Award winning for Best Leading Actress and Best Director in the Blue Dragon Film Award, “I Can Speak” is a comedy-drama that brings audiences on an unexpected but inspirational and touching journey. Director Kim Hyun Seok begins the plot from lighthearted comedy – that is until breaking revelation shifts the movie into a different 360 degree domain. The director addresses this one issue as the main plot: “Comfort Women” which was based on true events from a decade ago that is still eminent and heartbreaking today. The specific term refers to women and young girls that were taken away from their families and forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.
Na Ok Boon (played by Na Moon Hee) is an elderly woman, an extremely persistent and fearsome woman who is always looking for some wrongdoings at the market she lives to file official complaints at the local government office. This is where she met the new junior civil service officer Park Min Jae (played by Lee Je Hoon), an assiduous and ambitious man that concedes to her favour in teaching her English after endless exasperation of banter between the two. The unlikely yet delightful bonding blossoms between them, as no wonder Ok Boon being the cantankerous but genuine heart, manages to move their relationship into a peculiar friendship that changes their lives.
After Min Jae learns the true reason of why Ok Boon wants to speak English, this is where the heartwarming comedy plot shifts into a totally unexpected twist. Events filled with melancholy and touching moments arised after Ok Boon’s past devastating secret was revealed, the meaning that English holds for her and how learning the language can allow her to stand up for her justice. I appreciate how the twist is developed meticulously to let us reflect about Na Ok Boon’s story and also Min Jae’s point of view.
I Can Speak is truly an eye-opening, rewarding viewing experience but nevertheless entertaining, with high quality cinematography. This movie certainly did an excellent job to bring us to understand today’s struggles of the Comfort Woman’s traumatic experience—that deserves more than a winning trophy.
Comments