By Sadia Shameem
This article is a personal review of the 2018 film œLittle Forest directed by South Korean director Yim Soon-rye.
Its so rare, coming across a piece of art, whether it is a book, or a painting, or a movie that understands you better than you do. A couple of weeks ago, I happened to find myself in the middle of a debate – the young kids of the class argued in favour of offline classes while the relatively older ones paraded their support for the online learning mode.
The overconfident adults smirked, œTime is precious! Time is valuable! You dont have to put on pyjamas, or get a visa to fly to Harvard anymore. You can take classes from the comfort of your bedrooms. The little ones presented their robust defence, œTime doesnt matter. What do we need to save time for? We want to play in our school backyards. Hug our friends. Thats all that matter.
It was funnily sad comparing their priorities. I pitied my life, pitied us adults – always running after time even if we possess the knowledge that it will slip through our fingers. Instantly, I was drawn back to a movie I had watched a couple of years back. I scrolled the internet trying to look for it. “Little forest”, that is.
Hands down, this Korean movie will steal your heart.
I dont think writing a mere wordy review would justify how this magical piece of art makes me feel. I longed for these characters’ lives. This 2018 movie will blow your mind away, make you question all you stand for, all you run after. Its a mini self-help movie about discovering what really matters in this temporary world.
The story revolves around Hye Won moving back to her hometown in the countryside as the city life has worn her heart and soul down. The movie can be categorised into a drama genre, with a very profound message to send across, almost a eulogy sung by Hye Won on letting go.
The cinematography of the movie is surreal and aesthetic making it feel like an animated film, something akin to a Studio Ghibli movie. It is filmed in a small traditional Korean village in the South Gyeongsang Province, and it gives the audience a very insider perspective into the village houses, the mode of transport as well as way of life in a typical Korean countryside, a stark contrast to the bustling Seoul that frequently takes up the on-screen space in Korean film industry.
The cast members are all exceptionally talented, who really embody the roles they have played in the movie. Kim Tae Ri who plays Hye Won and Ryu Jun Yeol who plays Hye Wons childhood friend Jae Ha have delivered phenomenal performances. Every moment between the two childhood friends is electric, bitter-sweet and memorable. Both of the characters, having gone separate ways to pursue their dreams of glory in a big city (Seoul) return to their countryside and develop an unbreakable bond, reconciling that they had been wrong all along – about Seoul, and their small town.
The movie begins with Hye Won returning to her village on a cold winter day with a heavy heart. When her friends ask her why she came back her answer is simple, œI was hungry. As the movie proceeds, we are given childhood flashbacks of her life with her mom cooking and growing their own food, and we finally understand the longing Hye Won must have felt to her old life. Hye Won’s longing is intensified by the fact that she had worked and studied all the time – barely eating, barely living, so much so that Seoul had become stifling for her.
Throughout the story, the audience is made to question the purpose of their lives. Is struggling all there is to life? To living in this soul-depleting world?
Her journey is surrounded by lots and lots of food, nature and healing. Embarrassingly enough, Ill admit I sobbed a little too much watching this movie. I ached for her life, the way she was healing, the simple life she chose in the end.
To conclude, there are many important takeaways from “Little Forest”. To the struggling college student, to those tired of working all the time, life doesnt have to be a train youre running to catch up with all the time. Because youll realise that youre never quite going to make it. Youll somehow end up missing the train, if youre always running.
“Little Forest” is a good movie to learn the importance of slowing down, of letting go. Moreover, an important life lesson will stare you in the face – its okay to stop pushing yourself all the time, of struggling so much for so little and taking a leap of faith for what we all need – peace and contentment.
I am going to leave you all with this promise: This movie will make you smile, it will make you cry, and it will leave you wanting your own “Little Forest”. ***