Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 (film)

Kim Ji Young, Born 1982 is a slice of life film that discusses the problems in day to day life that women face in South Korea. This is an empathetic take on the struggle of an ordinary woman which often is shrugged under the rug. Although in terms of culture, it’s difficult to relate to the struggle of the main character, we can all enjoy the movie and take a look into what an ordinary South Korean woman would look like. This film is directed by Kim Do-Young in 2019 and the director himself stated in a review that it addresses the status of women in Korean society despite improvements and how it’s still largely male-domainated. This movie, despite its simplicity in settings and humble cinematography, has won numerous awards in South Korea and in international film festivals. For anyone who enjoys a good inspiring story-telling, this is the film for you. It makes you think critically, reflect and perhaps find similarities between your life and Kim Ji Young.

The plot follows the life of Kim Ji Young, a 30 something housewife who used to work at a PR agency and was climbing up her corporate ladder. Then, she gets married, has a daughter, and stops working at the PR agency. It looks like she had everything including a supportive husband. However, she started talking as if she was another person who remarked how her mother has been shrugging off her needs in order to help the mom’s brother and raise her family. Ji-Young started sounding as if she was another person and her husband urged her to seek help as she was often muttering something strange and was often spacing out. Then, as her husband asked her to seek help, there were numerous instances where Ji-Young interaction with her family and even her in-laws portrays a woman's status and treatment in South Korean society. Only after having to go through such a turmoil, the family of Ji-Young, especially the male family members, began to shift their thinking and treatment to the other female family members.

Personally, Kim Ji Young was a striking movie to watch. I certainly got confused as to why Kim Ji Young, played by Jung Yu-Mi, was seemingly possessed by the other female family members who passed away. In the movie, there wasn't much explanation other than indicating that it could’ve been psychological and result of postpartum depression. The dialogues were raw and pointed to the problems that seemingly still exist in a modern day of South Korea. If you're familiar with a lot of Joseon era’s movie and series, there are numerous indicators that South Korea is heavily a patriarchal society. Even in the older film, it is shown that often a son is much preferred that a daughter. Even as a female daughter in-law, the husband's family often treated their daughter in law awfully. In this film, this topic was also touched upon and it was disheartening to see it. Though at the end of the movie, we get the clear message that collectively people in South Korea might need to change their ways to treat women better, especially someone who is not their mother. To me, this movie is certainly recommended if you enjoy slices of life and want to find something fresh and learn more about the problems that exist within South Korean culture.

The characters in the movie were particularly great at dragging you into the movie. You will get immersed into their seemingly ordinary life and Gong yoo, who was playing the husband role in the movie was convincingly good and I certainly expect no less from this famous South korean actor. His expression as a loving supportive husband was really well portrayed to convince you, he was one of the few that understood the women’s struggle in a patriarchal world. Meanwhile, Yu-Mi who was the main protagonist in the movie was able to draw all the attention and make you sympathize with her life while still focusing on the main problem of the movie. At the same time, all the other characters found their resolution and they were all doing a great job with the roles that they were playing.

I find that the cinematography really fits to show a daily, ordinary life of a South Korean family. The colors were mute until almost at the end of the movie, it was bright and full of colors. It’s the same as the wardrobe options that were in mute colors and eventually changed to something a lot more fresher. I definitely enjoy how simplistic the cinematography was yet it was able to build the mood and sets the tone for the movie.

If this week you’re looking to be inspired and learn something new, I do suggest this film. Personally, I would rate it 6.5 out of 10. It’s a well-made movie carrying a positive message and an important one. Perhaps you might resonate with Kim Ji Young and or you can simply find that as much as South Korea is a developed nation, they still have existing problems with its core society and something that needs to be addressed. To find this movie, you can use Viu just like how I found this one.