With just a quick trip on public transport, American University students and the D.C. community can catch a flick on Embassy Row and immerse themselves in South Korean film.
The District’s Korean Cultural Center has restarted its free bi-monthly movie screenings, with snacks and dramas for viewers to enjoy.
The Center’s message is about cultural exchange. Established in 2010, The D.C. Korean Cultural Center is one of the three South Korean cultural centers across the U.S. with the shared mission of promoting cultural exchange through the arts, language, food and, more recently, cinema.
Since the success of “Parasite,” critics have turned to calling South Korea’s film industry “Hallyuwood,” a play on the term “hallyu”, which refers to South Korean pop culture and entertainment. But even before Korean media’s worldwide fame, the film “My Brilliant Life” seemed to have picked up the world’s attention during production.
The film had its run in the international film festival scene in 2015, winning third place in the Audience Awards at the Far East Film Festival.
Director Je-yong Lee flew with his makeup crew to Los Angeles and met veteran makeup artist Greg Cannom to learn how to use aging prosthetics for the film’s main character.
KCC screened “My Brilliant Life” on April 9, which tells the story of Ah-reum (Seong-mok Cho), the son of Mi-ra (Song Hye-kyo) and Dae-soo (Gang Dong-won), who has progeria, a medical condition where the body rapidly ages. We learn about Ah-reum’s sheltered life and his parents’ teen love story as we follow their final years together as a family.
We watch as Ah-reum slowly gets sicker and his family changes. Mi-ra and Dae-soo grapple with the unimaginable realization that they will have to move on and be a family without their son, while also fixing their relationship with their own parents.
“My Brilliant Life” tugs at the heartstrings from the start. In the film, a documentary television crew follows the family, detailing Ah-reum’s life between the home and hospital. Although Ah-reum suffers throughout the film, he states he wants to be a happy son for his parents to remember him by, and viewers watch as he tries to fulfill that goal until his death.
The ending of the film had the audience at the center in tears at the KCC screening. The story of Ah-Reum and his disappointingly short life in South Korea was told in an emotionally powerful way that moved people no matter the language or setting.
Screenings at KCC are being shown in the media room. They announced during their “My Brilliant Life” screening that the room had been recently upgraded for events, including a bigger screen. They hope to keep showing South Korean films regularly at no cost, for all.
“D.C. is a mixture of politics, culture, society, and international embassies … We think it’s a great chance for all these groups to experience cutting edge cultural and artistic content,” said Program Director Hungu Lee in an interview with DCist.
Films screened at the Center range in genre and popularity. Famous director Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave”; the thriller spy film “Hunt,” starring Lee Jung-jae; and ‘90s feel-good romance film “Christmas in August” have all been shown in the past year.
“Swing Kids” was the most recent film shown by the Korean Cultural Center on April 22, with the next screening being “Pawn” on May 7.
The Korean Cultural Center also keeps traditional clothing and art pieces out on display for visitors to view while they enjoy Korean snacks before the screening starts.
Students and D.C. community members alike can attend future screenings and sign up for KCC’s newsletter to receive updates on other current art exhibits and events.
“My Brilliant Life” is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
This article was edited by Alia Messina, Marina Zaczkiewicz and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Olivia Citarella, Emma Brown and Ella Rousseau.
