Concerning My Daughter (2023)

Korean Women

We had this book for our Korean Book Club, but I decided to watch the movie instead. Now I think the book would have been more interesting because, in the book, the writer explains the emotions of the characters, while in the movie we have to pick up on the emotions ourselves during long silent scenes.

This is a movie about women—women of different generations and views on life—giving us a chance to reflect on how Korean women lived 60 years ago, 30 years ago, and today, each period represented by one of the main characters. Thinking about that, it appears that each of them represents a type of outcast from a traditional society where having a big healthy family is the norm.

The movie mostly focuses on a mother, and we often just watch her as she apparently stoically bears all the issues. Everything else in the movie is seen through her eyes. Another main character is an elderly woman without a family, totally dependent on care in a nursing home. And also, not to forget, there is a daughter who mostly stays in the background. The movie is called "Concerning My Daughter", but it is 105 minutes long, and the daughter has no more than 10 minutes of screen time.

So, it’s not really about the daughter—it is about human connection. We are all afraid of being left alone and helpless. The movie shows that certain human connections are stronger than blood relationships. I strongly agree with that, but still, real marriages and children are the foundation of our society and the exceptions should only enforce the norm.

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