Movie Title: 아이 캔 스피크 (I Can Speak)
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (9/10)
Year: 2017
“I Can Speak” is definitely on a league of its own. The movie started with a comedic tone, featuring Na Moon-hee as a notorious and fearsome granny Na Ok-boon, who on a daily basis files official complaint at the district office. There, she met with the new civil servant Park Min-jae played by Lee Je-hoon.
The movie then switch gear from comedic to drama after a series of events happened where Min-jae ended up becoming Ok-boon’s English tutor as she is desperate for help to connect and communicate with her long lost brother in the US. From just a simple tutor-student relationship to a family like relationship – grandma and grandson.
While we thought this change of mood is the only twist in the movie, viewers will be stunned and surprise to find out that there is something more, something deeper is about to unfold. Like the movie title suggest, the real reason to why Ok-boon is learning English is so that she can testify in English language at the comfort women public hearing in USA.
To many, the slow paced comedy may not be attractive enough but I personally like how the director take time to define the characters. Slowly peel and showcase the characteristic of Ok-boon and Min-jae layer by layer giving them more depth. Paired by both solid acting and chemistry, the casting for the duo is a winner team .
But the winning point is definitely how they blend in such a heavy and serious taboo topic – Korean Comfort Women effortlessly in such a lightweight comedy drama like movie manner.