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Poetry
A luminous and devastating humanist drama that channels quiet sorrow and transcendent grace, evoking fallen apricots crushed upon damp earth as words slip into silence.
Poetry
Poetry

13 May 2010 South Korea 139 min 7.6 (350)

Director: Lee Chang-dong

Cast: Yoon Jeong-hee, David Lee, Kim Hee-ra, Ahn Nae-sang, Kim Yong-taek

Drama The Nature of Artistic Creation and "Seeing" Moral Responsibility vs. Social Complicity Cognitive Decline and the Fragility of Language Empathy, Grief, and Vicarious Atonement
Box Office: $349,899

Poetry — Movie Quotes

Memorable Quotes

시를 쓰는 건 어려운 게 아니라, 시를 쓸 마음을 갖는 게 어려운 겁니다.
— Poetry Teacher (Kim Yong-taek)

Context

Spoken during the community center poetry workshop.

Meaning

Emphasizes that artistic creation is an ethical and emotional disposition of the soul, not merely a literary technique.

살구가 스스로 땅에 몸을 던져요. 다음 생을 위해 밟히고 짓이겨지는 거예요.
— Yang Mi-ja

Context

Written in Mi-ja's notebook while observing fallen fruit in an orchard.

Meaning

Captures the core visual metaphor of martyrdom and sacrificial transformation running through the narrative.

그곳은 어떤가요? 얼마나 외로운가요? ... 아직도 노을은 붉고 새들은 숲으로 가는 길에 노래하나요?
— Yang Mi-ja / Agnes

Context

The opening lines of Mi-ja’s completed poem recited as a voiceover during the film’s closing sequence.

Meaning

Bridges the spiritual space between the living elderly woman and the deceased schoolgirl, turning grief into timeless song.

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