of the plot, his imprisonment takes a back seat to Yun-hi's life outside jail.
The woman who loved the activist keeps her life trapped by the social brutality, raising their daughter and supporting younger activists.
The story sounds like an ode to the activists at first, but through Yun-hi's dialogue with other activists, it also gives a critical look into the generation of the 1980s. An underground activist receives peer pressure to turn himself in to the authorities simply to make newspaper headlines and draw public attention to their struggle, and Yun-hi discourages him from accepting the pressure. The film shows the 1980s was also an era when the mass psychology of revolutionists, even if it was for social justice, silenced critics and created another kind of suppression within the community.
The acting is fine, but Ji Jin-hee's relaxed, nonchalant look after a 17-year imprisonment could be awkward to audience members who hope to see how the weight of time weakens an individual.
However, the director said such acting was intended to make the characters look more approachable.
Set against the country's political past, the story may be emotionally distant to some audiences. But those who went through the era or witnessed others who did may find themselves quietly sobbing throughout the film.
"The Old Garden" made with 3.3 billion won (US$3.5 million) and rated 12 will be released nationwide on Jan. 4.
Seoul, Dec. 19 (Yonhap News)
'The Old Garden' revives doomed love of 1980s |
