Shen Ai, who came to a strange city, started life smoothly with Zong Can's help. Despite this, Shen Ai still rejected Zong Can's pursuit. In her opinion, Zong Can, whether it is education, work or family, may be the best. does not meet her requirements. In a small city like Miryang, Shen Ae showed her big-city vision and life taste, and more importantly, her economic strength, and her solid family background may be the basis for her to start in this city and win the recognition of her neighbors. and backing. Her high-profile act of taking her younger brother to choose a site to set up a factory for investment is enough to show her mentality. But it was her style of showing off her wealth that the dean of her son's kindergarten kidnapped and brutally killed her son in order to pay off his debts. When the story reaches its climax, it cuts into the religious theme here. Shin Ae, who lost her husband, also lost her son. Although the law has punished the principal, put him in prison, and even sentenced him to death, this cannot comfort or even appease the loss of Shin Ae. The pain and injustice of my son. Shen Ae, who was in extreme pain, had Zong Can's silent comfort and concern, but her anger and pain still covered Zong Can's concern, as if compared with her pain, Zong Can's comfort was insignificant.
The suffering Shen Ae was attracted to the church. The pastor of this church was the owner of a drugstore near her home. The atmosphere of the Christian church, the teachings of forgiveness, and the daily prayers of the ardent believers, Shen Ae seemed to be Reborn, letting go of her pain and hatred. However, according to the religious teachings of Christianity, the people in the church suggested that Shen Ai forgive the principal, and went to the prison to tell him to forgive him. Accompanied by him, go to the prison and forgive the principal. But when Shin Ae saw the murderer of her son, the principal said that he had joined Christianity and was forgiven by God. Shin Ae, who seemed to be out of pain, and Shin Ae, who had the courage to forgive, suddenly collapsed. The principal was so calm and calm that it seemed that he was not a murderer. This calm made Shen Ai angry again. Not only did she wonder why she had not forgiven him, but he had already been forgiven by God, which made Shen Ai feel that God was just. The hypocrisy of righteousness, the cruelty of forgiveness. But in the eyes of those church members and pastors, how difficult it is for Shin Ae to live according to the Lord's will, and how fierce the struggle between a new self and an old self is. But Shin Ae decides to expose the hypocrisy of the church, and she doesn't hesitate to expose the pastor's sanctimoniousness in a sexual way. Although the pastor was sober at the last moment and did not make a big mistake, the misalignment between human nature and the moral image advertised by religion is still worthy of everyone's reflection.
Watching the full movie, maybe the first impression is that this is a movie about religion, and the conflict between human nature and religion is the main thread of this movie. In fact, this film is not so much a religious film as it is the director's reflection on the modern society of Korea. In my opinion, what this film really reflects on is the harm of patriarchy to society, and Shin Ae as an individual representative means rebellion against patriarchy. Although this resistance appeared to fail on the surface.
We know about the Mid-Autumn Festival in the past few years. South Korea believes that the Mid-Autumn Festival originated in its own country, while the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival is an imported product. Now, such as the origin of Confucianism, some people think that it is Korea. We will not argue the veracity of these claims. Through these, we can see that Korean society is similar to Chinese society, a hierarchical society, a patriarchal society. This is still the case in Korea today. This kind of patriarchal society has assimilated Christianity. Christianity is shown here as a unit of the patriarchal society. The God in this unit is the patriarchy that represents power, and this patriarchy is manifested through the means of priests.
So in this movie, the innocent death of Shin Ae's son and the justice that Shin Ae expected are marked with patriarchy. That is to say, in a patriarchal society, justice is not something that can be fought for, but is distributed. It is distributed by the patriarch or leader who represents the patriarchy. Shen Ai went to prison to forgive and forgive the murderer. This was regarded as a political achievement of the church. People did not comfort Shen Ai, did not help her legally, nor did they help her materially, but persuaded him from a doctrinal perspective that forgiveness is Christ. What a disciple should do, you forgive him, and the merits of the church will be greater and more can be distributed from God. But God forgave the murderer before Shin Ae forgave, without any consultation with Shin Ae, nor any apology or repentance to Shin Ae. As if the murderer's crime had only offended God and had nothing to do with the mother who had lost her son.
Shin Ae was tightly controlled by her father from the very beginning. This can be learned from the conversation that Shin Ae's younger brother came to visit her in Miryang. Shen Ai married her husband after graduating from university, but this husband was not an innocent man, but a playboy. Shen Ai also knew this, and their marriage was firmly opposed by her father. Since she is firmly opposed, why should Shen Ai marry him with good conditions? It can only be to rebel against her father and fight against her father. Even if her father threatens to cut off relations with them, Shen Ai is willing to do so. This can also be seen from her rejection of the owner of the auto repair shop. She has a wealthy family background and a good education, and she does not look down on the old-fashioned Zong Can. When her husband died, Shin Ae came to this strange city to escape her father's constraints. Although the husband is in trouble, he can only be free from the husband. So this city is a starting point for a fresh start, and a starting point from which to start. In order to gain recognition in this city, she made a high-profile inspection of investments, drank and sang with the neighbors, and seemed to integrate into the life of this small city with her own Seoul attitude. This place is far from her father's restrictions. She is unwilling to have her life arranged by her father, so she has to arrange her own life and gain the approval of her neighbors.
So from the beginning, Shin Ae rebelled against her father's restrictions on her. But when her son was killed, she felt lonely and helpless, and she still came to the church, but she also found that the God of the church was another father who was brutally interfering in her life. She is going to resist. This is at the end, when Shen Ai came out of Zong Can's house, raised her head on the road and shouted "I will never lose to you, I will never lose", which makes people think of the scene when she got married despite her father's opposition .
The real cuteness of the whole movie lies in the little character Zong Can. Rather than saying that Shen Ai's experience is the theme of this film, it is better to say that what the director really wants to express is the little character Zong Can. Zong Can participated in all areas of Shen Ai's life. Shen Ai entered the church, and he also entered the church. When Shen Ai went to prison, he followed him to the prison. It was his silent and almost crazy love that made this movie warm. That's what makes this movie really hopeful. In this patriarchal world, when justice is distributed and individual lives are arranged, only those little people who are not blood relatives and not related, they will have true love.
But this film still presents us with a serious topic, how do we re-understand God when the Christian God is branded with patriarchy and when God's justice becomes a continuation of the patriarchal distribution system. In other words, how do we go back to Jesus and break the patriarchy.
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