Overview of Lovable
‘Lovable’ is a 2011 movie about an autistic child, Da-seul, who is living with her grandmother and uncle. Yoo Won-Sang handles the role of Da-seul. Through Da-seul’s life, the writer and director of the film, Park Chul-soon, displays a child who is obsessed with her flying snowman. Da-seul counts on the days for the winter to come to make a flying snowman. When the day finally arrives, she takes the next step in her art adventure.
‘Lovable’ is distributed by A’muse/Indie Plug in South Korea. The story is mostly told from the perspective of Da-seul. The movie won prestigious awards in 2011 for presenting a story solely dedicated to autistic children.
Profile
- Name: Lovable/The Lovely Child
- Genre: Drama, Childeren
- Starring: Yoo Hae-jung
- Director: Park Chul-soon
- Assistant Director: Yoo Won-Sang
- Producer: Song Hyuk-jo
- Writer: Park Chul-soon
- World Premiere: 15 July 2011
- Release Date: 24 November 2011
- Distributor: A’muse/Indie Plug
- Running time: 86 minutes
- Language: Korean
- Country: South Korea
Cast
- Yoo Hae-jung as Da-seul
- Kwon Oh-jin
- Joo Boo-jin
- Kim Song-il
Synopsis
Da-seul is a nine-year-old girl living with her uncle and grandmother. Unlike other children, she suffers from savant syndrome, a type of autism. She speaks less, and most of the time Da-seul is alone. Her grandmother works as a squid seller, and her uncle is always drunk.
During the daytime, Da-seul wanders here and there with her dog inside her clothes, binoculars, and a pocket full of crayons. Apart from Da-seul’s inability to live the so-called normal life like the majority in society, she is an extremely talented girl. She is a keen observer and likes to watch around through her binoculars. When she looks through her binoculars, she sees the octopus popping its head out, a dog running over the water, and big fish swimming in the sea.
While wandering, she draws colourful pictures with her crayons on the building walls. Da-seul draws for herself. Therefore, she does not like others admiring her talent while she is drawing. Also, she becomes violent if someone interrupts her for making the walls dirty. She gets back to her home in the evenings and sits down every night to watch her favourite cartoon. Putting her cute pink hoodie on, she loves rocking back and forth while enjoying the cartoon.
Da-seul is obsessed with the cartoon character and the flying snowman. She eagerly watches the snowman and the small girl in the cartoon hang out and fly together. She keenly observes the flying snowman interacting with the little girl in the cartoon and desperately wishes for a similar companion. To create a snowman like that in the cartoon, she enthusiastically waits for the snow to fall. One day she plays with the food and throws it above her head, imagining it is snow.
Finally, the winter season arrives to fulfil her wish. She starts making a snowman all by herself by sweeping the snow that has fallen on the ground. She moulds the snow into round shapes to create the figure of the snowman. To help her snowman fly, she puts wings on each side. After completing the construction of her snowman, a drastic change occurs in her artistic talent.
From thereon, the snowman becomes her companion. She takes it in a red basket wherever she goes and plays with it. She sticks a mirror on her snowman and examines her face in it.
Da-seul replaced her drawings on the walls with black paint instead of her colourful crayons. Her grandmother and uncle casually accept this change and think her illness is responsible for the sudden change. They try hard to stop Da-seul from drawing on the random building walls with black paint. However, they fail to stop her from painting the walls and the rooftops black.
One night, she goes to the lighthouse and looks at the sky through her binoculars. She sees a big snowman and a tiny snowman flying in the sky. The next morning, her uncle comes to the lighthouse in search of her. She makes him sit there through gestures, then she adjusts his head in a certain position. At first glance, he sees nothing but some black lines on the roof. But after a closer look, he sees the snowman, which she drew.
Theme
Savant syndrome is a mental condition. The people who have this mental illness possess incredible talents. Da-seul is one such child, living in her imaginary world with her flying snowman. Through the character of Da-seul, the nine-year-old child, the film ‘Lovable’ sheds light on the lives of people living with Savant syndrome.
The story is told from the perspective of Da-seul. Therefore, the film makes the actions of the child in the movie justifiable. The filmmakers enlighten the audience about the way autistic people look at the world. They see things that are invisible to others.
Da-seul is represented as a child who enjoys her life by doing her favourite activities. Due to her illness, she socialises less and becomes hyperactive when someone interrupts her activities. Nonetheless, she is determined to pursue her dream.
Besides, the movie shows the hardships faced by the family raising an autistic child, like the huge communication gap they face. Da-seul’s family fails to understand what she feels and wants to communicate. Most of the time, they ignore the activities of Da-seul and consider it as her madness.
Awards
- Asian Film Festival of Dallas 2012
Best Narrative Feature
Special Jury Price for Acting – Yoo Hae-jung
Interesting Facts about Lovable
- ‘Lovable’ was premiered at Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2011.
- Also, ‘Lovable’ was premiered at Asian Film Festival of Dallas in 2012.
- Initially ‘Lovable’ was named as ‘The Lovely Child’.
- To act the role of Da-seul, Yoo Hae-jung the people Who are affected with autism.
- Park Chul-soon is the writer and director of ‘Lovable’.
- Yoo Hae-jung was in 5th grade when she acted in ‘Lovable’.
- ‘Lovable’ is Yoo Hae-jung’s first movie.
FAQs
- Who is the director of ‘Lovable’?
Park Chul-soon directed ‘Lovable’. - Who played the role of Da Seul?
The role of Da Seul was played by Yoo Hae-jung. - When is the movie ‘Lovable’ released?
‘Lovable’ was released on 24 November 2011. - What is the Instagram ID of Yoo Hae-jung?
@yoo_haejeong
