House of Hummingbird – Beol-sae (2018)

Directed by: Bora Kim | 138 minutes | drama | Actors: Ji-hu Park, Sae-byeok Kim, Seung-Yun Lee, In-gi Jeong

The Korean coming-of-age drama House of Hummingbird is set in Seoul in 1994. Teenage girl Eun-hee (Park Ji-hoo) is the youngest of three children. She lives with her parents, sister and brother in an apartment in a depressingly large and anonymous block of flats. The family is neither poor nor rich. They are just getting by on the income of their own rice cake shop. Fortunately, none of them are. The father is cheating (or so it is implied). The mother is tired of the hard work. Eun-hee’s older sister Suhee rebels. Brother Daehoon almost succumbs to the pressure of his parents’ high expectations of him. Eun-hee doesn’t have it easy either. She is ignored at home. At school, her results are below par. As a result, her teacher makes derogatory comments and her classmates express the expectation that Eun-hee will probably end up as a maid for one of them.

Still, there are moments of joy in Eun-hee’s life. She is a good drawing artist and dreams of becoming a cartoonist (something the country was not ready for in 1994). Her boyfriend, Ji-wan, faithfully picks her up from school. One day, Eun-hee even dares to ask him if they can kiss. She gets into mischief with her best friend and visits a club (where No Limit from 2 Unlimited blares through the speakers).

Then she gets a new teacher at the homework institute where she takes Chinese lessons. This is the first adult person in her life who is genuinely interested in her. With short, small conversations, in which every word has meaning, this teacher makes a deep impression on Eun-hee.

Against the background of one of Korea’s most turbulent periods in the 1990s (the death of dictator Kim Il-Sung on July 8 and the collapse of the Seongsu Bridge in Seoul on October 22, for example), debut director Bora Kim not only paints a beautiful picture of a country that is developing at a rapid pace; but also an at times moving portrait of a girl who gets to know herself and her surroundings, has to adjust her expectations, and sees her fears come true. A girl who is trying to connect, or at least someone who is understanding. Obviously she doesn’t find this at home. Growing up hurts – in Eun-hee’s case also literally because of the casual hands of the men in the family, but ‘House of Hummingbird’ doesn’t feel heavy or dramatic, although you have to be open to that. For those who want to see it, the film is hopeful. However, it is imaginable that the film is also experienced as depressing.

Despite the fact that lead actress Park Ji-hoo puts in a top performance, the connection with the audience is occasionally missing. This is partly due to the playing time. The film’s 138 minutes feel long and keep it from being the emotional rollercoaster it could be. The screenplay doesn’t always work in the film’s favor either. There are a lot of storylines that go nowhere or characters that deserved more attention. However, ‘House of Hummingbird’ has enough to offer for fans of (Asian) films and coming-of-age dramas with its strong acting, beautiful time frame and well-hit atmosphere.