Poetry

This movie has a lot of really good stuff in it. I think the main theme that permeated the whole film was how Mija, the main character, experienced all of life like a poem. Her grandson and his five other friends were guilty of repeatedly raping a fellow schoolgirl, who ended up committing suicide because of it. Mija and the parents of the other boys had to pay the mother of the girl the eqivalent of $5,000 each to settle the case out of court, but Mija didn't have the money. The fathers of the other boys seemed to only care about their sons' future, and pressured Mija to pay up. This heavy situation deeply affected her, eventually causing her to kill herself as well. The moments before her death, however, were filled with this desire for poetry.

Mija longed to be able to write poetry; she took notes on things that she periodically observed and experienced over time, giving herself ideas for what to write. However, she was never able to really write poetry like she wanted to, until the ending when her poem is read, and it is written from the perspective of the schoolgirl who committed suicide. Mija used her own life's experiences to give a voice to the girl, and simultaneously to herself.

This connection between Mija and the girl I believe speaks of a common bond that humans all have with each other, or at least there is the potential to have it. Like one of the character in the movie said, poetry comes from your feelings and your heart. There is no formula to write poetry; it's always there in you, waiting to come out - you just need to let it flow. Mija found her voice through the eyes of one who died without one; someone who went through so much, yet the world had no clue of the pain she had inside of her. The poem expressed that pain and loss beautifully, and I think it could only have done so because Mija knew what it was to experience something terrible. She didn't necessarily go through the same form of torture, but her pain was no less substantial.

All of us have our stories that we probably will never fully share. Every single one of these stories has enough power in it to create the most beautiful poem in the world, and even then the poem will not be able to accurately portray what we feel. I think that this film reminds us of our value as individuals, and how this value is hardly ever seen or understood - even by ourselves. But it is still there, and it should be given a voice, because our lives are priceless.