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:

Do-yeon Jeon, Kang-ho Song, Yeong-jin Jo

17 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Do-yeon Jeon	...	Shin-ae Lee
Kang-ho Song	...	Jong-chan Kim
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yeong-jin Jo	...	Doe-seop Park
Mi-kyung Kim
Yeong-jae Kim	...	Min-ki Lee
Seo-hie Ko
Sung-min Lee
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:

city name in title | reference to god | forgiveness | religious hypocrisy | evangelist | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

22 December 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Secret Sunshine

Filming Locations:

Miryang, South Korea

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment, Cinema Service, Pine House Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

South Korea's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008).

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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

who GIVES a crap?

i would've used another word instead of crap, but i don't think IMDb would allow it... i agree with LOTS of the previous commentators... including the one that said(and i was REALLY surprised that someone else mentioned this, much less THOUGHT of it...) it reminded them of the movie 'the Rapture'. if you've missed that one, you have my sympathies. one of the best original stories i've ever been lucky enough to partake of... i agree that the lead role's acting was excellent. i agree that it was very realistic in a lot of ways. i agree that it didn't pull punches. but what am i really left with? i've seen THOUsands of movies, literally. it's not as if my story telling vocabulary is limited to happily ever after endings, middles OR beginnings... i love a VERY wide range of movies/ways of telling stories cinematically... this movie had soooo little payoff for me that i felt the need to write this... and it's not as if i haven't seen slow movies...i LOVE 'stranger than paradise'...and i could name gods know how many more 'off beat' films... and two and a half hours? for WHAT? yes...i felt like i was there...i guess i don't 'go there' for the same reason i won't see something like 'cyborg soldier' or 'hellraiser 6'...no reason for me to... i don't feel enriched or transformed or entertained... but i AM glad my vlc player has a fast forward... consider yourselves informed.