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| A scene from "Oh! My Gran" Courtesy of CGV Arthouse |
By Park Ji-won
Older women in films were often depicted in stereotyped ways; they sacrifice for families and others or remain passive, victimized and asexual. Their desires and ambitions were rarely addressed in films and thus very few movies have an older woman as lead role. But the tendency is slowly changing. More Korean films released recently portray elderly women as independent figures speaking for themselves.
Both one film and one documentary film released recently center on elderly women in their 80s as lead characters.
One is "Oh! My Gran," or "Oh! Munhee" in Korean, released on Aug. 20, a movie about the search for the driver in a hit-and-run incident that leaves the leading lady's granddaughter, Bo-mi, injured.
The film traces the investigation carried out by Oh, the lead character played by Na Moon-hee who happened to be the only witness of the crime scene but is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and Du-won ― her son and Bo-mi's father ― with abundant action scenes and touching family moments. Oh's medical condition adds more drama to the film. But the main ingredient that appeals to the audiences is not the tragedy of her illness, but rather the comical-yet-sensitive treatment of the issue.
The film is not a James Bond-like action movie, but it is a rare one in terms of showing an older female character with active action performances such as car chases and even climbing a tree, which is the first action performance for the 78-year-old actress in her entire career as well. The elderly female character is vocal and passionate to find a lead for the case, which results in finding key evidence in the crime.
"Journey to Kailash" is a documentary film released on Thursday which shows the 20,000 km journey for three months from Mongolia to Kailash Mountain in China of Lee Chun-suk, an 84-year-old mom, and Jung Hyung-min, her son and the director of the movie. They finish the journey on the land route and it was the first overseas trip for Lee. Even though she had to crawl up the mountain, she never gave up and reached to the top. "I was curious about how my mom sees the world… I would like to show my mom who never gave up on the trip despite difficulties in life to all mothers in the world," Chung was quoted as saying to Yonhap.
"An Old Lady," or "Age 69" in Korean, released on Aug. 20, depicts a 69-year-old woman trying to find justice after being raped by a 29-year-old male nursing aide. She is constantly challenged by the prejudice that an old woman cannot be a victim of rape. It shows a woman suffers from the indifference of the society, but never give up speaking up because she is still "alive."
"Old women characters are too aggressive or being insulted sexually in films. But I want to show an individual beyond the prejudices in the film," the Kyunghyang Shinmun quoted Lim Sun-ae, director of "An Old Lady" as saying.
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| Actress Ye Soo-jung in "69" Courtesy of Atnine Film |
