Thoughts On: Secret Sunshine - Grief, God, and the Human Condition

Warning: MINOR SPOILERS

Secret Sunshine is a 2007 South Korean film directed by the acclaimed Lee Chang-Dong, the director of films such as Poetry, Oasis, and the excellent 2018 film Burning.

Unfortunately I haven't tackled all of his films yet, except Secret Sunshine and Burning. I struggle to to pick which film out of the two I love the most, because both are elegant, emotionally artful and complex films. But Secret Sunshine left a lasting impression on me long after I watched it. It's undeniably one of the best films I've seen recently. I feel I watched this film at the right time in my life, and after seeing it twice I feel it's safe to confirm it was more than perfect timing.

The film follows Shin-ae Lee (played by Do-yeon Jeon, who won best actress for this film at Cannes) a newly widowed single mother who with her son move back to her late husband's home town Milyang to be a piano teacher. As she adjusts to the town she inadvertently befriends a kind-hearted yet weird man named Jong-chan Kim (played by Kang-ho Song, Parasite) who gives her a ride to the town after her car breaks down.

Everything seems seasonal and uninterrupted in her life, until she loses her son. This leads to what appears by a phone call to be some sort of hostage situation where her son is being held for ransom. After following the orders she was given, the results still end up nightmarish. The police assist her in the finding of her son, only to discover he's dead. Once the killer is jailed and her dead son is in a casket, her own humanity is tested.

The film deals with grief in ways not many films, or any film for that matter has ever done. The film aims for subjectivity and does not prompt for easy answers or solutions, otherwise there would be no room for self-contemplation. Do-yeon Jeon's performance truly communicates the natural realism of coping with a splintering loss and how grief is a natural part of who we are as people.

This film also has interesting, yet misunderstood by viewers of the film, explorations of Christianity. There's a point before she loses her son, Shin-ae has no interest in God when a doctor, who is a devout Christian, tells her that God can heal her pain. She respectfully denies this offer at first, but then turns to God after her son is killed. Months later (as implied), she does turn to God, is part of a prayer group, and goes to church regularly.

This film received controversy for it's usage of Christianity as it hasn't proved to truly help Shin-ae with her grieving. When she decides to visit the man who killed her son at the prison he's in, he tells her gently that he has found God and prays for her and himself regularly. This proves to be less than satisfying for Shin-ae, and she returns to her grieving, anger, and confusion. She says to God in the film ''I won't let you win'', believing God is trying to bring misery upon her.

As a Christian myself, I found this to be a believable, and relatable personal struggle that is all too human for even believers. Also, Lee-Chang Dong being a former minister himself, I doubt he'd make a film that outright condescends Christianity. I also believe the unsympathetic and slightly superficial take on the Christians in the town was for a story purpose. Shin-ae's loss of her son was probably greater than any loss the town dwellers had ever experienced. And their lack of truly connecting with her during this time of her life has to do with setting themselves in their own ways that's comfortable for them because this isn't their son they lost, it was Shin-ae's. The only person that is truly emotionally stabbed from this event is Shin-ae, and her choices in the film are centered around trying to fight through this grieving process in ways she understands.

The film's ending is open to interpretation, but shows a glimpse of Shin-ae starting and learning to cope on her own and hopefully accepting her loss. My feeling of the ending is that no one should be allowed to move on at anyone else's pace. Humans are complex and we are all as different as we are similar. We are reactionary and we all respond differently to things we are faced with. This is film about humanity and how we can only be human when struck with tragedies. Not all of Shin-ae's choices are justified, especially near the third act, but as I said, only SHE knows how much it hurts, no one else.

I also wanted to speak on Kang-ho Song's character Jong-chan Kim, takes a strong likeness in Shin-ae. His character is probably the biggest enigma for me, even after watching it twice. He's both incredibly likable and incredibly odd. This is mostly due to the questioning of why he's so in love with Shin-ae. His heart seems to always be in the right place and he's always wanting to attend church with her, help her out in any way possible, and follows her around for an abnormal number of times.

There are instances where he's framed many times sitting or standing behind Shin-ae. I might do another post on the film whenever I revisit it. Either I'm over-analyzing, or I truly am missing something. But regardless I still love his character and didn't want to forget acknowledging him.

 In conclusion, Secret Sunshine is a film that is highly personal to me, even after losing a friend of mine I used to take care of. So my grieving also took some time to wither away and even then, my heart is still clinging onto that loss.

Lee-Chang Dong has crafted a patient, sensitive, and emotionally gripping story that will connect with many that have lost someone special and are struggling with their own personal grievances.

Have you seen the film? Share your comments below on your own thoughts!