A woman who has just lost her husband brings her younger son and moves to the hometown where her deceased husband grew up. But she never should have done that, because it doesn’t take long before a tragedy happens.
I remember the first time I watched Secret Sunshine. I hated the movie, and I’ve learned that deeper movies have to be watched when you want to watch them and not force yourself to watch deeper movies when you don’t want to. I have changed my opinion on several movie reviews I’ve written after giving some movies another chance. And I have planned to see Secret Sunshine again for a long time.
Not surprisingly, I loved the movie now. I think it’s been about 12 years since I last watched the movie. Fortunately, I have become more mature and patient than I was 12 years ago. And when the movie is directed by Lee Chang-dong (Peppermint Candy, Oasis, Burning), then you know that you have something to look forward to.
Secret Sunshine is a well-acted movie. We find some of South Korea’s best actors in the two leading roles that are amazing. Song Kang-ho and Jeon Do-yeon are brilliant, and it’s interesting to follow these two characters they play.
Secret Sunshine is a character study of a mental breakdown. The woman tries to stay up on her feet and continue living, but that’s just a facade. Then she finds religion, and she tries to become a false woman who will live her life after a fantasy book. Let’s just hope she wakes up! And we get to see a fantastic scene when she wakes up from the ongoing brainwashing when she is face to face with the devil himself. Jeon Do-yeon is so great in the whole movie, but in this scene she is fantastic!
What’s so special about Secret Sunshine is the humor that‘s constantly in the background. The character who’s played by Song Kang-ho seems like a decent and faithful man. The problem is that he constantly hears shit from others that he isn’t married yet. And when he first falls in love with a woman, she’s on the verge of a mental breakdown. Her brother tells him he’s not a man his sister will fall for. But he never gives up, and you feel sorry for this unlucky man! Few are as good at playing a big loser as Song Kang-ho. It’s in these roles he shines as an actor!
Secret Sunshine is an interesting movie about grief, despair, and the search for the meaning of life. The movie has world-class actors, and you don’t expect to find as much humor as there is here with the story the movie tells.