Secret Sunshine (2007)

A woman moves to the town where her dead husband was born. As she tries to fit in, another tragic event overturns her life.

Director:

Chang-dong Lee

Writers:

Chang-dong Lee, Chung-Joon Lee (novel) (as Chong-jun Yi)

Stars:

Jeon Do-yeon, Kang-ho Song, Hye-jin Jang

25 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jeon Do-yeon	...	Shin-ae Lee
Kang-ho Song	...	Jong-chan Kim
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hye-jin Jang	...	Park Myung-suk (as Hyae Jin Chang)
Yeong-jin Jo	...	Doe-seop Park
Mi-hyang Kim	...	Deaconess Kim
Yeong-jae Kim	...	Min-ki Lee
Seo-hie Ko	...	Bank Employee
Dong-yong Lee	...	Taxi driver
Hee-joon Lee	...	Outdoor Prayer Meeting Volunteer
Sung-min Lee	...	Chef
Yoon-Hee Lee	...	Elder Kang
Kim Mi-Kyung
Myung-shin Park	...	Female Missionary
Jung-yeop Seon	...	Jun

Storyline

When her husband passes away in an automobile accident,Shin-ae relocates down south to her late husband's hometown of Miryang. Despite her efforts to settle down, in this unfamiliar and "much too normal place, she finds that she can't quite fit in. Helping her out is Kim Jong-chan, a good-intentioned but bothersome bachelor, who owns a car repair shop. Life plods on. However, fate takes a vicious turn when Shin-ae loses her son in the most horrific way a mother could imagine. She turns to Christianity to relieve the pain in her heart, but when even this is not permitted, she wages a war against God.

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Plot Keywords:

downward spiral | city name in title | reference to god | forgiveness | religious hypocrisy | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Lee has said that he intentionally began the film with a shot of the sky and ended it with a shot of the ground

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Connections

References Tiny Toon Adventures (1990)

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Soundtracks

Criollo
Written by Christian Basso and Diego Chemes
Performed by Christian Basso
Published by Warner Chappell Latin

User Reviews

Secret Sunshine

When I saw Lee Chang-dong's OASIS, my main problem with it was that the characters seemed calculated to behave in unexpected ways. Here, I have the same problem, but in reverse. After the pivotal moment of the film, everything that Shin-ae did made me think, "Oh, she's going to do THAT now?". It felt like someone running down a checklist of various reactions to grief, predictable, no surprises, no real insight. I didn't even really think Jeon Do-yeon's performance was that great, despite all the accolades. She does have her moments (the scene at the prison is a brilliant piece of facial expression) but other times I cringed a bit. I did like the relationship with the eager mechanic (Song Kang-ho, who seems to pop up in about half the Korean movies I watch) and also the teenage girl. And I liked how even-handed Lee is in his approach to religion, and how the film spends some time with that subject and then moves on. But mostly my reaction was merely lukewarm. Other people whose opinions I respect really like Lee's work, but I'm afraid I haven't found the appeal yet.

Details

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

22 December 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Secret Sunshine

Filming Locations:

Miryang, South Korea

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,581,469

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment, Cinema Service, Pine House Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

142 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1