| A Bold Family (°£Å«°¡Á·) | ||
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| KIMA Notes: | ||
Aware their father has longed for unification of the two Koreas ever
since the division, Joong-yup¡¯s family devises a plan to fulfill their
father¡¯s wish after the family doctor tells them Joong-yup has about
three months left to live. They devise fake TV news segments and TV
shows to fool their father into believing the two Koreas had re-united.
But unfortunate fortune strikes them. The doctor¡¯s prognosis was incorrect.
Joong-yup isn¡¯t on his death bed. And now he wants to visit the daughter
and first wife he left behind in Pyongyang, the capital of what he
understands to be the ¡®former¡¯ North Korea. The lie this family boldly
told out of love begins to take on a life of its own as the entire
town is brought into the larger plot.  Director
and writer Cho Myung-nam won a screenplay competition for this script
in 1997, well before GOODBYE, LENIN was released, but it makes sense
that writers and directors from similarly politically divided countries
such as Germany and Korea would be thinking along similar plot lines.
Incorporated within the plot is the important historical shift in
policy that allowed for some South Koreans to be reunited briefly
with their families in the North. Although unification is still far
off, South Korean directors are already imagining what the future
whole might hold. (Wriiten by Adam Hartzell) |
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| Synopsis: | ||
Mr. Kim, a post war victim, has never stopped missing his first wife
and daughter who were left behind in the North. Even though he¡¯s been
remarried, when it comes to his family in North Korea, nothing¡¯s going
to stop him from missing them or doing whatever it takes to meet them.
So, it¡¯s not unusual for him to apply for a meeting with his family
in the north, with the Ministry of Unification. But what¡¯s in store
for Kim¡¯s family is much more than they can handle. Kim is in the
terminal stage of liver cancer. And shockingly enough, he has written
a secret will on a hidden property of his, worth as much as five billion
won! More interestingly, the will has a very specific, but terrifying
condition for the family; all his property will be given to the Ministry
of the Unification unless Kim watches Korea unified with his own eyes.
His wife and sons don¡¯t lose a second in devising the cleverest and
most dangerous lying scheme yet¡¦ to create a fraudulent newscast on
the hilarious reunification of Korea. Bittersweet enough, the more
Kim recovers from his illness, feeling rejuvenated at the fake news
of unification, the more distant does the dream of his family getting
the money become. Thrown into total confusion, the sons realize it¡¯s
too late to come clean, as it could be fatal for their dad if he found
out the whole unbelievable truth! It¡¯s not until after the whole family
goes through the twists and complications that Kim finally gets a
real chance of having a family reunion organized by the Ministry.
But what¡¯s waiting for him is the sad news that his daughter has died.
Now this uncontrollably loving family of his make one last fake, but
heart breaking story; they tell Kim at the meeting place that Soonim,
who is really Kim¡¯s niece, is his real daughter. Now they get to understand
how much it meant to their father. |
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