The Way Home [Jibeuro] (2002): A heart-warming movie dedicated to all grandmother’s

The way home (2002) is a relatable film to all of us in some way or another. It is a film about the relationship between a grandmother and her grandchild. It is universal as we all have experienced this relationship and how grandmothers attribute their undisputed and unconditional love towards their grandchildren.

Sang-woo an obnoxious and spoiled brat from the city is left with his grandmother in a rural village until his mother finds work. His grandmother is a mute but can hear and she has a hunchback who walks with a stick. Her house in a remote area on the top of the hill is a very unsophisticated, small and made of only mud and wood. So, from this description we can see that Sang-woo is totally in contrast to his grandmother who lived her whole life there. The moment he meets his grandmother for the first time he disrespects her and immediately hates the place she lives in. He refuses to eat anything her grandmother makes and only eats the food her mother bought for him (which is mostly junk). He constantly plays his video game and ignores her all the time and shouts and cries at her without knowing the struggles her grandmother is going through.

When the batteries of his video game go off, he asks money from his grandmother but she responds she doesn’t have any now so getting fed up he kick a precious vase of hers and hides her shoes. Because of this she must walk bare footed all around the rocky terrain of the hills and mountains. He also takes a dear hair pin of hers in order for him to purchase the batteries in a local shop near the town but he does not succeed. Even with all these kinds of misbehavior and mischievousness’ she does not respond and only tries to care for the boy. This is wonderfully portrayed when she realizes that Sang-woo stole her hair pin instead of doing anything harsh to the boy later on we see that she replaces the hair pin with an old bent up spoon.

But in contrast to these scenes there are touching scenes also between them showcasing their progress with their b relationship. For example, when the grandmother asks Sang-woo on what he wants to eat he replies smirkingly and obnoxiously “Pizza, Hamburger, Kentucky Fried Chicken. See? You don’t know anything”. But then he gets up and goes over his things and retrieves this booklet that has the images of a pizza, hamburger and fried chicken. By showing this image her grandmother realizes he wants to eat chicken and this makes Sang-woo excited as he thinks his grandmother is going to make Kentucky Fried Chicken. So, she walks all the way to town in the pouring rain to bring back a chicken and cooks the chicken but what she does is she does not fry it because she is not used to it and only cooks and steams it. By seeing this Sang-woo cries and scolds her and also shoves the food she made. He refuses to eat it and goes back to sleep crying but as he wakes up in the middle of the night hungry, he has no choice but to eat this chicken and he just relishes the taste and eats vigorously. So, the next morning feeling bad he tries to make breakfast for her grandmother and also tuck her in while she sleeps.

There are many of these touching scenes throughout the film and each scene progress in such a way that makes the hard ridden and hard hearted Sang-woo become soft to his grandmother and eventually forms an unconditional love toward her. It is fantastic to watch and experience.

But this is also mainly due to the performances of both Sang-woo (played by Yoo Seung-ho) and the grandmother (played Kim Eul-boon). The child artist is magnificent and portrays exactly like an obnoxious and spoiled brat.  But the interesting one is definitely Kim Eul-boon because she never acted in any films prior to this. She was actually farming when the director scouted her out and at first declined to do the role but when the crew members persuaded the family, she finally agreed to do it. She is just wonderful to watch and because she was naturally casted, she gives a natural and real performance and she is the highlight of this entirety of the film.

The way home has a short run time when compared to many other films. It is clocked around only 1hour and 25 minutes. But this simple film creates a deeply satisfying feel towards unconditional love. The relationship between a grandchild and grandparents is universal and it resonates with all of us. When I was watching this film, it reminded so much of my relationships with my grandparents especially how they always ask what we want to eat when we come to visit and always cooks something special just for us. Lee Jeong-hyang magically creates this wonderful and universal relationship and has made a film that is both simple and poetic.

Watch this film as it can make you feel cathartic, satisfied and joyful at the end of the day.

The link of the movie is below: