Archive - 9th Five Flavours Film Festival

A Girl At My Door

Dohee-ya
South Korea 2014, 119’
subtitles: Polish and English
director: July Jung
screenplay: July Jung
cinematography: Kim Hyeon-seok
editing: Lee Yeong-lim
music: Jang Yeong-gu
cast: Bae Doo-na, Kim Sae-ron, Song Sae-byeok, Kim Jin-gu, Son Jong-hak, Na Jong-min, Gong Myeong, Kim Jong-gu, Park Jin-u, Jang Hui-jin
producer: Lee Chang-dong, Lee Jun-dong
production: Pinehouse Film, Now Films
language: Korean
colouration: colour

Awards and festivals

Asian Film Awards 2015 – Best Actress; Baek Sang Art Awards 2015 – Best New Director; Blue Dragon Awards 2014 – Best New Actress; Stockholm FF 2014 – Best Directorial Debut; Women in Film Korea Awards 2014 – Best Director, Screenplay; Cannes IFF 2014 – nominations to Golden Camera, Queer Palm, Un Certain Regard Award

Film description

A small, quiet town lost between the mountains and the seashore. For Young-nam, a police woman transferred from Seoul, getting used to it won't be easy. The villagers – and her coworkers – are not used to being controlled by a young woman. They have their own matters, which the city girl should keep out off. Youn-nam's attention is attracted by a neglected neighbor girl.

This disquieting psychodrama with an intelligent construction was enthusiastically received by the critics after its Cannes premiere. The initial plot, scenery, and the tense atmosphere of Jung's film bring to mind Jane Champion's series "Top of the Lake." In both productions, the main characters are independent, stubborn women who manage to survive in unfriendly structures. Yet "A Girl At My Door" is deeply rooted in the problems of the Korean society, and presents its very bitter diagnosis.

For her independent debut, the young director managed to hire two stars of Korean cinema – the police woman is played by Bae Doo-na, known from "Linda, Linda, Linda" or "Cloud Atlas," and Kim Sae-ron, whop plays the role of her protegee, is a popular child actress form film and television. They both did their jobs extraordinarily well – the complicated, psychological relation between the characters is the axis of the film. Both have their painful mysteries and difficult characters. They're not easily likeable. Yet their otherness connects them, building a sort of a alliance against the world around them.

 

Jagoda Murczyńska

July Jung

Born in 1980, graduated from Sungkyunkwan University and Korea National University of Arts. For her fist short film, she received an award at Busan IFF. "A Girl At My Door" is her feature debut, it premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes IFF.

Filmography:

2007 Yeonghyang alae eunneun namja /  A Man Under the Influenza (short)
2008 11 (short)
2010 A Dog-Came Into My Flash (short)
2014 Otwórz mi drzwi / Doheeya / A Girl at My Door

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