Review of Poetry (2010) by Trent R — 23 Jan 2011

Excellent film that fits in with familiar themes for the director, concerning an individual largely overwhelmed by changing cultural values and socioeconomic demands - yet acting quietly but with clear intent to create a meaningful space. Yun Jeong-hie, emerging from retirement for this role, is stately by means of presenting an understated and seemingly unremarkable facade. Never pandering, and only expressing specific emotions in credible forms for the character.

Poet Kim Yong-taek serves a sort of explicatory role without the usually awful trappings, spurring and drawing out Mi-ja's motivations and internal struggle in a logical context of poetry without pretense or contrivance. Her natural capacity for empathy and the difficulty of maintaining that perspective in a world of deeply cynical pragmatists provides deeply personal conflict, and it is much more meaningful for that ambitious subtlety.