OJT A lot of good reviews are written here about the film "Poetry" which really is a poetry of a film. I would really recommend it if you can stand a film which isn't fast moving all the time. Maybe it's a little bit too long, but perhaps it has to be to fulfill the meaning of poetry.The film gives a great look upon the South Korean society in many aspects, which is great in itself.But I'd like to give my biggest applaud to leading lady Jeong-hie Yun. she plays a 66 year old woman With the early sign of Alzheimer's's disease, discovering that her grandson has been part of a hideous crime of which most try to cover up.Her play is amazing, and though this film has won prizes a lot of Places, this film would't be half the film if it wasn't for the amazing play of Jeong-hie Yun. She's so wise, yet charming, and reacts so natural to the difficult situations she is facing during this film.Watching such work on film makes me bow in awe!

Tim Kidner As a lover of World Cinema and having had a few poems of my own published here and there, South Korea's 'Poetry' was always going to be a double treat for me.The film's beauty is that it's not just about poetry but how that it can fit into everyday lives and help folk the see the inner beauty that it brings. Mija (an excellent Jeong-he Yun) a 66 year old woman, suffering the onset of Alzheimers, sees the simple beauty in an apple and of fallen apricots on the ground.She gets this after starting poetry classes and whilst she fails to get her 'poetic awakening', she sets herself the target of writing just one poem.Considering that this gentle, graceful lady is bringing up a teenage grandson who has committed a serious crime and as a job cares part-time for an elderly stroke victim these poetical leanings are a soothing diversion for both us - and her. (She's not bad at badminton, either!) It's actually the way the film contrasts several issues, the modern contemporary ones that give the film its backbone, the age difference clashes with the grandson and the lyrical - but unsentimental - softer side and you get a modest and modern masterpiece.Avoid if only Iron Man 2 can move you. But if you have a heart, one where a soul and emotion can flourish and you enjoy a well acted, straightforward modern film - wherever in the world that it might come from - then 'Poetry' has a wide and worthwhile appeal.

mahmood-a This old question about quality and quantity: this is the main thread in the epic movie "Poetry". The story blends regular cruel dirty life with a poetic spirit, and a dilemma that the main character should decide about. But the difference between this movie and many many similar ones is that this movie follows an attracting story. And the fascinating fact about this movie is that the poetic flavour and ethic aspect are merged very beautifully together in that interesting story. The stories like this usually do not attract the audiences after one hour and half and this fact is mainly because poetic movies do not follow a good story. As an Iranian, I should mention the Iranian director, Abbas Kiarostami whose movies sadly do not deserve to be seen because of the lack of a good story. The length of a film should have a direct relation with the strength of the story. This is the reason that Kiarostami should be a photographer than a director (and it seems that he has understood this fact!) About the ethic aspect of the story, I should just mention that it concerns the ethic despite religion and this abstract view has helped the movie a lot to connect with foreign audiences, although the special literature that the film is made on is far from the world of the audience. To put everything in a nut shell, I should just narrate my sadness after leaving the movie theater. Not only because I was deeply touched with that beautiful blue store, but also I was almost sure that it takes a long time for me to watch such a brilliant movie again.

SnorrSm1989 First, let it be emphasized, as stated above, that this review contains spoilers, some quite major ones at that, so if you have not seen this movie and intend to do so, I'd advise you to skip this piece for now.Last year I had the good fortune of seeing the rarely-screened (albeit often-praised) Brazilian silent film LIMITE, and it left me in a state of mind where it seemed quite stupid to say anything about it, as no written word could do it justice. (This reaction is not necessarily a negative thing, providing that you defy it and write something anyway.) The next time a film had this effect on me was a few days ago, with Lee Chang-dong's POETRY. Made some eighty years after the former, I won't compare the two films, other than noting that I think both, at least indirectly, cover a sort of identical inner subject; beauty within ugliness. Both films are extremely visual, LIMITE inescapably so as it is a silent film, whereas POETRY confirms that also in this day and age, the power of the spoken word is ultimately dependent on our ability to use it sparingly, and let what can only be seen, felt and smelled, remain only seen, felt and smelled. Lee Chang-dong, one of the most promising Korean directors around these days, understands this, as he brutally deprives us of the comforting accessibility found in who-knows-how-many Hollywood-films; and instead, presents to us something which is maddeningly cruel and frustrating, but equally inspiring and peaceful.Mija (brilliantly portrayed by Jeon-hie Yun in what seems to be her first performance in a number of years) is a poor, elderly woman who is trying to raise her much-troubled grandson. Being a victim of the largely male-dominant society still present in some Asian cultures, she is unable to respond with much else than personal frustration when realizing that the fathers of a group of boys responsible for the raping of a girl, which led to the latter committing suicide, are concerned about nothing else than the futures of their own sons; her own grandson is among the suspects. Apparently, the fathers are incapable of feeling any genuine sorrow on behalf of the girl and her family, and arrange it so that the relatives of the victim are paid a certain sum of money, to "get the problem out of the world," and avoid that the police gets involved. While Mija undergoes this extremely difficult time, she tries to complete a poetry course, but feels unable to write satisfactorily. She is explained by the teacher, a well-known poet, that writing poetry should not be about seeking a moment of inspiration, but to SEE THINGS, experience their shapes and forms. She tries to little avail…for a considerable time.This leads me to one of the most poignant scenes in the film, and one that tempted a few tears out of me. During one of the poetry lessons, the attendants are asked to share their most beautiful moment in life. As we hear their experiences, it is startling to notice that several of the stories consist of things which, if solely observed from the outside, would appear sad or even ugly; but when said memories are being projected through the minds of their beholder, they will often become beautiful, in some confusing, inexplainable manner. As Mija realizes this, she manages to write one profound, deeply moving poem dedicated to the poor girl who committed suicide; she finds beauty within ugliness. I do not need to stress that a suicide, the earthly departure of an unfortunate soul as a result of terrible circumstances, is NOT, in any possible way, a beautiful thing. But when the immediate shock and frustration following such a tragedy has begun to fade, and the gradual distance between the present and the tragedy makes the victim reappear in our consciousness again as something more than a victim, but as the smiles, laughs, shapes and colors which also once defined this person, it may evoke a feeling of beauty. I wasn't very conscious of this while the movie played, but I did indeed begin to think of sad, but beautiful memories as this scene went on and afterwards.POETRY is a film which invites you to enter a certain state of mind, and demands that you stay there at least as long as the film running. At two and a half hours, it may sound long, but the fact is that I didn't think of the time. One thing worth noting is that the film does not have a soundtrack, beyond occasional noise from the records of the grand-son, yet I felt that it largely gave me a sort of musical experience; if I was to do something so banal as to compare it to a musical piece, I'd probably choose Shastro's "Tale of the Sands." Much more could be said, but, well…I feel stupid enough already!