Movie name: I Can Speak
Country: South Korea
Year: Sept 2017
This movie was featured on the Disqus kdrama channel some time ago... It caught my eye because of the actor Lee Je Hoon, and I was curious to know what was the story about. I seldom watch Korean movies mainly because I am not very aware of their titles but it is always nice to watch something new... :D
So, what's the movie about?
Rookie civil servant, Park Min Jae was just transfered to Seoul in the municipal council like office. His job was to file complaints from the public regarding facilities, amenities and etc. As all new brooms sweeps clean, Park was stickler for rules. He meets a halmoeni (grandma) on the first day of his job.
This grandma named Na Ok-Boom is a resident "complainer"... Haha... Yes, she would be at that office almost every day to report on things so much until everyone there is scared of her. XD Her first encounter with Park was quite memorable... Hahah scary man, don't mess with this old lady!!
She made sure to take numbers for the following occasions and Park could say nothing but to process her complaints. Aigoo! Told you don't mess with ladies... esp grandmas... XD
So, the daily meetings between Park and the grandma wasn't as pleasant as you can already guess! ;D It was not until one day at a language centre that changed everything. Grandma Na was taking English classes there but it was not friendly towards older folks... :( All seemed hopeless until she bumped into Park downstairs. She was so excited to find out that he could speak English fluently and decided to ask him to teach her.
Park asked her why she wanted to learn English but Grandma Na never said the reason. He refused her offer and she continued to harrass him... even finding his mobile number! Hahah!! This grandma is daebak! :D
Park finally relented after one evening at Grandma Na's place. Park has a younger bro, but he has no time to take care of him so the bro would always eat ramyeon sometimes even uncooked ones. Grandma Na found the bro one day eating uncooked ramyeon and offered food to him. She didn't know that it was Park's younger bro.
The rest of the story goes on with Grandma Na learning English and Park finds out the reason why she wanted to learn it.
Overall thoughts
It is a heart warming story with the relationship between Park and Grandma Na. It was really neat to hear Lee Je Hoon speak English! Ooh my hearteu... XD I actually watched this movie with two online friends on Rabbit and I found myself crying so much at the end! Huhu!! ;D
Best parts of the movie
Definitely the interaction between Grandma Na and Park... Very touching, I found it refreshing from the usual kdramas of the usual romance... For once they featured a family love kind of bonding...
The part where Park challenged Grandma Na to speak to foreigners in a bar for 5 minutes... Haha, that was so cool she killed it! ;D
Even neighbourhood gangsters are no match for Grandma Na! :D
Conclusion
By now you must be dying to know why Grandma Na wants to learn English... ;D Well, it is because of her friend. Her friend was a witness for an international lawsuit in United Nations. Grandma Na and her friend were one of the many "comfort women" during the Japanese occupation in Korea. These women were only young girls about 12- 13 years old back then. They were captured, tortured and sexually abused. Her friend was sick and started to have dementia so it was her last request to Grandma Na to tell the world about the wrong doings of that era.
It was shameful to many as the stigma was that these women voluntarily became comfort women but in actual fact they were captured and forced to do it. This part really made me so angry, serious s* people use your brains who would volunteer to be that? Stupid.
When Park found out, he went all out to help Grandma Na. Even to the very last moment during the hearing... He came and Grandma Na could give her testimony without fear. It was a really brave moment for an old lady. Salute.
This part is actually based on a true story. I remember some news back then that there was such a case and the Japanese refuse to apologise. It was like admitting their fault so they never said sorry. Dayum.
The story ends on a good note, the resolution was passed but as said earlier no apology was ever given by the Japanese government. Grandma Na reunites with her long lost brother in US, for all these years she tried to contact him but he refused to see her because of that stigma. Park had helped her contact the bro... aww that was really so sweet... Lots of onions here.. yes... ;D
By now you must be dying to know why Grandma Na wants to learn English... ;D Well, it is because of her friend. Her friend was a witness for an international lawsuit in United Nations. Grandma Na and her friend were one of the many "comfort women" during the Japanese occupation in Korea. These women were only young girls about 12- 13 years old back then. They were captured, tortured and sexually abused. Her friend was sick and started to have dementia so it was her last request to Grandma Na to tell the world about the wrong doings of that era.
It was shameful to many as the stigma was that these women voluntarily became comfort women but in actual fact they were captured and forced to do it. This part really made me so angry, serious s* people use your brains who would volunteer to be that? Stupid.
When Park found out, he went all out to help Grandma Na. Even to the very last moment during the hearing... He came and Grandma Na could give her testimony without fear. It was a really brave moment for an old lady. Salute.
This part is actually based on a true story. I remember some news back then that there was such a case and the Japanese refuse to apologise. It was like admitting their fault so they never said sorry. Dayum.
The story ends on a good note, the resolution was passed but as said earlier no apology was ever given by the Japanese government. Grandma Na reunites with her long lost brother in US, for all these years she tried to contact him but he refused to see her because of that stigma. Park had helped her contact the bro... aww that was really so sweet... Lots of onions here.. yes... ;D
Now Grandma Na is travelling around the world, giving her testimony to different levels of authority. The ending scene was funny, when the immigration officer in San Francisco airport asked her if she could speak English....
This movie definitely is a heart warming one. It touches on the human side of the atrocities of war and it serves as a grim reminder to everyone. :( I did feel disturbed after watching this movie but am glad that such shows are made to tell some parts of history. Hope you enjoyed this review, see you in the next one soon...
*Image credits: Google and my own screenshots*
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