There are those films that are so poignantly powerful, that they stay with you forever, even if you only see it once. Such movies that have left a permanent imprint upon me are movies like this one, "Schindler's List," "Sophie's Choice," "Platoon" and still others. These are films that are so disturbingly realistic because they hit you right where you live.
I'm a TEFL teacher who has taught in four different countries, including South Korea. The most depraved crime that always hits me the worst are those perpetrated on children. I've had many children as students over the years, and even the mere thought of something happening to them pains me beyond comprehension. We like to think that there aren't any monsters out there, but sadly, there are. What makes it even more frustrating are inept justice systems, like the one in Korea, that more or less, rewards the criminal based on some insane notion that, just because the criminal can't remember anything due to his intoxication, then he deserves a lighter sentence.
Still, this film is touching in the power of family and friends who rally behind Hope, doing everything that they can to help her and her family recover. I cannot imagine anything more distressful for a parent than to endure something like this. As a parent, all you want to do is protect your children and make sure that they're safe. Hope's father is especially traumatized when he attempts to help clean his daughter up after escaping the maddening media, only to discover horrifically that she's pleading and crying for him to stop. In his attempt to help her, he partially relives and reawakens her assault.
The way in which Hope's father tries to reach his daughter is pure love and magic. He feels that the only way to help her is to step back himself and take on the persona of her favorite cartoon character. If these precious moments don't strike a chord with you, then I really don't know what can.
Another powerfully touching moment is her schoolmate who comes to see her after she's come home. He bursts into tears, wracked with guilt, for not having walked with her to school on that fateful day. Hope's father is especially sweet in comforting him.
Hope has to recover, not only from the assault, but from the effects as well, both physical and psychological. I had a colostomy for the first five years of life, so I know what it's like and what it means to be different in that way. That resonated deeply with me.
The performances in this film are outstanding, especially Re Lee (Hope) who plays the role with such sweetness and purity that you cringe and pray, that what is about to happen, doesn't happen. She has the face of an angel, which makes all the more horrific. Nothing truly graphic is shown, but a couple of images are likely to stay with you.
Kyoung-gu Sul (Hope's father) also turns in a powerful performance as a distraught father trying to heal his daughter as well as deal with the his own anger and outrage concerning Choi (the assaulter) and the inept legal system. Just as he has helped to save Hope, Hope saves him in the end.
"Hope" is one of those movies that I will likely only be able to watch once, but I've already discovered the once is more than enough for me.
I can only pray helplessly that no child should ever endure something so terrible as this. If only we lived in a world where this was true. Children, with their innocence and purity, cast the brightest light, and among the brightest is certainly Hope's.
I'm a TEFL teacher who has taught in four different countries, including South Korea. The most depraved crime that always hits me the worst are those perpetrated on children. I've had many children as students over the years, and even the mere thought of something happening to them pains me beyond comprehension. We like to think that there aren't any monsters out there, but sadly, there are. What makes it even more frustrating are inept justice systems, like the one in Korea, that more or less, rewards the criminal based on some insane notion that, just because the criminal can't remember anything due to his intoxication, then he deserves a lighter sentence.
Still, this film is touching in the power of family and friends who rally behind Hope, doing everything that they can to help her and her family recover. I cannot imagine anything more distressful for a parent than to endure something like this. As a parent, all you want to do is protect your children and make sure that they're safe. Hope's father is especially traumatized when he attempts to help clean his daughter up after escaping the maddening media, only to discover horrifically that she's pleading and crying for him to stop. In his attempt to help her, he partially relives and reawakens her assault.
The way in which Hope's father tries to reach his daughter is pure love and magic. He feels that the only way to help her is to step back himself and take on the persona of her favorite cartoon character. If these precious moments don't strike a chord with you, then I really don't know what can.
Another powerfully touching moment is her schoolmate who comes to see her after she's come home. He bursts into tears, wracked with guilt, for not having walked with her to school on that fateful day. Hope's father is especially sweet in comforting him.
Hope has to recover, not only from the assault, but from the effects as well, both physical and psychological. I had a colostomy for the first five years of life, so I know what it's like and what it means to be different in that way. That resonated deeply with me.
The performances in this film are outstanding, especially Re Lee (Hope) who plays the role with such sweetness and purity that you cringe and pray, that what is about to happen, doesn't happen. She has the face of an angel, which makes all the more horrific. Nothing truly graphic is shown, but a couple of images are likely to stay with you.
Kyoung-gu Sul (Hope's father) also turns in a powerful performance as a distraught father trying to heal his daughter as well as deal with the his own anger and outrage concerning Choi (the assaulter) and the inept legal system. Just as he has helped to save Hope, Hope saves him in the end.
"Hope" is one of those movies that I will likely only be able to watch once, but I've already discovered the once is more than enough for me.
I can only pray helplessly that no child should ever endure something so terrible as this. If only we lived in a world where this was true. Children, with their innocence and purity, cast the brightest light, and among the brightest is certainly Hope's.