Poetry (2010)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

(and obligatory, petulantly begrudging spoiler alert)Actually, the help I need is because... lately, like a pre-Alzheimers (insert noun here) despairing over his vanishing nouns, I've been failing to accurately predict a movie's ending. There was my last endeavor (Berberian Sound Studio), where I was certain the benighted hero was going to be ushered to a grisly Wicker-Man-like fate merely for the sake of the director's lust for realistic screaming. And now, to my greater shame, I thought for sure Miah was slowly and tortuously wrestling with an eye-for-an-eye type decision - namely, who to throw off the bridge, herself or her cretinous grandson, given that her delicate, poetic nature would not allow her to embrace the crass monetary solution proposed by the others. Here again,as with Berberian, incidentals even seemed to support my notions of imminent hyperdrama - in particular, where Miah fixates about getting the boy properly bathed and trimmed- as a sort of pre-sacrifice ritual perhaps.Btw, one reviewer seemed to think the boy just needed some stern talking to, failing to understand the self evident fact that the lout was irredeemable; though it seemed clear Miah held no such illusion. I just can't understand it. Have I lost my mojo?

POETRY is, inevitably, a film that strives to be poetic throughout, and yet come the end a few infuriating flaws detract from the experience. The first is the running time, which is way too long for such a slender story. I know this was intended to be a realistic mood piece, dealing with the older generation so that a slow and sedate pace reflects the lives of the characters, but seriously? An hour could easily have been cut out to no ill effect.Still, there are plenty of flashes of greatness in this production. The leading actress, Jeong-hie Yun, who came out of retirement to star in this film, is very good indeed and never less than authentic. The way the movie explores the relationship with the man she cares for is very intriguing. But, at times, I expected the film to be more harrowing, especially in regard to her character's plight. It's as if the director takes great pride in NOT showing the scenes you expect to see, but the end result is a lack of drama and involvement.By far the most interesting aspect of the storyline involves the main actress's grandson, but it's more build-up than pay-off and the resolution, when it comes, is presented so insignificantly that you almost miss the significance. Nevertheless, the understated direction and sheer beauty of many of the scenes contribute a lot to the production, and sometimes it's nice to watch a movie that takes a step back or two to reflect on the human condition. I liked it, but didn't love it...

Reading Poetry's summary, one sees a sentimental film. I surely wasn't sure if I wanted to see this or not. I am completely happy I did.What we have here is a slow-paced, delicate film. But it doesn't sway in sentimentality. It's subtle, quiet, and perhaps the most gentle film of the year, but it also wallows in the study of a suburban woman and in many ways feels like a dark portrait of a story. Yoon Jeong-hee is magnificent! She conveys so much emotion, and we realize just how quickly we want to see her journey here. The direction is assured, quitely letting us explore, never calling attention to itself. The screenplay is brilliant, and has the ideal arc needed for a film like this.There are many amazing moments in this film, moments that really grabbed me and that emotionally shook me. One of the best films of the year in an already amazing year for film.

What a wonderful film! To give my personal answer to one interviewer's question "Do you regard cinema, too, to be a dying form?" to the director Lee Chang-Dong. I believe (and deeply hope) that as long as films like Poetry are being made cinema will continue to flourish because it is important. It will continue to exist as long as humans exist because they are about being human. I was struck by how masterfully two sides of our humanness were presented in the film. On the one hand, it is about our search for beauty, as beauty can only be experienced if something of our own potential beauty responds to the beauty around us. There is something spiritual in this as Beauty and Truth are essentially one. On the other hand, there is the human predicament. That includes the pro and cons of the fact that we always have the choice to decide if we act ethically or not. That means if we actually say Yes to what is intrinsically our positive potential, or we say No and harm others, our environment and as a kind of end result, ourselves. What for me links the two is impermanence. Old age, illness and suicide as it is shown in the film. "Everything that is born will have to die" goes a very old Buddhist saying, and that happens no matter if we like it or not. At the same time, would we experience beauty if everything was to exist forever? Is it not because a beautiful flower grows out of a very simple looking seed in spring and then withers away after some weeks that it can become so precious to us? Without impermanence there is, one could say, by definition no beauty. Both are somehow the two sides of the same metaphorical coin. The same is true about this film. It still lingers on in my heart and mind weeks after I saw it. Very much like a true and wonderful poem, for example Rainer Maria Rilke's First Duino Elegy. It is is just about that, the wonder and horror of beauty.