The Cinematheque

“[Jeon’s] performance is, in my mind, the best performance I’ve ever seen in any movie … The filmmaking never turns away from the emotional hurricane of its lead, and I think that’s a really brave choice to make—and a hard one to make.”

Sarah Polley

Lee Changdong’s stature grew to new international heights with Secret Sunshine, winning Jeon Doyeon Best Actress recognition at Cannes and attracting a near-sensational reputation. Its release in South Korea prompted both recommendations and disavowals from evangelical pastors, but Lee’s return to filmmaking after a brief period as South Korea’s Minister of Culture is no work of didacticism. Instead, the trials of Shinae, a single mother who moves to her recently deceased husband’s hometown, are a new configuration of Lee’s interest in melodrama—not for nothing does our heroine describe the experience of her growing involvement in charismatic faith ​“like being in love.” Secret Sunshine​’s sudden swings in tone from small-town routine to life-shattering tragedy sent some reviewers reaching for the Book of Job as a comparison. What’s striking and most effective about Lee’s film is the way it totally externalizes an emotional life through concrete chains of action and reaction. Song Kangho’s performance as a self-interested foil is another grounding element in this existential odyssey.

In Korean with English subtitles

“Lee enters his character’s world with unsparing vehemence … Bresson and Buñuel would likely both have admired the extraordinary achievement.”

Tony Rayns, VIFF

“The best film I have ever seen about grieving and forgiveness.”

Amy Seimetz, director (She Dies Tomorrow, Sun Don’t Shine)