Film Screening
Ae-ja
Directed by Jeong Gi-hoon
17 December 2010
Park Ae-ja was known as the “Tolstoy of Busan”
when she was in high school. Dreaming of a career as a
professional novelist, she moves to Seoul after graduation.
Years later, Ae-ja is a 29-year-old woman with huge
debts and a boyfriend who is cheating on her. But she
remains confident and proud of herself. That is, except
in front of her mother, Young-hee who disapproves of
her daughter’s wild and free-spirited life. On her brother’s
wedding day, Aeja plans revenge on her mother by staging
a surprise event that nearly ruins the happy ceremony.
Ae-ja is pleased with the results, but later that day she
gets a phone call from the hospital saying that her mother has collapsed and her world starts falling apart
at the seams…
Ae-ja by newcomer director Jeong Gi-hoon, is a
mellow autumn melodrama, a coming-of-age story about
a troublemaker learning life lessons when her mother falls
a victim to cancer. However, the character-propelled film
downplays predictability as a pair of talented leading ladies
lift the film with powerful performances.
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