The script for Three Sisters was first completed around the winter of 2017. I showed the draft to Moon Sori, and she readily agreed to be in it. At that point, I thought the movie would be made very quickly. Of all the scripts I had written up until then, it had gotten the best reaction from people I knew, and by its nature, it would not be an expensive film to make. More than anything, I pleasantly expected that at least one investor out there would be willing to support a meaningful women’s film. Four years went by.

 

In four years, not a single investor came forward. The screening of the Korean Film Council, which had the highest expectations, also failed three times. The situation was grim. As those four years went by, I was so bitter that I had no choice but to admit the thought that the movie Three Sisters would never be made. Suddenly, the JEONJU Cinema Project came to my mind. My first short film and second feature film had been invited to the JEONJU IFF, and thanks to that connection, I vaguely remembered they had a project that offered something like KRW 100 million in production cost support. Someone said, “Knock, and the door will be opened to you” So I knocked somewhat anxiously on the doors in Jeonju, and it was like they’d been waiting for it. They readily agreed to work with me on Three Sisters. Now that we had KRW 100 million in precious seed money, everything went like clockwork after that. All the knots we’d been unable to untie for the past four years came undone in just a few months.

 

There was a bit of a curveball waiting for us with the pandemic. But those four years of urgency meant that even the virus wasn’t a problem for us. After we finished post-production, we screened Three Sisters only once while the JEONJU IFF, which was empty due to Covid-19. Since then, it had its theatrical release, where it was seen by over 80,000 people. Three Sisters’ actors swept the female acting awards at different film festivals. It’s still getting a lot of appreciation on streaming platforms and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). Three years after its release, I keep hearing messages of interest in Three Sisters from all over Korea, along with guest visit requests. I’m infinitely grateful to the JEONJU Cinema Project team for making this all possible. Finally, I hope they can provide even more support for other hidden yet valuable projects like Three Sisters. LEE Seungwon

Communication & Lies (2015), Happy Bus Day (2016), Three Sisters (2020)

The Power of Apology
Three sisters are casually going about their own lives: timid Heesook (Kim Sunyoung), pretentious Miyeon (Moon Sori), and troublesome Miok (Jang Yoonjoo). The problematic children who want to receive a sincere apology from their parents explode at their father's birthday gathering. The film adopts Miyeon as its focal point while it shows scenes from the lives of Heesook and Miok. It shows the family scars and tangled knots of memory that the three sisters have been unable to resolve.

 

Moving methodically along toward a climax of tremendous explosiveness and satisfaction, the film focuses on the central theme of the apology as a necessary ritual among those who victimize and are victimized in a patriarchal society. In that sense, the characters who appear in the film are divided between those who apologize and those who do not. The only path toward eternal comfort is whether an apology properly takes place between the person who owes it and the one who is owed it. Heesook apologizes for anything and everything, while her father does not (cannot?); in this way, they represent the victims and victimizers of the patriarchy. Unfortunately, no genuine apology happens between them during the film. There are merely brief moments of respite as each hurts themselves in their own way.

 

Through its finely observed female narrative, Three Sisters showed how three married women navigated life in Korea in 2020. As a result, it is a kind of actors’ film with an emphasis on the individual characters. Heesook attempts to embrace her barren family through gestures of one-sided sacrifice; Miyeon hypocritically practices religion to sustain her middle-class home life; and Miok agonizes over her lack of talent as she attempts to build a family with an unsuitable, unsalvageable alcoholic. Collectively, they contain various fragments of women’s lives in our times. Even with everything that happens, the three sisters survive—perhaps together now. In this way, the three of them can replace the old picture by showing a moment from their powerless younger days. It may be time to replace it with an image from today—the broad grins of a selfie portrait. SIM Hyekyong

 

Production STUDIO UP (studioup2018@gmail.com)
Distribution Little Big Pictures (sales@little-big.co.kr)
International Sales M-Line Distribution (sales@mline-distribution.com)

2021 Baeksang Art Awards Best Supporting Actress (Winner), Best Actress·Best New Actress (Nominee)

2021 Buil Film Awards Best Supporting Actress (Winner), Best Director·Best Screenplay·Best Actress (Nominee)

2021 Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Best Actress·Best Supporting Actress (Winner), Ten Best Films of the Year (Winner)

2021 The Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Actress·Best Supporting Actress (Winner), Best Director·Best Screenplay·Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)

2021 Busan Film Critics Association Best Actress (Winner)

2021 Golden Cinematography Awards Special Jury Prize (Winner)

2021 Chunsa IFF Best Actress·Best Supporting Actress·Best New Actress (Nominee)

2021 Asian Film Awards Best Supporting Actress(Nominee)

2021 Faroe Islands International Minority Film Festival Best Actress (Winner)

2021 Korean Film Producers Association Awards Best Screenplay·Best Supporting Actress (Winner)