The Way Home

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ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="501" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 2188 WIDTH="495"><bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> êê</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:leeshoquist@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:leeshoquist@aol.com"><U><U>Reviewed by Lee Shoquist</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <I>The Way Home</I> is a well-intentioned new Korean film about a hostile relationship, which fosters a growing affection between a young boy and his elderly grandmother. It tries to be a "small," gentle and moving story of a spoiled big city kid who goes to the country and learns to live the right way through the love of his sweet, crippled granny. It thinks it's a story about the cultural, generation clash and the unconditional bond of family love.  It thinks it's a heartwarming rite-of-passage tale about coming to terms with what's really important in life. And I'm sure on a conceptual level it may have looked this way.  </div> <bR> <div> But what has emerged from those noble intentions is a plodding, underdeveloped film that has a nice set-up but ends up going absolutely nowhere <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >-</FONT> and very slowly to boot.   What's on the screen is the sometimes sweet, mostly sour and ultimately shallow story of two people who share very little together, make next to no discoveries about each other, yet move along anyway to a foregone, clichéd conclusion, as dictated by the mechanics of a feel-good idiot plot.      </div> <div>  </div> <div> When young Sang-Woo's (Yoo Seung-Ho) mother conveniently unloads him on her aging, crippled and mute mother (Kim Eul-Boon) who lives in a rural shack with no running water or modern conveniences, the resentful child unleashes holy hell on the kind old woman, referring to her as a "retard," "cripple," "stupid," and etc.  He grafittis her wall with insults.  He throws away her food.  He steals from her.  He screams at her to hold a pot in which to defecate.  He rages against her every attempt at goodwill.  And then he does all of those things again and again, for most of the film's running time, ad nauseum.  </div> <bR> <div> The grandmother, by contrast, though she doesn't speak a word in the film, is a sweet soul who obviously lives a very painful and difficult life, hunched over and in poverty.  She does everything she can to ignore the kid's rants, and make sure he is fed, sheltered and taken care of.  She even walks miles to town to retrieve a live chicken, pluck it, cook it and present it to him after his outrageous temper tantrums for "Kentucky Chicken."  When she returns from what seems like a Herculean task, he rejects her in a fit.  </div> <bR> <div> Most of the film is spent in conflict, with him yelling at her, and her ignoring him.  There's some attempted drama when the boy is lost and must find his way back home, when grandma disappears for a day and when Sang-Woo develops a crush on a local girl.</div> <bR> <div> But curiously, none of these events seem to build his character or demeanor in any way.  He's an evil brat through and through, and the film doesn't allow him to grow.  At one point, he shows some humanity by attempting to look after his ill grandmother.  But wouldn't you know it - as soon as she recovers, he's back to his old self, berating her and not allowing her to sit on the same bus with him after an exhausting trip to a distant town.  The child is so dreadful that in another film, his behavior might be comic.  </div> <bR> <div> What's left is the story of an anti-social child who never really comes to terms with the magnitude of his horrendous behavior.  Sang Woo is, by all accounts, an unruly hellion who spends 83 of this film's 85 minute running time behaving like a spoiled, nasty and downright mean-spirited person.  He delights in tormenting his benevolent grandmother, and in the last few minutes, when the script says that he should change into a warm and adoring child - bingo - he does just that, betraying everything we've seen about him before.  </div> <bR> <div> There's no gradually deepening trust or developing respect.  There's no coming to terms between the two characters.  No real character arcs of any kind.  They don't share anything very profound together.  They are both exactly the same near the film's close as they were when it began.  </div> <bR> <div> It's baffling to me how this film became such a sensation in Korea.  Dedicated "to all grandmothers," I suppose we're supposed to take it on faith that grandmothers are all good-hearted and feel warm and fuzzy about how they can somehow see through the anger of children, be treated like utter garbage and still cast a kind eye and heart.  </div> <bR> <div> Overall, director Jeong Hyang-Lee fails to justify its "coming together for change" premise, and I was left with a rather cheap, distasteful feeling when it plugged in its inevitable conclusion.</div> <bR> <div> I'm not recommending this film, but I am giving it two stars for the mostly sweet and authentic performance of Eul-Boon as the beleaguered yet headstrong grandmother.  If the ability to suggest a real person is the hallmark of a great actress, even at her age, she should have a long career ahead of her.  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> 85 Minutes</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Korean with English Subtitles</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Rated PG</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Mild Language</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div>  </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="617"><div> <B>Lee Shoquist © 2003</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> <A HREF="mailto:leeshoquist@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:leeshoquist@aol.com"><U><U>Leeshoquist.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>