Light, but uplifting and empowering. These are among the many critiques flooding Chinese language social media after “The World of Love,” a Korean impartial movie directed by Yoon Ga-eun, started making waves internationally.
The movie, which opened in Korean theaters in late October, has already garnered vital acclaim overseas, together with in China — a market that has been largely closed to Korean movies and cultural merchandise for a number of years as a consequence of political tensions.
A touching and nuanced exploration of resilience and company within the aftermath of trauma, “The World of Love” swept two main awards on the ninth Pingyao Worldwide Movie Pageant in late September. Final week, the movie additionally made a splash on the Hong Kong Asian Movie Pageant.
Since then, it has gained important traction in China, with enthusiastic word-of-mouth propelling its reputation. Discussions concerning the movie’s themes and optimistic critiques proceed to develop on RedNote, a number one lifestyle-sharing platform in China.
The movie begins with an outline of Joo-in’s seemingly atypical every day life, step by step revealing the traumatic occasion she endured. However Joo-in refuses to let her expertise as a sexual assault survivor outline her, regardless of how others understand her. The movie shines a highlight on the struggles many trauma survivors face when their responses don’t align with societal expectations.
Its quiet emotional energy has struck a chord with Chinese language viewers, incomes the movie a powerful 9 out of 10 score on Douban, China’s guide and film score platform.
It joins the ranks of different extremely rated Korean movies like “Joint Safety Space” (2000), “Silenced” (2011) and “Hope” (2013). Over 24,000 customers have already bookmarked “The World of Love” on Douban, underscoring its rising reputation regardless of the restricted entry to Korean movies in China.
What units this movie aside is its deeply human portrayal specializing in how people rebuild their lives after trauma, a difficulty usually missed by society, in line with a film overview in The Paper, a Chinese language digital media outlet.
“In contrast to typical issue-driven movies that urge audiences to confront social issues head-on, this movie invitations viewers into deep reflection. It’s a piece that actually cares concerning the particular and infrequently missed circumstances of people,” the article famous.
The overview additional praised Yoon’s directing for her empathetic method to the principle character, refusing to cut back Joo-in to a mere “sexual assault sufferer.”
The movie explores how folks be taught to reside with previous wounds — an angle that has struck a chord in East Asian cultural contexts. That complexity resonates with viewers as properly. Rebecca Wu, a 29-year-old Chinese language doctoral pupil in Seoul, mentioned the movie prompted her to replicate on how society too simply labels individuals who have skilled trauma as “unlucky.”
“Once we say ‘sexual violence has destroyed the victims, leaving their lives and futures shattered,’ we unintentionally lure them in a story of everlasting victimhood, identical to how Joo-in’s classmates did to her,” Wu mentioned.
“We shouldn’t rush to definitive conclusions about sure social points and rush to guage folks after listening to their experiences. As a substitute, we should always keep open-minded.”
Wang Yixue, a Shenzhen-based workplace employee who watched the film in Hong Kong, mentioned that the movie reveals the face of a survivor that has not been portrayed earlier than.
“As a substitute of recreating the trauma occasions to warn the viewers, the movie delves into the state of those that have skilled hurt, specializing in how somebody lives with and coexists with their trauma after being damage and how much angle one ought to undertake when confronting previous ache and so-called struggling,” Wang mentioned, including that the movie can “encourage and empower survivors.”
Na Moon-hee stars as Moon-hee, a grandmother with Alzheimer’s who turns into the only witness to a hit-and-run accident involving her granddaughter, within the Korean movie “Oh! My Gran” (2020). Courtesy of CGV Arthouse
Will Korean cinema return to China?
The optimism is additional underpinned by the information that Yoon’s film secured a uncommon distribution cope with a Chinese language agency, fueling hopes that it could possibly break the standing of no Korean movie being screened in China during the last a number of years. In response to Selection, Gentle Movies Restricted — a Chinese language distributor identified for curating arthouse and pageant standouts — acquired the rights for the movie’s launch in China.
For almost a decade, Chinese language audiences have had restricted entry to Korean movies in native theaters as a result of unofficial “hallyu (Korean wave) ban” imposed by Beijing in 2016 in retaliation for Korea’s deployment of the U.S. Terminal Excessive Altitude Space Protection system.
One uncommon exception was the comedy “Oh! My Gran,” which premiered in China in late 2021. Starring veteran actor Na Moon-hee as a grandmother with Alzheimer’s who turns into the only witness to a hit-and-run incident involving her granddaughter, the movie earned a heat reception, doubtless as a consequence of Na’s reputation in China and the movie’s acquainted, heartwarming themes of household and humor.
On this context, many Chinese language moviegoers have expressed on social media their hope that “The World of Love” may comply with within the footsteps of “Oh! My Gran” and attain a wider viewers by means of theatrical launch in China.
A scene from director Yoon Ga-eun’s “The World of Love” / Courtesy of Barunson E&A
But, regardless of the movie’s uncommon distribution cope with a Chinese language firm, main hurdles stay. Skye Zhang, a 27-year-old employee within the film business in Beijing, welcomed the acquisition information however remained cautious about its precise attain, noting that it’d nonetheless face challenges in reaching audiences as a result of Chinese language authorities’ restrictions on Korean leisure content material.
“Whether it is finally not nationwide launched in China, I’d go watch the film in [select] cities the place it’s screened,” Zhang mentioned.
There have been faint indicators of a possible thaw in cultural relations between the 2 nations, with some Ok-pop fan conferences permitted since final yr, although bigger Ok-pop live shows are nonetheless not permitted.
A current diplomatic second added gasoline to hypothesis about renewed cultural ties as Chinese language President Xi Jinping had a dialog with Park Jin-young, the Ok-pop mogul of JYP Leisure and the top of the presidential fee on cultural exchanges, throughout his current state go to to Korea. The alternate sparked renewed optimism that the long-standing freeze on Korean popular culture in China could also be easing.
Nonetheless, main uncertainties stay. Securing a distribution deal doesn’t assure nationwide launch in China. All overseas movies should bear a authorities content material overview and approval course of, and China maintains a strict annual quota on imported movies.
For “The World of Love” to be proven broadly, it should navigate each political sensitivities and regulatory gatekeeping — obstacles which have lengthy stymied Korean cultural exports to China.
Alyssa Chen is a China reporter with the South China Morning Put up. She is at present primarily based in Seoul, writing for each The Korea Occasions and the South China Morning Put up underneath an alternate program.
