“The Shower – 1978” or “Sonagi” as is its title in Korean, written by Hwang Sun-won in 1952 is considered an iconic, timeless classic, with the titular scene in particular, which refers to a sudden torrent of rain, having been used in cinema a number of times, including titles like “My Sassy Girl” and “The Classic”. The present, 1978 film, however, is the first time the 8-page story was transferred to the big screen.
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Seok-i is a young boy and real wildling, who frequently gets into fights with the other kids from his school and his neighborhood, at least when he is not roaming around the bucolic area he lives in with his parents, or putting his rooster to fight the neighbor’s. His parents are poor but have a loving relationship, even though his father has to work long hours in the fields. His life changes, however, when Yeon-i, a girl his age from Seoul arrives at the area, following her father’s bankruptcy of the car dealership he used to run. The man is rather ashamed of his failure, and his own father is not particularly eager to go easy on him, in a family that used to be among the most powerful in the area, but now seem to have fallen on dark times. The grandparents, however, have much love for their granddaughter, who experiences, however, many issues in the school, as she finds it difficult to adapt or keep any friends. Seok-i, on the other hand, is immediately smitten by the rather beautiful girl, and the first feelings of love start dwelling in him, along with the first sexual notions, although, due to his age, he cannot understand them at all, which lead to intense frustration. His relationship with the girl is rocky to begin with, with her teasing him essentially, but a sudden rain shower eventually brings them together.
Go Yeong-man directs a film that unfolds in two mainl levels. The first one is the coming-of-age, with the relationship of the two kids, and the way it unfolds being presented as the affair of grown ups, particularly because Yeon-i seems to realize that Seok-i likes her and teases him for it, and him having his first sexual notions, with the repeated scene of him watching her with her shorts pulled in the river, and most of all, the scene in the forest, when she is wounded, depicting his mentality in the most eloquent fashion. This approach allows the story to be both realistic and sensitive, with the frustration the boy experiences in particular, bordering on the adorable. At the same time, and on a secondary level, Go also deals with the differences between the people in the country and the ones from the urban centers, with the difficulties the two face in order to understand each other extending to both the children and the grown ups. The naturalistic performances of the two kid actors, Lee Young-soo as Seok-i and Jo Yun-suk as Yeon-i, help the most in that regard, with the kids stealing the show as much as their performance highlights the great job Go did in directing them.
The second level focuses on the location and nature in general, in a style that could be described as a tour guide to the customs and beauties of the rural area, with the images of the flora and fauna taking, essentially, as much time of the narrative as the main story. Lee Seong-chun’s cinematography thrives in this approach, with him using both numerous long shots and close ups to highlight every aspect of the local nature, of which the protagonists occasionally appear as just part of. Particularly the scenes in the forest and the recurring ones in the river are quite impressive to watch, in an overall very beautiful film.
At the same time, however, this aspect is somewhat too lengthy, to the point that it becomes annoying after a point. Kim Hee-su’s otherwise accomplished editing could have been better in that regard. Furthermore, as is usually the case in Korean cinema, Go does not avoid the reef of the melodrama, with the finale and the overall last scenes following down that path.
These shortcomings, however, are not enough to ruin the overall sense “The Shower – 1978” leaves in the end, which is both intriguing in the presentation of the relationship of the two kids and quite beautiful visually.
Review by Panos Kotzathanasis
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“The Shower – 1978” is directed by Go Yeong-nam, and features Lee Young-soo, Jo Yun-suk, Kim Ji-hwan-II, Park Won-ho-I, Joo Young-hoon, Kim Dong-yul. Release date in Korea: 1979/09/13.
[HanCinema’s Film Review] “The Shower – 1978” + Full Movie (2022/01/07)
Source: Laban Lang Philippines
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