Poetry is red...

This is my second time watching this movie. When I watched it for the first time I was fascinated with general themes of this art: the whole concept of poetry, truth, empathy... etc...

Having watched the second time, my thoughts have changed.

If someone asks me, what this movie is about. My answer is "This movie is about Pain"

First of all, I have to admit that Korean movie or audience in general appreciate lyricism. I do think that this movie portrays well the sentimental nature of Koreans.

Mija, the protagonist in this movie, says, "Red symbolizes pain" Throughout the movie, color red shows up very often. Especially, when it shows a girl, who committed suicide, after being repeated raped by her six classmates. However, this movie is not about six boys, who should be punished, but about two women in pain: Mija and the girl.

As you can see in the poster, there are red flowers besides the old lady. Also, in the picture of the girl who had committed suicide, the girl poses beside the red flowers.

I am not trying to tell you just the use of color red in the movie, but the role that pain takes place in the realm of art and especially poetry.

Without pain, I do not think that Mija was able to write a poem. She was searching for the poetic inspiration throughout the movie, and people around her always told her that the inspiration can usually be found somewhere close or in the moment of things. I guess the inspiration for her was a lot more closer than what people told her. She found it in her. The pain that came from the tragic story of a girl and her beloved grandson, and her inner struggle of morality: whether to take care of her grandson's future or to value the soul of a dead girl.

I think the most beautiful moment of the movie is when the lady is staring at a red apple.

Many of classmates used this photo for their blogs, but I would like to post it again to get across my point.

What does this mean? Why did the director wanted her to observe the red apple? Why not green? Why not banana? She even takes the bite out of it!

Red...apple

"Red symbolizes pain"

Yes, poetry is the observation of pain. Art itself is the observation of pain. That is not the ultimate goal, but without comprehending the pain, the beauty remains hidden.

The poetry teacher in the movie tells his students:

"How many times have you seen an apple? A thousand? Ten thousand? A million? Wrong! You’ve never seen an apple before. Not even once. Up till now, you haven’t seen an apple for real. To really know what an apple is.. to be interested in it, to understand it, to converse with it is really seeing it, Gazing at it for a while and observing its shadow… feeling its every curve, turning it around, taking a bite out of it, imagining the sunlight absorbed in it… That is really seeing it."

Let me reword that. Do we know pain? Have we seen pain? No, not until we observe it and taste it.

In short, art is... the way we digest pain, hardship, and suffering.