14-year-old Eun-hee moves through life like a hummingbird searching for a taste of sweetness wherever she may find it. Ignored by her parents and abused by her brother, she finds her escape by roaming the neighborhood with her best friend, going on adventures, exploring young love, and experiencing everything that comes with growing up in a country on the brink of enormous change.
“House of Hummingbird” won Best Feature awards at both the Berlin International Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018. The film is set in Seoul, South Korea in 1994. That year, South Korea was participating in the World Cup and the death of North Korean leader Kim Il-sung would impact the country’s future and geopolitics. The screenplay is told through the eyes of a fourteen-year-old girl and while I usually shy away from coming-of-age narratives, the setting and accolades intrigued me.
Eun-hee (Ji-hu Park) is a teen living in a modest block apartment building with her parents and two siblings. Due to the rigid parenting, her older sister is constantly skipping school and her brother obeys the rules but is abusive towards his sisters. Eun-hee is bullied by her wealthier classmates who say horrid things like, “you’ll be our maid one day.” After class, she works nights at her family’s rice cake shop, and her father’s favorite dinner conversations revolve around the importance of work and education. Eun-hee is intelligent and artistically gifted but struggles at school due to her homeroom teacher being a patronizing jerk. Her lovable uncle is briefly introduced as a down-on-his-luck heavy drinker and his unfortunate death is an important experience for her.
One day Eun-hee discovers a lump and is forced to undergo an invasive procedure with a new doctor on her own. I had a hard time figuring out whether her parents are apathetic or just overworked by the demands of running a business. Her mother is more caring but it’s not significant or particularly helpful. Her mother has her own issues to deal with, it seems the man of the house is fooling around with another woman. Eun-hee is shown doing typical teenage mischief like petty shoplifting, sneaking into clubs, and pretending to enjoy smoking cigarettes. Thankfully, her Chinese tutor notices the teenager’s talent and potential. Throughout the story, they become closer and she teaches Eun-hee to stand up to patriarchy and love herself no matter what others think. As clichéd as those lessons might sound, it’s an important thing to maintain one’s dignity and self-worth in this difficult world.
Writer/Director Bora Kim shows an impressive craft for both camerawork and screenwriting. Her sense of composition and subtle camera movements keep the story focused on the characters while not feeling stale or boring. I was surprised it was her feature film and hope global pandemic aside, that she’s able to make more films. The same goes for the lead, Ji-hu Park, who might be the best child actor I’ve seen in years. Park is in nearly every scene of the two-hour-plus running time. I read that she was thirteen years old when she acted in this and made me realize some adults in Hollywood should take note. While the story was a bit longer than I thought necessary, I enjoyed it regardless. I’m pleased to see Korean cinema continuing to showcase wonderful stories and gifted filmmaking.
Available on Blu-ray™ & Digital August 4th
