The Way Home (2002)

This is a story about a a single working mother who takes her young son to live with his grandmother out in the sticks, so that she can continue to work in the city. What follows is the culture clash for this spoilt little city kid having to adjust to rural life.

What makes it special is the grandmother who is mute I understand that this woman was not an actress & was chosen specifically to play this role. All I can say is she did an amazing job.

The bulk of the film is set in the rural community showing the ups and downs between the Grandmother & Grandson, slowly he comes to realise how much she cares for him & he also starts to care for her. Its a slow paced, gentle and poignant film that will leave you with a lump in your throat. I really enjoyed it & recommend it to everyone.

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This movie is really a phenomenal piece of work. I don't know why I didn't watch this sooner. What a daebak film! :D

This movie is a tearjerker. If you have a heart, you'll definitely weep or at least get teary. The story is nothing too grand, it's rather a very simple account of a spoiled city boy living with his rural dwelling grandmother. What follows is the kid's bratty behavior and a grandmother you just want to pull out of the screen and hug. She was really that cute and lovable. I swear I hated the kid so much till the end. He treats his grandmother like crap, and yet she never gets angry.

The overall pace is somewhat slow, but it has been shown very realistically. Both the kid and the grandmother didn't seem like they were acting at all! I'd give a full 10/10 to the direction. In fact I think the movie deserved a whole 10 if not the ending that I didn't quite like. I would have made it into a very fair ending if I could. Instead it remained as a somewhat sad end if you ask me.

I also loved the fact because it shows us how greedy people have become in today's world. There are many people in the world who come from rural side, get educated and then move to the city for their jobs and settle there. A lot of times they leave behind their parents, never looking twice how they are doing. The kid's mother is an example of such a person. She was downright awful if you ask me. She leaves her child with her mother and it was apparent they didn't have a good relation. Not just that, she's completely oblivious to the conditions her mute mother is living in. Any person with a heart would never do such a thing.

LOL, sorry about my little rant there. I couldn't help myself since the movie so accurately portrays real people that it kicked natural reactions out of me.

Anyway, the other things like the background score and the cinematography were also done well. I've heard that this movie was received well internationally also and now I can see why.

Honestly, if you let this pass up you're missing out something that is very fantastic. Watch this movie with your grandmother if you could. :)

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Dedicated to the grandmothers everywhere… "The Way Home (Jibeuro)" could easily be called the best Korean film of 2002! It's a story of a 7-year old boy Sang-woo (Yu Seung-ho) who is left in the care of his 77-year old mute grandmother (Kim Eul-bun) in the countryside, so that his mother can go job-hunting in Seoul!

When you'll see this movie poster with a cute toothless grandma with an equally cutie-pie looking grandchild putting their hands on each other's shoulders smiling TOTALLY ADORABLY at you, it won't take seconds to make you go grab your popcorn and turn off the lights to watch this movie sitting in front of your PC (at least, it was successful enough to make me do so)!!!

The first reason to like this movie is to prove that you have a HEART!

The second reason comes from the actors themselves! I was wrong about the poster…this kid is DEFINITELY NOT some sweetie pie! The country lifestyle comes as a bit of shock to the videogame-playing-hyper-spoiled Sang-woo! Frustrated by his new home, Sang-woo begin to lash out, which includes calling his grandmother a 'retard'! Kiddo's selfishness will make your hands go ga-ga to give him couple of slaps, but if you have patience on the level of Granny's, the payoff is BIG!! Without the benefit of dialogue, Granny's weathered face & simple expressions give her character an air of quiet dignity, stoic determination, and unwavering love! There'll come times when you'd want granny to give that brat some spanks with her walking stick but her patience will make your soul cry…she gives her grandchild tons of love worth more than things he could ever want for!! Obviously she can't talk…but, instead of noise, her life is filled with beautiful views that she watches silently, absorbing the beautiful still calmness that her mountain home gives her! Granny ROCKS!!!

And, the third reason to like this movie is its contrast of silence with the scenery…think of calling this movie BORING, you'll see the wrath of heavens!!!

I don't know if the ending made me feel disappointed with the kid or not! But, definitely, the one who ended up taking my heart away was the 77 years old grandma! Have to say…after watching this movie I really missed my enni (read granny!)…I swear, you'd agree with me that being a grandmother must be a thankless job after watching 70 minutes of ungratefulness!!

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An oldie, but a goodie. I knew that I would cry when I watched this movie, and I did. There’s no tragedy that happens or any misfortune. It’s just so painfully realistic that it makes you think about your own life and experiences with the family in your life who, Iike the little boy, may share similar feelings with.

The story is incredibly simple, and there really isn’t a complex plot. But what makes it so beautiful is the simplicity of the movie, and the emotions and rawness of these characters.

You don’t need superb acting for this movie... you just need authenticity. And that’s what you get from these characters.

I absolutely loved the grandmother - she was really the star of this movie. She portrayed the motions and actions so much like my own grandmother, that I had to pause the movie and cry. It made me miss my grandmother so much. This is why this movie is excellent. It doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not... the characters and experiences are a mirror of us and family.

The cinemtography is old, but even 15 years later you can still watch this movie and it will make you cry and feel absorbed into it.

I’m so glad I watched this movie, it put so many things into perspective for me. If you’re debating on whether to watch it or not, there’s no thinking - you definitely have to watch it.

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It's another city kid gets dropped off at rural grandparent's and has a hard time adapting but grows attatched with time story, but that doesn't make it any less heartwarming! Absolutely adorable and genuine, so worth the time. Cutie patootie baby Yoo Seung-ho! And the mute grandma, she looked way too real in her hunchback and demeanor, I was telling my mom that this doesn't look like an actress acting the part, and to my amazement turned out I was right! The granny is not an actress, nor had she even seen a movie before, and the director did extensive research in rural areas to hire actual villagers to play themselves so it'd look authentic. This granny was merely following the director's guidance, in her 70's!
Rip, she passed away last year 🥺

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"죽기 전에 또 봐."

🔸️I've been hearing a lot of complaints that a little brat like Sang Woo is not a realistic portrayal of a naughty kid. Well. I grew up with my grandmother who is currently 83 years old. I was spending the holidays at her house with no hot water and a toilet outdoors. I can't compare that to the rural Korea of 2000s, but as I watched the movie I felt so strangely familiar with its world.

🔸️Moving from the small apartments with almost sterile cleanliness that my mom maintained to the house with mosquitoes, bugs and mice running around always required an adaptation period. Old people can't put as much effort into cleaning, and their eyesight and memory are bad. I would often ask grandma to cook something, and when she put the salt in twice or even trice I would push the dishes aside and say they are disgusting. When grandma didn't understand what I said I would call her deaf and not repeat my words on purpose. I would sometimes refuse to thread a needle for her. She didn't kick me out of her house, and she wasn't saint nor very patient. She just new I was a silly kid. After a couple of days of being squeamish I started washing the dishes and dusting by myself, and even eat the soup with a drown midge in it. In the end of the summer I didn't want to come back home.

🔸️집으로... is everything but manipulative. The kid in the story isn't coming over the grandmother's house voluntarily like me. He has problems in his family, he feels abandoned for a weird person he doesn't really know. If you look into your childhood you could probably find the moments you acted like Sang Woo even if you didn't admit it to yourself. There are many moments when the boy does good things, he's not plain evil. It's insincere to call him a piece of sht because most of us were the same and have forgotten that.

As I looked at Kim Eul Boon I couldn't stop thinking how much has she lived through. She saw the Japanese occupation and all the Six Republics of Korea. And how many more old people lived off their gardens in the same conditions as the main character in 2000s?

🔸️The movie might not be the most subtle or "intellectual", but it has a strong core. I see now, Minari was definitely inspired by The Way Home. There is nothing extraordinary in its cinematography, or acting, or the screenplay, but all of them are very organic. That's what makes people love the movie.

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