Poetry

Mija a sixty something grandmother decides to enroll in a poetry class. For the past few weeks she's been noticing that she's been losing the ability to recall words. Her doctor is more concerned with this symptom when she comes in complaining of headaches. In her way, she makes light of the problem.

A school girl was found floating in the river a victim of suicide after being sexually abused by some classmates. The school's efforts to keep it quiet makes a deal with the other parents for a financial recompense to the bereaved mother. They fathers of the other boys involved ask her to meet with them to discuss the incident and the amount that she will have to pay. When Mija is confronted by the amount of money she was to give to the dead girls family, she gets up and leaves the room, already lost in finding her poem. Mija only works part time as a caregiver for a man who suffered from a stroke and she collects a small government check. There's no way she can afford to pay her share of the settlement. Mija's sullen grandson who is living with her treats her with no respect. His mother is in the city and doesn't help with any support. Even after being diagnosed with dementia, Mija walks around her village in her nice clothes and little notebook waiting for the words to fill her world.

Writer/director Chang-dong Lee won the Best Screenplay award at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. The wonderful lyrical story is like the beautiful words of a poem which can hide the ugliness of the world. Mija is dealing with the daily grind of working for a creepy old guy that tries to take advantage of her while bathing, her ungrateful grandson with whom she doesn't confront, the demand for money that she has no way of getting, and the slow deterioration of her memory. At one time a teacher had said she had the “vein” for poetry so on a whim she joins a class. Jeong-hie Yun who appears in film for the first time in 15 years embodies Mija with a quiet strength and sensitivity. When she tries to tell the taxi cab driver where she is going she charmingly smiles and laughs at her inability to recall the location. Miji doesn't seem to have any support or friends. She deals with what life brings her on her own in her own way. Hanging on to that last bit of beauty like we all do.
(Review by reesa)


Lee Chang-Dong's "Agnes Song" (poem read at end of the movie)

How is it over there?
How lonely is it?
Is it still glowing red at sunset?
Are the birds still singing on the way to the forest?
Can you receive the letter I dared not send?
Can I convey…
the confession I dared not make?
Will time pass and roses fade?
Now it's time to say goodbye
Like the wind that lingers and then goes,
just like shadows
To promises that never came,
to the love sealed till the end.
To the grass kissing my weary ankles
And to the tiny footsteps following me
It's time to say goodbye
Now as darkness falls
Will a candle be lit again?
Here I pray…
nobody shall cry…
and for you to know…
how deeply I loved you
The long wait in the middle of a hot summer day
An old path resembling my father's face
Even the lonesome wild flower shyly turning away
How deeply I loved
How my heart fluttered at hearing faint song
I bless you
Before crossing the black river
With my soul's last breath
I am beginning to dream…
a bright sunny morning…
again I awake blinded by the light…
and meet you…
standing by me.