Overview of Secret Sunshine
‘Secret Sunshine’ is developed from Lee Cheong-jun’s short film ‘The Abject’. The movie shows the struggles of Lee Shin-ae while rebuilding her family after the death of her husband. The movie is directed by Lee Chang-dong. The title of the movie ‘Secret Sunshine’ is influenced by the name of the location of the film. The movie was released in 2007.
Profile
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Movie: ‘Secret Sunshine’
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Genre: Drama
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Director: Lee Chang-dong
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Writer: Lee Chang-dong
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Starring: Jeon Do-yeon, Song Kang-ho
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Produced by: Lee Han-na’ Lee Chang-dong
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Production Companies: Cinema Service, Pinehouse Films
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Distributed by: CJ Entertainment
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Release date: 17th May 2007
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Running Time: 142 minutes
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Country: South Korea
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Language: Korean
Cast
Main
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Jeon Do-yeon as Lee Shin-ae
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Song Kang-ho as Kim Jong-chan
Supporting
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Jo Young-jin as Park Do-seop
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Kim Young-jae as Lee Min-ki
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Seon Jeong-yeop as Jun
Synopsis
Lee Shin-ae, a young widow, moves from Seoul City to Miryang, which is her late husband’s birthplace. For her, Miryang is a completely new place with new people. Initially, Shin-ae feels uneasy about how life works in this place as the locals try to interfere in her life. As a small place, no secrets can be buried in the grounds of Miryang for a long time. Shin-ae drives to Miryang with her son Jun, after the demise of her husband in an accident. Jun on his journey looks at the clear blue sky of Miryang.
On their way, her car breaks down and Kim Jong-chan appears for their help. Kim Jong-chan is a mechanic who runs a local workshop in Miryang. From there on, he becomes a companion of Shin-ae, though his way of caring takes over her personal space which she is not pleased with. Claiming himself as a good man, Kim Jong-chan even helps her to open a piano school. Also, when he learns about Shin-ae’s intention to buy land to build a house, he suggests a rich landowner to her.
The rude nature of Shin-ae spreads in the town after her interaction with the shop owner lady when she criticises her shop and gives her free advice. However, the news of her plan to buy land makes her already tragic-stricken life unbearable. By spreading the news of buying land, she pretends to be rich. As a result, her son Jun gets abducted by his daycare teacher Park Do-seop. Though she agrees to pay the money asked by the kidnapper for her child in ransom, she could not save him.
One day she receives a call from the police informing her that her son is found dead in a nearby lake. Overloaded by continuous disasters in life, she is unable to shed tears for her beloved son. She gets accused of her numb reaction by her mother. The investigation into Jun’s death ends in Park Do-seop leading to his arrest. As an attempt to calm her tormented mind after the death of her son, she seeks help in religion and its customs. She becomes a regular at church and participates in religious activities. Her new way of life encourages Kim Jong-chan to participate in church activities, too.
As the day passes, she becomes energetic and pleasant. One day she expresses her wish to visit her son’s murderer in the jail. Through making an act of forgiving the criminal, she is trying to conceal her grief and revenge. However, her vengeance is revealed when she turns a blind eye to the criminal’s daughter when she finds the girl getting bullied.
The day she interacts with the criminal surprises her because he is smiling and responding to her calmly without any guilt. She gets shocked when Park Do-seop tells her that God has already forgiven him. The thought of God forgiving Park Do-seop makes her collapse outside the jail. The overwhelming thoughts of God taking her innocent son’s life and the same God forgiving her son’s murderer drive her mad.
After the incident in the jail, she turns against God. She tries to disrupt a religious ceremony conducted by the devotees by playing ‘Lies’, the music CD that she steals from a shop. One day she tries to seduce the pharmacist’s husband who, in the beginning, suggests her to join the religion. Later, the pharmacist and her husband host a vigil for her which gets interrupted when a stone is thrown at a window.
One night Shin-ea cuts her wrist trying to commit suicide. However, realising her mad act, she reaches out for help. When she gets discharged from the hospital, Jong-chan takes her to a salon to do her hair. Unfortunately, the hairdresser in the salon is Park Do-seop’s daughter. Shin-ae has seen this girl several times peeping at her after her son has gone missing, but every time she escapes without an explanation.
Overwhelmed by the situation, she dashes out of the salon leaving her hair partially done. After reaching home, she sits in the yard where she once played a hiding game with her son. When she starts to cut her hair, Jong-chan helps her by holding a mirror in the front.
Theme
Lie
The life of Shin-ae takes the direction of a stooping fall when she lies about her financial security. She pretends wealthy by spreading the news of buying land. The simple lie that she broadcasts costs all her savings and the life of her son. After the death of her son, she lies to herself that she found her inner peace through religion. She lies that she is a good child of God who can forgive the most cruel sinner that she meets in her life.
Being the victim of injustice by both God and the people around her, she plays the song ‘Lie’ to interrupt the religious ceremony conducted by a group of people. Through this act, she implies that everyone has lied to her. However, all those lies trapped her in a dangerous field of emotions waiting for an explosion to expel the hard feelings confined in her.
Hope
Hope is what makes a person strive through every situation. Shin-ae drives to Miryang hoping that she could settle down in her late husband’s birthplace peacefully with her child. She hopes to buy land someday and build a house. After enduring through all the hazards in her life, she hopes to find inner peace through religion. She hopes to become a better person by leaving behind her vengeance by forgiving her son’s killer. Finally, at the end of the story, she cuts her hair by herself with Jong-chan assisting her symbolising the new bud of hope in her life.
Awards
- 60th Cannes Film Festival 2007
Best Actress – Jeon Do-yeon (2007) - 44th Grand Bell Awards 2007
Special Prize – Jeon Do-yeon (2007) - 1st Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2007
Best Film – Secret Sunshine (2007)
Best Actress – Jeon Do-yeon (2007) - 27th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2007
Best Actress – Jeon Do-yeon (2007) - 28th Blue Dragon Film Awards 2007
Best Actress – Jeon Do-yeon (2007) - 6th Korean Film Awards 2007
Best Film – Secret Sunshine (2007)
Best Director – Lee Chang-dong (2007)
Best Actor – Song Kang-ho (2007)
Best Actress – Jeon Do-yeon (2007) - Women in Film Korea Awards 2007
Best Actress – Jeon Do-yeon (2007) - 10th Director’s Cut Awards 2007
Best director – Lee Chang-dong (2007)
Best Actor – Song Kang-ho (2007) - 3rd University Film Festival 2007
Best Actress – Jeon Do-yeon (2007) - Cine 21 Awards 2007
Best Actress – Jeon Do-yeon (2007) - IndieWire Critics Poll 2007
Best Undistributed Film – Secret Sunshine (2007) - Village Voice Film Poll 2007
Best Undistributed Film – Secret Sunshine (2007) - 2nd Asian Film Awards 2008
Best Film – Secret Sunshine (2008)
Best director – Lee Chang-dong (2008)
Best Actress – Jeon Do-yeon (2008) - 44th Baeksang Arts Awards 2008
Best Director – Lee Chang-dong (2008) - Asian Film Critics Association Awards 2008
Best Actress – Jeon Do-yeon (2008)
Best Screenplay – Lee Chang-dong (2008) - Palm Springs International Film Festival 2008
Best Actor – Song Kang-ho (2008)
Interesting Facts about Secret Sunshine
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The film won several prestigious awards.
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A number of 1,710,364 tickets were sold in the country.
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The movie got its Korean name ‘Miryang’ from the place where it is filmed.
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‘Miryang’ in English means ‘Secret Sunshine’.
FAQs
- Which short film inspired the movie ‘Secret Sunshine’?
The Screenplay of the movie ‘Secret Sunshine’ is inspired by the short film ‘The Abject’. - Who is the director of the movie ‘Secret Sunshine’?
Lee Chang-dong directed the movie ‘Secret Sunshine’. - Who is the female lead in ‘Secret Sunshine’?
The female lead in the movie is Jeon Do-yeon. - What is the Instagram ID of Song Kang-ho?
@songkang_b is the Instagram ID of Song Kang-ho.
