'Secret Hill', a girl who wants to create her own world full of secrets

*This article contains spoilers for the movie 'Secret Hill'.

The line 'What are you doing, my father'. It's funny, but somehow sad. In elementary, middle and high school, we existed as someone's daughters and sons rather than as 'me'. The experience of hesitation in front of the parents' education and occupation column of the home environment survey that they received periodically.

The movie 'Secret Hill' tells the story of 'Myeong' (Moon Seung-ah), a sensitive and sensitive 5th grade girl who wants to be loved by everyone. Myeong-eun is dissatisfied with everything. Mother 'Kyung-hee' (Jang Seon), who always wears dirty clothes because she sells salted fish, and father 'Seong-ho' (Kang Gil-woo), who doesn't find a decent job, sits around and helps the salted fish business. Everyone is the exact opposite of the ideal family they want. So, he decides to create the form of a family he longs for. As if creating a work of art, various materials were added to create a 'fake family'. Myeong-eun goes to a writing contest and faces the truth she wanted to hide.

Set in 1996 as the historical background, 'Secret Hill' deals with a subject full of empathy that reminds us of our appearance at that time. Although it is director Lee Ji-eun's first film debut, the excellent directing ability that delicately digs into the inner world as if observing and digging into the mind of a child is impressive. The camera captures the relative deprivation and wandering of a 12-year-old girl, Myeong-eun, at an elementary school, while maintaining a certain distance. 'Secret Hill' was also invited to the Generation Kplus competition section of the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival.

The first scene of the film, which begins with Myeong-eun carefully examining the items in the stationery store, is significant. Is it because it depicts Myeong-eun, who is easily shattered like a glass cup tightly held in her hand? Myung-eun's light steps toward the house with a present in her arms change as she enters the house. For Myeong-eun, the house is a space like fetters where she has to exist as her parents' daughter, not as 'me'. Myung-eun's family, who first appears sucking crab meat, is both a laughing point and a stimulus to Myeong-eun at the same time. When Myeong-eun asks to help in a fundraising broadcast for the less fortunate on TV, Myeong-eun's mother relentlessly replies, "Let's neither give nor take our family motto." Myung-eun, who is highly interested in others, and their lives, who have turned their attention to the inside of the family, are just walking on different tracks.

Myung-eun and her homeroom teacher Ae-ran's consultation becomes a kind of trigger, but when asked about her parents' occupation, Myeong-eun answers with lies. A father who works for a company and a mother who is an ordinary housewife. This answer works as a catalyst for creating a fake family. Now, Myeong-eun can't go back to the past, and her real family becomes her secret. Myeong-eun, who wanders and moves without thinking about the front or back, is like a car without sudden brakes. Myeong-eun runs for class president in order to overcome the condition given to her innately. Myeong-eun, who became the class president, begins to change the class little by little, starting with a groundbreaking promise to grant the children's wishes by making a secret mailbox. There is a sense of difference in the identity of Myeong-eun, who travels between school and home. Her position in the family is only the daughter of a salted fish shop, but at school, she is a trustworthy class president who takes good care of her friends and a student with brilliant ideas. The act of trying to get out of the frame that defines oneself turns into an act of exaggerating the secret of Myeong-eun.

Her confidence as a class president and her constantly changing Myeong-eun were finally completed in 2009 with actress Moon Seung-ah's performance. Moon Seung-ah is a child actress who has proven her acting skills by winning the Best Actor Award in the Korean Competition at the 20th Jeonju International Film Festival despite her young age. In the films 'Without a Sound' (director Eui-jeong Hong) and 'Scattered Night' (director Ji-young Lee, Sol Kim), he took the lead role in the drama. Here, actor Jang Seon takes on the role of Myung-eun's mother, Kyung-hee, who has no room to spare in the harsh reality, adding to Myeong-eun's frustration, and actor Kang Gil-woo as Seong-ho, an unemployed father who thinks even his children are pathetic, adding a laugh. You can also find a cute image of her heading to a barbecue restaurant, saying "Take the top prize. Next time" to her daughter, Myeong-eun, who won an excellent prize in a writing contest. Lim Seon-woo, who plays Ae-ran, the homeroom teacher, breaks away from the typical teacher by taking care of the children with sincerity even though he is late. With the meeting of those with deep roots in the independent film industry, 'Secret Hill' calmly accompanies Myeong-eun's steps without losing weight.

Dramatic tension begins when Myeong-eun enters a writing contest. In the meantime, Myeong-eun's world is cracked by the appearance of her friend Hye-jin (Jang Jae-hee), who transferred to the same class with a face that has gone through the ups and downs of the world. Hyejin, who starts her school life by honestly revealing her family situation, is the opposite of Myungeun, who is full of secrets. The complex psychological change of Myeong-eun, who keeps in check while hanging out as friends, is the key point of 'Secret Hill'. The desire to look good to teachers and to be loved by friends will evoke a consensus among the audience, saying, 'It was like that then'. It would be good for Myeong-eun, who participates in the writing contest in Seongwon-si, to carefully observe the process of what kind of writing she writes and what choices she makes. Director Lee Ji-eun, who agonized over "whether it's better to be honest or tell lies," revealed that she wanted to talk about growth through the writing process of Myung-eun in the play. Like the director's worries, Myeong-eun is faced with two choices.

Maybe all of us have experienced inexplicable emotions, 'Secret Hill' calmly captures during the running time of about 122 minutes. The intertwined relationships and Myeong-eun's attitude towards them are well mixed with the innocence of a child and the candidness of a child. Wouldn't it be possible to travel back in time and see myself, saying, 'How were we then?' 'Secret Hill', which will leave another mark on the independent film world, is full of "a desire as a director to see a new teenage female character." Why don't you take the time to substitute yourself with a 12-year-old girl Myung-eun? It has been a long time since a movie has been pushed calmly and the audience can calmly immerse themselves in it.

'Secret Hill' will be released on July 12th. total audience. Running time 122 minutes.

Reporter Lee Ha-neul, Ten Asia greenworld@tenasia.co.kr