The Way Home | AccessAtlanta

The Way Home

Seung-Ho Yoo and Eul-Boon Kim

FILM FACTS

Starring: Starring Eul-Boon Kim and Seung-Ho Yoo.
Director: Jeong-hyang Lee
Rating: PG for mild language.
Genre: Foreign (Korean)

Discuss this film | Official movie site

See showtimes (PG) 85 minutes

Grade: C

Verdict: Lots of tantrums and whining, which you can get for free at any day care center, but the grandmother is darling.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

If you think "Gods and Generals" is long, try sitting through the 85-minute Korean film "The Way Home." A prizewinner at home, where it reportedly outgrossed "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," the film is meant to be simple and charming. Unfortunately, it's simple and boring -- though if you have a grandmother who was the light of your world, ignore that and get in line.

Sang-woo (Seung-Ho Yoo), a 7-year-old brat, is sent to stay with his grandmother (Eul-Boon Kim) while his mother finds a job. Grandmother is an ancient mountain woman in her late 70s, mute and so bent over that her upper torso is parallel to the ground. She lives in a remote cottage, high in the spectacular mountains of the Youngdong, Choongbuk Province, and still does things the way her ancestors have for centuries.

Her grandson is all about Game Boys, Spam and Coca-Cola (he's brought his own supply). He treats her horribly, calling her "retard" and surreptitiously urinating on her only pair of shoes. She, however, is patience and unconditional love incarnate. When she asks him what he'd like to eat -- he's already spurned her homemade recipes -- he says, "Kentucky [Fried] Chicken." The only part she understands is "chicken," so she painfully trudges to the nearest village, uses what little money she has to buy a bird, and prepares a special chicken dish for him. His reaction is to scream and kick and complain that this isn't "Kentucky Chicken."

Will Sang-woo learn to love and respect his grandmother? Frankly, it's hard to care. Seung-Ho Yoo is very good at being disagreeable -- perhaps too good. He's cruel and unusual punishment for any sane adult.

Kim is the film. A local woman discovered by the director while they were shooting on location, she not only had never acted in a movie; she had never even seen a movie. Endlessly loving and endlessly estimable, Kim certainly earns the film's final dedication, "To grandmothers everywhere."