- Actors: Jihu Park, Saebyuk Kim, Seungyeon Lee
- Director: Bora Kim
- Format: Subtitled, Dolby, Surround Sound, Widescreen
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Not RatedNR
- Studio: Well Go Usa
- Blu-ray Release Date: August 4, 2020
- Run Time: 138 minutes
As many great coming-of-age films are, House
of Hummingbird draws inspiration from the childhood of its filmmaker. This
element of realism adds a layer of melancholy to the proceeding, often feeling
as though we are spying on someone’s intimate memories, and not always the ones
that we might fill a photo album with. It is a film filled with universal
experiences of growing up, but framed within a specific cultural moment in Seoul,
South Korea.
Though the movie
written and directed by Kim Bora centers on a specific tragic moment in history,
it simultaneously provides an allegorical theme for the narrative about a young
girl looking for connections in an increasingly modern Korean city. This
provides layers and a universality to the story of 14-year-old Eun-hee (Ji-hu
Park), an otherwise average teenager living in a changing world and surviving a
tumultuous home life. Uncertain who she is and what she will become, Eun-hee
experiments with love and friendship with the guidance of a supportive teacher.
Observant and empathetic,
Eun-hee’s new teacher Young-ji (Sae-byuk Kim) recognizes the difficulties of
teenage years, as well as the unique troubles that come with a difficult home
life. Beyond her abusive brother, Eun-hee is often neglected by her shop-owning
parents, sent to the doctor on her own and left to navigate the difficulties of
growing up without support or guidance. When even her closest friendship is in
danger of being a casualty of teenage melodrama, Young-ji provides the
stability and support needed.
Far more arthouse
than crowd-pleaser, House of Hummingbird requires some patience in
viewing. As beautiful as each camera set-up is, some viewers more accustomed to
mainstream entertainment may find the pacing challenging. On the other hand,
those with some familiarity with this style may find it much easier to get
swept up in the atmosphere of storytelling. But even those who are used to
watching slower narratives may find the bleakness of Eun-hee occasionally overwhelming,
as I know I did. If comparing this to other coming-of-age tales, there seems to
a lot less joy involved than some of the more popular entries. This is not to
say that there aren’t moments of happiness within Eun-hee’s struggles, but merely
that they often feel outnumbered and overshadowed.
Even with an
arthouse approach to pacing and overwhelming bleak situations to place the
protagonist in, there is something deeply affecting about House of Hummingbird.
Individual scenes ring with absolute truth, to the point that it is easy to forget
you are watching a movie and not living breathing people. Even with a script
that may have benefited from some editing, this is easily forgivable because
the individual sequences are so expertly acted and directed.
The Blu-ray
release of House of Hummingbird comes with no special features or alternate
viewing methods.
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 0/10
No comments:
Post a Comment