Synopsis
When a man moves into his father’s house with his children, will the multi-generational brood get along?
Story
At the age of 17, Ok-joo finds herself going through some things. Living with her father and nine year old brother Dong-joo after their parents have divorced, she is bitter and lonely, feeling abandoned by a mother that she believes didn’t love her own children. With summer coming and their father currently unemployed, the family moves in with their grandfather – an elderly man with a spacious house that makes their tiny apartment look like a mansion. Yet despite all of this space, the siblings find a way to get on each other’s nerves with alarming frequency, only making their father’s already stressful life more difficult.
The father is currently unemployed and is severely financially strapped; while studying with the hope of eventually getting a well-paying job, the best that he can do to support his family right now is to sell sneakers from the back of his van. Since these sneakers are cheap knockoffs of a famous brand, few people show interested in buying them. Meanwhile, Dong-joo looks forward to all-too-infrequent reunions with his mother – something which Ok-joo disapproves and reproaches her younger brother for his enthusiasm when he anticipates seeing their mother. Ok-joo’s main interest these days is to win the affection of a teenage boy who fails to reciprocate the same level of interest.
When the father’s sister experiences her own break-up, she moves in with all of them. With all of the family now under one roof, it begins to feel like a somewhat normal life. Eventually, however, the grandfather’s health comes into question. The father and aunt discuss putting him in a home since the old man is increasingly difficult to care for, but the children want to keep their grandfather around. Suddenly, the grandfather’s health deteriorates to the point that he must be hospitalized. If the grandfather’s health doesn’t improve soon, what will happen to the rest of the family?
Review
“Moving On” is one of the most heartfelt movies you will ever see – and it is a great reminder of the extraordinary filmmaking talent that has been coming from South Korea over the past number of years. The acting, directing and storytelling are truly remarkable and it is worth taking the time to hunt down if you can find it somewhere. This film is bittersweet in its authenticity and is proof that we all share the same humanity around the world, regardless of where you may come from – and add to that the complexity and inherent conflict of familial relationships that is one of the most universal of all truths.
Despite the above plaudits, “Moving On” honestly does have its issues and while very good, is by no means perfect. For one thing, the man’s sister is an underdeveloped character and seems to exist for no reason other than to mirror the relationship between his son and daughter. Otherwise, the sister’s absence from the movie would not have been missed. Also, in spite of her presence in much of the film, she seems to mysteriously disappear at the end and this is never truly explained, although one might be able to draw some conclusions based on some previous scenes. It would have been appreciated if this had been clarified.
Following the screening, there was an interview with the film’s director, Yoon Dan-bi. The director said that only about 20% of the movie was autobiographical – including some lines of dialog and certain situations. Other than that, it is mostly fiction. She said that over the years, she has lost many loved ones and she often thinks of them with sorrow – that is basically the theme of her motion picture. When “Moving On” first opened in her home of South Korea, she remarked that most of the feedback she got from the audience was wondering if these people were actually a real family; they would carefully watch the closing credits in order to see if they all had the same surname.
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