By Kim Heung-sook
The just-ended elections exemplify that politics can be poetic, too. Dormant energy that beguiled the ruling camp into believing that they would have a sweeping victory. The streaming voters that brought headaches to the arrogant in power. The unpublicized endeavor that was to correct the imbalance in administration and policies. The early mastery of casting five to eight ballots at one time. In a nutshell, it was the success of a bloodless revolution.
Poetry means action, an action to fight against lethargy and despair. It may be a casualty of easy times yet it never dies. When living is hard, poetry presents itself like heroes. When things go wrong and ordinary people don't realize it, poets warn, though are often unheeded. Poets are prophets in that sense.
So, I enrolled in a poetry class soon after I returned to work as a salaried employee back in 1999. I had to earn money because of the economic hardship incurred by the financial crisis in 1997~1998. However, even before a month passed, I found my new job extremely frustrating. I wanted to quit, but I couldn't for obvious reasons. I joined a poetry class and always carried a palm size notebook.
In ``Poetry," the fifth feature film of director Lee Chang-dong, Mija has such a notebook with her wherever and whenever and she is not lonely or afraid. She is a 66-year-old lady who leads a hard life with a teen-aged grandson. She loves the boy dearly yet is incapable of understanding him. The boy becomes involved in a crime and Mija rejects the notion that the act can be nullified by paying compensation.
A poet declares in the movie that poetry is dead now, but the film itself seems to have an entirely different message. It says poetry will survive as long as there are people who strive to live right even at the cost of death, appreciating the beauty of all the sights and sounds that constitute existence. Mija happens to be one of the stubborn, uncorrupt species who try to act out poetic justice no matter how vulgar and violent the outside world is. She is a poet whether she writes a poem or not.
``Poetry" is a memorable art work asking a crucial question about truth and justice in an everyday setting. The jury at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival saw its value and honored it with the Best Screenplay Award. It is probably the first Korean movie that directly deals with poetry. It has also posed a cinematic challenge for Korea's film industry: its heroine is an elderly actress. Aged actresses usually finish with assisting roles in film in Korea, except for comedies.
The star of the film is Yun Jung-hee. Her real name is Sohn Mi-ja, her first name matches her character's name, Mija. Director Lee is said to have had Yun on his mind from the time of writing the scenario. Yun was one of the three most popular actresses in Korea in the 1960s. She has won the highest number of Best Actress Awards in the nation, but rarely appeared in films after marrying world-famous pianist Paik Kun-woo in 1974.
In a country where youth and a wrinkle-free face is propagandized as the single most important social yardstick, it is wonderful to see a naturally maturing face on the silk screen and imagine the roads she has taken and untaken. In a press interview, Lee said he would like to have Yun again in his movie in her 80s and the actress said she couldn't be happier than to do that.
Some people say that the heroine's poem reminds them of the late President Roh Moo-hyun. Upon reporters' questions, Lee simply said, "It would be only natural for any viewer of 'Poetry' to be reminded of someone's death." The novelist-turned director served as the minister of culture and tourism in Roh's government. He returned from Cannes on May 25 and went to Bongha Village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, and paid tribute to Roh before attending the press conference the next day.
Life is not easy, especially for the conscientious. The average suicide rate of 40 people a day is alarming yet understandable. Still, I hope the death planners will wait until their true time comes. As ``Poetry" says, everybody has poetry in him or her and needs to let it out. Some poetry can take the form of political actions like the elections on Wednesday, while some are rendered on the screen like ``Poetry."
Last year, I wrote in this column that ``A Brand New Life" by Korean-born French director Ounie Lecomte, which Lee co-produced, was ``the best feature I have seen in years." I am happy to note that ``Poetry" is another such film.