When Mun Jeong-Hyun set out to make a documentary about the life of his grandmother and her devotion to her family at the request of his own mother, I’m sure he had no idea what he would find. What he did uncover was a familial past riddled with scars from a divided country, speaking only in whispers about the pain they had endured. Grandmother’s Flower is a beautiful, personal movie about one family in South Korea, but it could have been about any family from that time in that area, and that is what makes it so incredible.
Mun Jeong-Hyun had always been a little afraid of his grand uncle. Grand uncle was always sitting alone mumbling scary things to himself or yelling at this family and spitting on people. So when Mun began this journey to make a film about his family, he decided to spend a little time getting to know his grandmother’s brothers and sisters. his grand uncle having passed he was left only with his journals. At first glance they were nonsensical ramblings and scripture passages, but upon deeper inspection these journals told a disturbing story of his family’s past, one that included a community – and family – divided by class and communism. Uncovering these journals and getting his family to talk about what happened was a life changing experiences for many of them, having never spoken about these issues before, largely because they were terrified of doing so.
I must admit that I am not very well versed on Korean history and so was at times hopelessly left behind. I’m not sure if it was a help or a hindrance that I knew so little, to be honest. Knowing very little allowed me to only accept what I was shown and to see the film as a personal memoir to a family, rather than a political piece. It was incredible to me the effect this had, as this film could really have been made by anyone in any place at any time. We all have hidden issues or undiscovered occurrences in our past lives and without actively going back to uncover them we will never find out. It’s very much true that we do not all have the kind of specific political strife, but we do all have stories that have never been told. The way in which Mun shot this movie only added to the effect. I’m not certain of the specifics, but it gave the effect of handled cameras and intimate conversations. Essentially, you could imagine yourself in your own living room talking to your own family. The only unintended side effect of this intimacy was that the film had little structure, as Mun discovered these incredible (and horrifying) stories as he went, essentially lacking structure. It adds charm but is occasionally difficult to follow as the story takes quick turns based on his discoveries or a family member’s confession.
Grandmother’s Flower is a beautiful film filled with emotions and politics. As a woman noted at the Q&A, this movie had a universal and global story and is, most definitely, only one of many that could be told. In the end I was very glad to have been invited into this family’s world for 90 minutes because I think that this story was important and I’m glad that it’s being heard.
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