secondtake
Poetry (2010)Steady and stealthy, this film proposes to be as lyrical and compact as a poem, but then it keeps going and ends up larger and more impressive than you'd expect. And the acting by leading female actress, the Korean star Jeong-hie Yun, is startling and nuanced, a great performance.At the heart of the plot are two plots. The first is the title line—elderly Mija has decided to learn how to write poetry, so she attends a class (filled with younger students). The second is about a sex crime—a gang rape it turns out—by her grandson, who she is raising alone. The two are nearly opposites in so many ways we see how life itself balances the beautiful and ugly, and responsibility and indifference. In a larger way, "Poetry" is about contemporary life in Korea, and the interactions of ordinary people in extreme situations will be revealing to many outside of Korea.It's hard to overstate how well this movie pulls off something socially serious and yet makes it all understated and almost matter of fact. There are these several lines of thought that keep going throughout, and that don't quite converge until the very end, which is both tragic (truly) and a bit mysterious. What exactly is the implication of that last scene on the bridge, and the water that shows nothing? It hearkens to the beginning, of course, but we have our main character at hand.In that sense, it's a brilliant, almost perfect evocation of contemporary Korea on the most normal, middle class level. Lovely and loving, and cold and brutal. And it shows the glib sexism of the men there, much like everywhere at various times. And how to survive you sometimes have to just proceed. And then, of course, sometimes you do not survive.
Leofwine_draca
POETRY is, inevitably, a film that strives to be poetic throughout, and yet come the end a few infuriating flaws detract from the experience. The first is the running time, which is way too long for such a slender story. I know this was intended to be a realistic mood piece, dealing with the older generation so that a slow and sedate pace reflects the lives of the characters, but seriously? An hour could easily have been cut out to no ill effect.Still, there are plenty of flashes of greatness in this production. The leading actress, Jeong-hie Yun, who came out of retirement to star in this film, is very good indeed and never less than authentic. The way the movie explores the relationship with the man she cares for is very intriguing. But, at times, I expected the film to be more harrowing, especially in regard to her character's plight. It's as if the director takes great pride in NOT showing the scenes you expect to see, but the end result is a lack of drama and involvement.By far the most interesting aspect of the storyline involves the main actress's grandson, but it's more build-up than pay-off and the resolution, when it comes, is presented so insignificantly that you almost miss the significance. Nevertheless, the understated direction and sheer beauty of many of the scenes contribute a lot to the production, and sometimes it's nice to watch a movie that takes a step back or two to reflect on the human condition. I liked it, but didn't love it...
amirborgheie
SOUTH Korea WITH THESE MOVIES SHOWS THAT HAS MAGIC ABILITIES TO SHOWS ITS POWERS IN WORLD CINEMA.ALONE WOMAN BETWEEN INTRIGUED PROBLEMS AND NO one to help her. she has an unkind boy and an old paralysis husband that day in -day out face of life too, tease her. she is so patient and she is poet too that inspirates from nature. she needs someone to help her but she does not him/her.she tries to participate in different scientific and poetic parties to content her loneliness.she loves her boy and her husband and in deep heart she does her responsibilities as a mother and wife but she is still young and she has young views in life. overall,director shows devotion of the woman through the movie.i personally, do not like south east cinema but movies like poetry can make me change my mind about south east cinema.
mahmood-a
This old question about quality and quantity: this is the main thread in the epic movie "Poetry". The story blends regular cruel dirty life with a poetic spirit, and a dilemma that the main character should decide about. But the difference between this movie and many many similar ones is that this movie follows an attracting story. And the fascinating fact about this movie is that the poetic flavour and ethic aspect are merged very beautifully together in that interesting story. The stories like this usually do not attract the audiences after one hour and half and this fact is mainly because poetic movies do not follow a good story. As an Iranian, I should mention the Iranian director, Abbas Kiarostami whose movies sadly do not deserve to be seen because of the lack of a good story. The length of a film should have a direct relation with the strength of the story. This is the reason that Kiarostami should be a photographer than a director (and it seems that he has understood this fact!) About the ethic aspect of the story, I should just mention that it concerns the ethic despite religion and this abstract view has helped the movie a lot to connect with foreign audiences, although the special literature that the film is made on is far from the world of the audience. To put everything in a nut shell, I should just narrate my sadness after leaving the movie theater. Not only because I was deeply touched with that beautiful blue store, but also I was almost sure that it takes a long time for me to watch such a brilliant movie again.
AD
