I love Korean cinema but mostly I stick to the thrillers as I think they are the best in the world at making this particular type of film. I don't remember who, why, or when this was recommended to me but I finally got around to watching it and had intended to fall asleep watching it. Not only did I not fall asleep but the film haunted me after it was over and caused me to lose even more sleep because of it.
The movie was a huge hit in South Korea in 2013 but just like most of what goes on in that country's film-making, it was basically ignored by the rest of the world. I believe that most people haven't even heard of this film, let alone seen it, and that is truly a shame.
It is the story of a mentally challenged man who is wrongfully imprisoned for the murder and rape of a young girl that he didn't commit. I don't know how much of the storytelling in the movie is accurate but the entire story is based on a real person who was sent to prison in 1972 and wasn't exonerated and released until 2008. I think they took a lot of liberties with what actually happened because the timeline doesn't match up as the setting is definitely not the 70's. So I am guessing that almost all of the details of this movie are made up, including perhaps the fact that the real-life person even had a daughter.
Yong-go is the mentally challenged father in question and he has the mind of a child but is aware of the fact that he is the father of Ye-sung and he is her caretaker even though she is likely just as intelligent as he is. They care about one another a lot and have lots of silly games they play together. They are dependent upon one another and neither one of them really understand what is going on when Yong-go is arrested and convicted of murder and rape of a 9-year old girl. Yong-go is easily tricked by the detectives, especially when he is put under duress and is tortured. To us, the viewers, it is very clear that he doesn't even know what it is that he is confessing to but confess he does and he is sent to jail.
The main part of the film and the "miracle" that they are referring to is when Ye-sung is snuck into the prison by the inmates including a member of the mafia. The inmates are all taken by Ye-sung who is just a beacon of light for everyone that she encounters and all of the inmates, and even the guards that figure out that she is there, work together in order to ensure that she can continue to sneak in and out of the prison to spend time with her father.
I don't think I have revealed too much of the plot here and it is all in the trailer anyway so i say poo-poo to anyone that is accusing me of spoilers here :P
The reason that this film is so amazing and probably why it did so well in cinemas in Korea is because it touches on something that I think all of us take for granted to an at least medium level - family and the importance of it. It also touches base on the corruption inside of legal systems and how there are some bad actors and evil people that are in charge of it. This much I am certain is true since I don't really have much faith in the legal systems that exist anywhere in the world.
Should I watch it?
Well the fact that I was dead tired when I turned it on and ended up still making it to the end despite being in bed and ready to sleep says a lot about how good this movie is. I got teary-eyed multiple times during it and the acting done by everyone in it is fantastic. There is nothing bad in this movie at all and there are very few instances of any film that I can say that about.
While I am sure that almost all of the essential plot elements are completely made up it doesn't really matter all that much - it is still a very touching story and it was inspiring enough that multiple other countries (thankfully not the USA) have made remakes of this movie and experienced great success with those as well.
this movie is not available on Netflix, but I am sure you can figure out how to watch it using other means
