• Name: ‘The Way Home’
• Starring: Kim Eul-boon, Yoo Seung-ho
• Genre: Drama
• Director: Lee Jeong-hyang
• Written by: Lee Jeong-hyang
• Produced by: Hwang Woo-hyun, Hwang Jae-woo
• Edited by: Kim Jae-bum, Kim Sang-bum
• Cinematography: Yoon Heung-sik
• Music by: Kim Dae-heung, Kim Yang-hee
• Distributed by: CJ Entertainment in South Korea, Paramount Pictures in the United States
• Production Companies: Paramount Classics, Tube Entertainment
• Running time: 87 minutes
• Release dates: 5 April 2002 in South Korea, 15 November 2002 in the United States
• Countries: South Korea, United States

• Kim Eul-boon as Grandmother
• Yoo Seung-ho as Sang-woo
• Min Kyung-hyun as Cheol-yi
• Dong Hyo-hee as Sang-woo’s mother
• Im Eun-kyung as Hae-yeon

Synopsis

The 78-year-old grandmother welcomes her grandson, Sang-woo, to her house in the village. Sang-woo is the spoilt child of his mother, who is looking for a job in Seoul. She sends her child to his grandmother to ensure a job by the time he comes back to Seoul.

Since Sang-woo is accustomed to a modern lifestyle, he becomes disappointed by the sight of his grandmother’s house. The granny, who is mute by birth, lives in an old thatched-roof house without facilities like running water or electricity. A frustrated Sang-woo starts hating his grandmother, and at times he calls her names like ‘Byungshin’, meaning ‘retarded’. He is always rude to her, and sometimes he ignores her at all costs.

Though Sang-woo is not satisfied, he starts to adjust to the new atmosphere.

He is a pampered boy who does not know the value of hard work. Therefore, he turns down the poor, hard-working boy who lives in his grandmother’s neighbourhood when he offers friendship. Nonetheless, he is attracted to a girl of his age, but she does not show any interest in befriending Sang-woo; instead, she likes the country boy.

The grandmother tries hard to make him happy and to make both ends meet. She alone does all the household chores and works in her vegetable garden. It is through selling vegetables that she earns money for a living.

One day, Sang-woo’s Game Boy stops working. He asks his grandmother to buy him a new battery for his Game Boy. The old woman who lives with the little money that she gets by selling her vegetables stands helplessly in front of Sang-woo, unable to provide the money.

An angry Sang-woo verbally abuses her and throws her shoes away. In anger, he draws ugly pictures on the walls and breaks her vases. Later, he steals her ornamental hairpin made of silver to barter it for a battery. The plan does not work since he goes to the shop of an acquaintance of the grandmother. The shopkeeper recognises it as theft and sends him back to his home.

As a city boy, Sang-woo is accustomed to fast food. After eating home-cooked food for a while, he asked his grandma to buy him Kentucky Fried Chicken. The grandmother, who has not tasted modern food, prepares a traditional boiled chicken dish with the chicken that she bought from the market. Her efforts go in vain when he is not pleased with her home-cooked chicken curry.

Doing all the household chores and the garden work alone, she fell sick one morning. For the first time, Sang-woo starts to grow concerned about her. He feeds her the leftover chicken curry and cares for her. He returns her stolen silver hairpin in an attempt to ease her.

He slowly starts to get along with his grandmother. One day, Sang-woo accompanies her to the market early in the morning. Watching her grandmother try hard to persuade people to buy her vegetables makes Sang-woo learn the difficulty of her job. On their way back home, the grandmother buys him noodles and a pair of shoes. Also, she barters a melon to buy him Choco Pies.

They get on the bus, and Sang-woo finds his crush on the bus. To get some private time and to impress her, he tells the grandmother that he likes to travel alone. She agrees and asks him to carry the remaining products back home, but he turns her down. He reaches home earlier than his grandma. It was only then that he realised the heavy load that his grandmother had to carry from the town.

He starts to feel sympathetic towards his grandmother. To express his gratitude, he creates some greeting cards with simple words written on them. His grandma becomes happy for his act of love and kindness.

He transforms into a better and more mature boy by the time his mother comes to take him back. He apologises to the neighbourhood boy and befriends him. The movie ends by showing Sang-woo leaving his grandma and going with his mother. The grandmother has become once again alone in her house, but this time she has sweet memories with her grandson.

As the movie progresses, the boy feels guilty for being rude to his grandmother, and gradually he attempts to undo the bad things that he once did in anger. It is evident in the scene in which he returns the silver hairpin to the grandmother. Later, he feels guilty for making his granny carry the load from the market.

Awards

• Grand Bell Awards 2002
  Best Film
  Best Screenplay – Lee Jeong-hyang

Interesting Facts about The Way Home

1. Jeetongma a place in North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea was the shooting location of the movie ‘The Way Home’.
2. The film critic Steven Rea’s statement about ‘The Way Home’ is that “Jeong Hyang-lee’s film is deceptively simple, deeply satisfying”.
3. Kim Eul-boon, the senior woman in the movie who acted the role of grandmother was 76 years old and had not watched any movie.
4. The movie ends by saying that ‘The Way Home’ is dedicated to grandmothers all over the world.

FAQs

1. What is the Instagram ID of Yoo Seung-ho?
   @dandyoo93_official.
2. Who is the director of ‘The Way Home’?
   Lee Jeong-hyang is the director of ‘The Way Home’.
   
3. When was the movie ‘The Way Home’ released?
   In South Korea, the movie is released on 5 April 2002.