So-won

I cried every second of this movie, excellent acting ang scenerio

What besiege a man to do such a brutal act to an innocent child? That's the question I kept asking myself after watching the film. 'Hope' is a film every parent with a young child should see. This is one of the most emotional and inspirational films I've seen in a while.

The actors were exceptional, especially Re Lee as the little girl. It was interesting to see how a somewhat divided family was brought together through tragedy, and the many obstacles they had to overcome in the process. This is an incredible film!! Very touching indeed.

First of all, KUDOS to the director for keeping it gore-free. And thanks to him for such a DECENT, SENSITIVE and yet POWERFUL portrayal of a real-life incident without all the unnecessary elements. OMG! the way he handled a delicate topic very effectively and efficiently!! Any other (insensitive) director would have butchered the script and screenplay. WOW! Take a (lots of) bow, the ENTIRE CREW. EXTREMELY emotional. NEVER once did the director steer away from the subject. This EASILY TOPS as the BEST movie to WATCH in the history of world cinema. I'm already using this movie as benchmark and bashing other movies that they are not up to this movie's mark! Such is the impact of this movie on me.

There is no 100/10 on IMDb. Otherwise, my rating for this movie is exactly that and may be even more because 10/10 seems to be blase after watching this movie.

Even the little boy who cries towards the end for not accompanying the girl on that day, was so powerful histrionics-wise, that I'm BOWLED over by all the performances!! SPELL-BOUND! All the 3 lead actors DESERVED an Oscar each. I will give away one to each of them, really. The music was sensitive and seamless too, without jarring your ears. And coming back to the story, I cannot believe this was an actual incident that happened.

The scene between the father and the daughter at the hospital when he tries to shift her to another room is very touching! The emotions choke you because truth is always bitter. How the community chips in to help in every which way they could, is a revelation!

And WHAT the heck do you say about the JUDGE for going "easy" on the pervert bastard?! HE should have been the first one to be beaten to death. Does not he even have the basic IQ to analyze that the pervert criminal had all the time and "sanity" of the brain to plan this and leave her to death? No matter where you are, women and children have to be careful, they cannot rest on the immoral judges or ridiculous judiciary system or the spineless police force. I could not digest the sentence or the judge's words. And what a BRAVE girl is she! HOPE she is safe, sound and happy, even after the pervert is released.

So Won (aka Hope also aka Wish) is a movie about a terrible event (the rape by a drunkard of a 9 yo girl) that shatters a family. It unravels slowly showing at first the parents (the father in particular case) who seem somehow too busy to take care of their daughter, then the tragedy happens, this part is not too graphic (thank God) but we are made aware that the poor girl will bear physical consequences for the rest of her life. Then there's the trial, and the need of money, and the shame for being at the center of attention. I was afraid this movie was going to be somehow a classic tearjerker describing the struggle of the family with money, work, slow/inefficient justice and so on. But the second half of the movie was about the father trying to get close to his daughter. And I think it was moving, and delicate at the same time.

The acting is very good. The food mascots costumes cuteness level was really over the top. Overall (as the rating suggests) I liked this movie, it was touching.

I had not heard about "Hope" (aka "So-won" and "Wish") prior to finding it when browsing through the Asian selection of movies. I only needed to look at the movie's cover in order to decide to sit down to watch it. I didn't read the synopsis for the movie, so I sat down to watch it with no anticipations or expectations.

It should be said that this movie is very atypical for a South Korean movie, and I mean that in a positive way. The movie deals with a topic that is taboo and very rarely seen in cinema, much less in South Korean cinema. And writer Ji-hye Kim and director Joon-ik Lee came up with a story and a movie that was brutal, realistic, emotional, realistic and very moving.

The movie tells the story of a family of three whose lives are abruptly uprooted and flipped upside down as the 8 year old daughter is abducted and raped by a sexual predator as she is on her way to school. Barely surviving the ordeal, the mother, father and little girl are left to struggle with the aftermath of the horrible ordeal.

"Hope" boasts some amazing acting performances from everyone on the cast list. And especially Mi-ran Ra (playing the mother), Sol Kyung Gu (playing the father) and child actress Lee Re (playing So-won) really carried the movie so beautifully with some amazing acting performances. I read that Mi-ran Ra had initially stated that she thought herself unable and inadequate to perform in the role of the mother in this movie, but I must say that she nailed it, and she really have a good talent for acting, and she was very convincing in the role. So I was very glad that she decided to perform in this movie after all.

The characters in the movie were very detailed and well-rounded, which added a lot to the overall enjoyment of the movie. It was especially so because the main characters - mother, father and daughter - were characters that you instantly take a liking to and sympathize for.

Director Joon-ik Lee luckily opted to deal with the atrocious event of the rape of a child in a very tactful manner, which was by showing nothing of the act on the screen. But it was very clear afterwards what had transpired. And that was the only way and the right way to deal with the topic, otherwise it would pass a threshold and step into a sleazy and creepy place.

Sure there are some visual aspects to the movie that can be difficult to watch for some viewers in the audience, such as seeing So-won in the hospital immediately after the act, and that visual had a very strong impact. But those are vital to the story and to the flow of the movie, because those visuals indeed tell so much without any words being necessary. The make-up and special effects department also managed to do a good job with their assigned tasks; especially on little So-won, because the injuries and bruises looked very realistic.

The dialogue in the movie is very well-written and very suitable and fitting to the movie. And it is actually clever dialogue which is so well delivered by all cast members. And there was a lot of emotion between the three main cast - Mi-ran Ra, Sol Kyung Gu and Lee Re.

Some of the music seemed rather unfitting for the movie, especially the music that played when So-won was sitting and talking with the social worker. The music they used there was just too upbeat and seemed quite out of place for the atmosphere of the movie. But in general, I will say that the music was adequate for the movie, especially because it was subtle enough to serve as background music.

The movie depicts quite well how the family struggles with the aftermath of the horrible tragedy. And it does tell the aspects quite nicely, both how So-won struggles with coming to terms with what happened to her and trying to return to a normal life. But it also deals nicely with how the mother and father are struggling with the events, and especially how the father is struggling to regain his relationship with her daughter in the aftermath as her trust in males was shattered.

However, do take into consideration that this movie deals with a very heavy and difficult topic and it is one that might cause a stir and not sit well with just everyone in the audience. And since it is a drama that is story-driven and character-driven, then the movie could even seem a bit slow paced and long for some viewers.

"Hope" is a beautiful movie, and I am very glad that I decided to sit down to watch it, because this was a very touching experience and a moving movie. "Hope" is definitely well worth your time, effort and money.