The theme of the film is "Facing Pain", but the most dramatic passage (approximately 1/2 of the film) is inseparable from "religion". The scenes depicting Christianity in the film are calm and objective. The most lethal passage is a series of "retaliation" after the heroine feels deceived; but it does not deliberately portray the pastor to the point of being unbearable. These are interesting and delicate balances. Every scene in the film seems to be hand-crafted from life, but in fact it is a highly refined drama. Every detail fully shows the character's personality, psychology, and future direction. The male protagonist in the film is actually the focus. The story of the film can only happen to women, and the female protagonist occupies almost all the roles of the whole film. But the most representative of Lee Chang-dong’s personality is the male protagonist who has not many plays. He represents a typical character: he has his own complete world view, will not be easily changed by the outside world, has little knowledge, and can even be said to be vulgar, but Live a simple and genuine life. The biggest characteristic of Lee Chang-dong is probably this "abnormally calm bystander attitude", but the calmness also implies a passion for compassion and love for life.
The film is not an anti-religious film, nor is it a romantic film, nor is it even a female film in the strict sense. It is just a feature film, which explores the issue of faith. The violence did not really appear in the film. Although Shin Ae’s injured body and distorted life on the screen made most of the audience force themselves to wear the spiritual shackles of "guilt consciousness" and understand Shin Ae’s pain, they still couldn’t get close to her and share the burden. Her pain. From this, Lee Chang-dong , who has reached the level of guidance, showed open-minded tolerance and optimistic endurance.
