Image provided by Fantasia Festival
Kim Yoon Seok, known for his memorable roles in The Chaser, The Yellow Sea, and Sea Fog, arrives with his directorial debut in the form of Another Child. Despite his penchant as an actor to go for darker films with social commentary, Kim has crafted an impactful drama, that certainly flirts with sinister aspects of family and society, but also contains humour and warmth. It’s not a vanity piece either, as Kim allows for the women of the story to take front and centre while his rather pathetic patriarch decidedly worms his way into the background.
The film opens with a gorgeously lit scene that immediately announces Kim as having a keen visual flair. The amber glow of streetlamps adds a conflicting sense of warmth to the cold landscape, while Joo Ri (Kim Hye Jun), stares into a duck restaurant at her father. Confronted by fellow schoolmate Yoon Ah (Park Se Jin), Joo Ri runs off into the night. It later transpires that Joo Ri’s father, Dae Won (Kim Yoon Seok) is having an affair with Yoon Ah’s single mother, Mi Hee (Kim So Jin). To further complicate things, Mi Hee is expecting Dae Won’s child, and Yoon Ah is threatening to tell Joo Ri’s mother, Young Joo (Yum Jung Ah). From there a startling and honest coming of age story unfolds as well as a stern look at the treatment and roles of women in South Korean society.
Both Park and Kim Hye Jun are incredible in their roles. They have an honesty and vulnerability about them, which has them deal with situations in a range of way. Sometimes they tackle adult situations with maturity and grace, and other times they respond like the teenage girls they are. Each also encapsulates their upbringing, with Joo Ri wanting to avoid confrontation while Yoon Ah is more assertive and blunt. When Yoon Ah squares up against a rude customer in the Mini Stop where she works, we see a young woman ready to take on a patriarchal society. With Mi Hee’s assurance that she is covered in terms of money and care as her baby is a boy, it highlights the preferential treatment and want for father’s to have sons. It’s a cold but true line, and also plays into Mi Hee’s character as a teenage mother who was left alone and has built a business for herself.
This isn’t just a coming of age for the teens however, but the equal focus is poured into their mothers. Again the performances are staggering, and both have different levels of strength and vulnerability. Each female also has a fair amount of time to interact and play off one another. This results in a number of complex relationships and beautifully constructed scenes in terms of dialogue, tension, and emotion. Whether it’s Young Joo facing her husband’s lover’s daughter, or Mi Hee discovering Joo Ri’s connection to herself, we’re constantly on edge, but also delighted at the support the women show each other.
Kim Yoon Seok also triumphs as the pathetic husband/lover. He is a cowardly man, which leads him to avoid calls, make excuses, and in one scene which is both comedic and slightly tragic, attempts to run away from Joo Ri. This isn’t to say the character is without development and is unsympathetic. Although not the focus, we certainly feel his awkward interactions are not from him being a bad person, just a fairly useless one. Yoon Ah’s father also arrives for a brisk scene where he is more exhilarated by gambling prospects than anything else. Kim Yoon Seok seems to ask why men are held in such high regard in this society and suggests they have been in power for so long that they have weakened to hardships.
Another Child is a stunning debut and a miraculous feature overall. It finds emotions by daring to step into situations many have probably never imagined, and views familiar plot points through new eyes. By sharing the duties between the four female leads, Kim Yoon Seok is able to handle difficult material with maturity and sensitivity. Finding time for humour, tears, and hope, also makes the story feel like a complete and considered experience. Powerful performances, well-dissected themes, and the avoidance of melodramatics make this very rewarding and important viewing.
Another Child was reviewed at Fantasia Festival 2019.
