The Poet and The Boy is a movie made in collaboration with the JEONJU IFF. Like the poet in the film, I was lost and suffering in reality while holding the film deep within my heart. Through the JEONJU Project Market of JEONJU IFF, I could promote this project for the first time, which led to the honor of getting selected. I received such a warm welcome.

The JEONJU IFF allows struggling filmmakers fighting their battles against reality to realize that our turn will come if we don't give up, no matter how we're being treated now. It is a mission that independent filmmakers, including me, must solve in the future in terms of how the film should meet a broader audience in a meaningful way. But the industry is quickly becoming commercialized. Although the little seeds in the hearts of writers may seem strange or clumsy, it is also the point when they need trusting partners to help imagine and draw out the film for them to finally come to life. As it did with me, the JEONJU IFF must become the path that opens the door to foreign but beautiful films. I wish my best for the JEONJU IFF. KIM Yanghee

Hearing Aid (2013), The Poet and The Boy (2017), Tomorrow’s Lovers (2021)

An Autobiography of My Soul

Flaubert, the writer of Madame Bovary, once famously said, “Madame Bovary is me.” André Bazin cited these words to comment on Limelight (1952), a film that starred and was directed by Charlie Chaplin. The Poet and The Boy is also a film that can be seen as autobiographical to Bazin's definition. When put in comparison to Limelight, The Poet and The Boy calls upon the ghost of comparison.

Unlike Limelight, which is considered a representative work from Chaplin's later years, The Poet and The Boy is director Kim Yanghee's first feature film. Also, protagonist Hyeon Taek-gi, born and raised on Jeju Island and a poet carving language to find meaning, is played by a professional actor instead of the director. The writing of writers, including Taek-gi, who took part in the name of a real poet, is different from the creative process of a movie, which organizes images stripped of symbols and replaces real with imaginary. On top of that, there is a gender dissimilarity between the director, who is female, and the male protagonist. This might make one question if it makes sense to search for autobiographical clues left by director Kim Yanghee in the film. Despite all the struggles artists experience, whether filmmakers or poets, are clearly engraved in each of the scenes of The Poet and The Boy. Kim wrote the story based on her experience of moving to an island from out of town, opening a bookstore, and living on Jeju Island. Filmed in the director's home, The Poet and The Boy reminds us of Bazin's words when he mentions the dialectic relationship between a filmmaker and a myth while describing artist Chaplin as a mythical being.

Yang Ikjune, who plays Taek-gi, is also a director himself. This middle-aged man feels sexual love and desire for the young Seyun (Jung Garam) but only hands him money before letting him go. The emotions Taek-gi feels and the resolution he makes mirror what the character Calvero (played by Chaplin) does in Limelight. Yang purposely gained weight for this role, and the pathos in his physique and expressions resembled Chaplin's Limelight. However, unlike Chaplin, who eventually faces death, Taek-gi in The Poet and The Boy encounters a new event that allows him to take a step closer to life. Because she's unable to live without Taek-gi, his wife Gangsun forgives him for having an affair. Jeon Hyejin puts up her best and most detailed performance as the wife Gangsun, who makes all kinds of attempts to conceive, including the In Vitro Fertilization procedure. Kim Yanghee successfully brings out top performances from her actors, and she can also draw out fragments of life's verisimilitude in any space. This talent of hers makes us look forward to her next film. SHIN Eun-shil

Production Jin Pictures, MiiN Pictures (screen146@naver.com)
Distribution CJ CGV (cjcgvmaster@cj.net)
International Sales FINECUT (cineinfo@finecut.co.kr)

2017 Busan Film Critics Association Awards Best Screenplay (Winner)

2018 Wildflower Film Awards Korea Best New Director·Best Screenplay (Nominee)

2018 Chunsa Film Art Awards Best New Director (Nominee)

2018 Cinequest Marverick Feature Competition (Nominee)