Review of Poetry

Lee's third film is, thankfully, getting a far more quick release than Secret Sunshine. It hasn't opened yet, but it will at some point in 2011 (brought to you by Kino). The film is very reminiscent of his previous, in that it contains some huge moments of tragedy, but prefers to mute them in favor of subtle human drama. This one stars another outstanding actress, Yun Jeong-hie. About 60, she is a grandmother raising her teenage grandson all by herself (his father is long gone, and his mother has left her son for not entirely specified reasons). She isn't really up to it. She has no control over the kid. She's also becoming senile. Yun soon discovers that her lack of control over her grandson has had some extremely grave consequences. He won't acknowledge his crimes, but Grandma has to deal with them herself. Meanwhile, she tries as hard as she can to find solace in the poetry class which she has recently signed up for, though she has huge problems finding beauty in the world at this point. Yun's performance is absolutely masterful - her mind is kind of slipping away, and she's desperately trying to hold onto it in the face of this awful event. Emotions don't come easily, but you can see the weight of the world in that woman's eyes.