House of Hummingbird

House of Hummingbird is an emotional and thought-provoking film directed by Kim Bora, that narrates the story of an adolescent girl coming of age in Seoul in the era of the mid-1990s. The film was released in 2018, boasting a beautiful cast led by Park Ji-hu, and supported by Sae-byeok Kim and In-gi Jeong, who unravel the story telling the lessons of life, acceptance and hardships, building up over a layered narrative of personal development.

The film is a character-oriented narrative, focusing primarily on Eun-hee (Park Ji-hu), a 14-year-old girl who is trying to navigate through the hardships and hurdles of life while residing in a country undergoing immense economic growth and technological change. Eun-hee lives in a small apartment with her family, including her bullying brother, distant older sister, and parents who own a rice cake shop and demonstrate little affection towards her. As a mediocre student at a local cram school, Eun-hee struggles to find her place in a world that demands success and conformity.

In this turmoil of struggling with her identity and purpose in life, Eun-hee's life is further struck by an inability to communicate her emotional torment to her family and the dearth of a guiding adult influence in her life. However, a ray of hope appears for Eun-hee when she meets Young-ji (Sae-byeok Kim), a new teacher at her cram school. Amid her chaotic life, Young-ji radiates empathy and understanding, becoming the first adult to see and listen to Eun-hee’s feelings, her struggles, and her perspectives.

The film is not only a portrait of a young girl’s coming-of-age journey but also a reflection of South Korea’s societal conditions in the 90s, creating a detailed backdrop that's pivotal to the overall narrative. South Korea’s rapid industrialization chance was at the expense of its citizens grappling to keep up with the pace. That societal undercurrent manifests brilliantly in the struggles of Eun-hee’s life, manifesting as parental neglect, peer pressure, and the vast vacuum of emotional support.

Throughout the movie, the viewer is held captive by Park Ji-hu, who superbly captures the nuances of adolescent life, portraying the emotions, struggles, and innocent confusions with a mature reckoning. Sae-byeok Kim is equally compelling in her role as the empathic teacher, offering warmth, understanding, and a much-needed emotional support to the young protagonist. Their interaction brings depth to the narrative.

The direction from Kim Bora, her debut film, is engaging, possessing the potential to evoke audience emotions with each scene moving in a natural rhythmn. Her film-making style, combined with the brilliant performances of her cast, binds the audience to the continuing narrative and captures the reality of a South Korean adolescent's life from the 1990s. Rather than focusing on grand events or dramatic episodes, House of Hummingbird explores the quotidian, mundane aspects of everyday life, focusing on the small, seemingly insignificant struggles faced by Eun-hee.

House of Hummingbird is a story of growth and resilience, a captivating drama that holds up a mirror to the challenges a young girl faces as she grows into adulthood. The film shines a spotlight on the innermost feelings of the youth: those often unspoken, unnoticed, fragments of life which ultimately shape an individual. The significance of communication, understanding, and emotional space in adolescent growth, often dismissed or neglected, has been brought to the forefront with a subtlety and grace rarely seen in coming-of-age dramas.

In essence, House of Hummingbird smartly tackles the larger questions about the human experience through the microcosm of familial and societal dynamics seen through the eyes of a young girl. It beholds the viewers with the intimacies of human life, the sweet, the sour, the whimsical, the cruel, decoding the beauty of life cloaked behind the ordinary, uncovering the extraordinary in the mundane, making it a film that leaves a lasting impression.