Peppermint Candy
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''Peppermint Candy'' () is a 1999 South Korean drama film by Lee Chang-dong, his second. The film opens with the implied
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
of the protagonist and uses
reverse chronology Reverse chronology is a narrative structure and method of storytelling whereby the Plot (narrative), plot is revealed in reverse order. In a story employing this technique, the first Scene (fiction), scene shown is actually the conclusion to the ...
to depict some of the key events of the past 20 years of his life that led to this point. It was the ninth highest grossing domestic film of 2000 with 311,000 admissions in Seoul. It was well-received, especially at film festivals. Spurred by the success of Lee Chang-dong's directorial debut, ''
Green Fish ''Green Fish'' () is a 1997 South Korean film. It was the first feature-length film directed by Lee Chang-dong, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Lee had previously been known as a novelist and high school teacher. The film stars Han Suk-kyu in ...
'', ''Peppermint Candy'' was chosen as the opening film for the
Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festi ...
in its first showing in 1999. It won multiple awards at the
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become ...
and won the
Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...
for best film of 2000.


Plot

The film is divided into 7 sections, each dated and titled. They are presented in the order in which they are presented in the film. Each section is preceded by a 10 to 15 second-long shot from the top of a train as it heads out of a tunnel towards mountains, with variations.


Outdoor Excursion, Spring 1999

A group of friends have gathered by a river for a picnic for the first time in 20 years. A middle-aged Korean man named Kim Young-ho wanders to the group; the members have not heard from him in many years and have limited knowledge of his past 20 years. After causing general mayhem with his deranged antics, he leaves and climbs atop a nearby train track; one of the friends tries to convince him to abandon suicide, but the others ignore him and dance. Facing an oncoming train, he exclaims "I want to go back again!" in a freeze frame.


The Camera, 3 days ago, Spring 1999

While driving, Young-ho hears on the radio about a member of the group announcing their imminent reunion. He spends the last of his money on a pistol and contemplates who he should kill while he takes his own life. After confronting his former business partner and ex-wife Hong-ja, the husband of his old flame Sun-im pays him a surprise visit. Young-ho is taken to visit a
coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
tose Sun-im in a hospital, and presents her some peppermint candies that she used to give him while he was in the military. A tear trickles down Sun-im's face. Before parting, Sun-im's husband gives Young-ho an old manual camera. He sells it nevertheless.


Life is Beautiful, Summer 1994

At first glance, Young-ho appears to be a rather successful businessman, but the problems in his life become clear when he confronts his wife, who is having an
affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of i ...
with her driving instructor. Young-ho is unable to claim
moral high ground The moral high ground, in ethical or political parlance, refers to the status of being respected for remaining moral, and adhering to and upholding a universally recognized standard of justice or goodness. In derogatory context, the term is often us ...
, since he is also shown having an affair with an assistant from work. After having sex with his assistant, Young-ho dines with her and coincidentally encounters a man he has not seen in years. Young-ho tells him that he quit the police force two years ago. In an awkward bathroom exchange, Young-ho asks the man if life is beautiful; he agrees. Finally, Young-ho is shown with his wife and daughter at their new house, eating with his colleagues. As Hong-ja's
grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...
becomes a bawl, Young-ho storms out of the house.


Confession, Spring 1987

Young-ho is a police officer, his wife about to deliver their daughter. While getting a haircut, he encounters the man he later meets at the restaurant, apprehends him, and brutally
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...
s him for information about another man's whereabouts. This leads Young-ho to
Kunsan Gunsan (), also romanized as Kunsan, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-tech manufacturing industrial city and an int ...
, coincidentally Sun-im's hometown. There, he and his fellow police officers capture the wanted man. While his fellow police officers wait to catch the man in question, Young-ho fruitlessly searches for Sun-im and instead ends up on a one-night stand with a woman. The next morning, they catch the man and return to the police station. The woman Young-ho had a one-night stand with fruitlessly waits for him.


Prayer, Fall 1984

Young-ho is just starting out as a policeman and is pressured by his peers to torture a crime suspect, presumably a student demonstrator. Hong-ja, then a restaurant owner, takes interest in him. One day, Young-ho is visited by Sun-im. She tells him how she had visited him while he was in the military, but was denied a chance to meet him, and gives him a camera he had, reminding him how he always wanted to become a photographer. He coldly and cruelly dismisses her by feigning interest in Hong-ja and returns the camera to Sun-im as she leaves by train. One night, a deranged Young-ho barks military commands at the patrons of Hong-ja's restaurant and wreaks havoc. Later, Young-ho is shown sleeping with Hong-ja, who tries to show him how to pray.


Military Visit, May 1980

While Sun-im is trying to visit Young-ho while he is performing his
mandatory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
, his company is ordered to quell the
Gwangju Democratization Movement The Gwangju Uprising was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980, which pitted local, armed citizens against soldiers and police of the South Korean government. The event is sometimes called 5·18 (Ma ...
and she doesn't get a chance to be with him. Young-ho gets shot, presumably by friendly fire, in the leg and stays behind. While waiting for help, a harmless and presumably innocent student approaches him, pleading to be allowed to go home despite violating enforced curfew; standing in the darkness, he initially misconstrues her as Sun-im. Just as he is about to let her off, soldiers arrive. Not wanting his comrades to realize he had let a civilian go, he fires randomly, hoping to fool the soldiers into believing he is doing his duty, but accidentally shoots and kills the girl. As the other soldiers gather around, he embraces her and bawls.


Picnic, Fall 1979

Young-ho is a part of the student group gathering at the same river for a picnic, and there, he meets Sun-im, at the time packing peppermint candies for a factory, for the first time. He expresses a clear interest in photography and her, and tells her that while he'd never been at that river before, he had seemingly seen the location in his dreams. While the others gather around to sing, Young-ho wanders off, lies down on the river bank, and stares up at the sky. As the sound of a passing train is heard, a tear trickles out of an eye and the frame freezes.


Main cast

*
Sol Kyung-gu Sol Kyung-gu (born May 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Public Enemy (2002 film), Public Enemy'' film series, ''Peppermint Candy'', ''Oasis (2002 film), Oasis'', ''Silmido (film), Silmido'', ''Hope (2013 film ...
as Kim Yong-ho *
Moon So-ri Moon So-ri (born July 2, 1974) is a South Korean actress, film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her acclaimed leading roles in '' Oasis'' (2002) and '' A Good Lawyer's Wife'' (2003). Career After graduating with a degree in Ed ...
as Yun Sun-im *
Kim Yeo-jin Kim Yeo-jin (born June 24, 1972) is a South Korean actress and activist. Kim made her acting debut in the stage play ''What Do Women Live For'' in 1995, and has since remained active in film and television, drawing praise for her supporting role ...
as Hong-ja *
Park Soo-young Park Soo-young is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in dramas such as ''My Beautiful Bride'' (2015), '' Listen to Love'' (2016), ''Hi Bye, Mama!'' (2020) and ''Record Of Youth ''Record of Youth'' () is a South Korean television ...
as Operative *
Park Sung-yeon Park Sung-yeon is a South Korean actress. She is known for her roles in dramas such as ''Love Alarm'', '' Mine'', ''Abyss'', '' Reflection of You'', '' Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol'' and '' Record of Youth''. She also appeared in movies '' The Sil ...
as Factory worker


Analysis

The events of Yong-ho's life that are shown in the movie can be seen as representing some of the major events of Korea's recent history. The student demonstrations of the early 1980s leading to the
Gwangju massacre The Gwangju Uprising was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980, which pitted local, armed citizens against soldiers and police of the South Korean government. The event is sometimes called 5·18 (Ma ...
are shown, as Yong-ho becomes traumatized by the shooting incident. The tightening grip on the country by the military government during the 1980s is mirrored by Yong-ho losing his innocence and becoming more and more cynical during his stint as a brutal policeman. Similarly, Yong-ho losing his job during the late 1990s mirrors the
Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...
. Yong-ho's life represents the struggle between
historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
and
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...
. Despite his desperate desire to move on from his past, mnemonic traces overpower the psychoanalytical aspects of his life. These mnemonic traces include the train, the camera, and the peppermint candy as well as Sun-im and her surrogates throughout the vignettes, which led the psychoanalysis of his life to triumph over historiography. The relationship between historiography and psychoanalysis can be seen in historicism and progressivism, where Yong-ho chooses to look back on his past instead of looking solely at his future to move forward. The major traumatic events that were historically imposed on him were so embedded in his life that he could not simply move on. However, finally reflecting back on his past allows him to accept what happened and finally advance into the future. Unfortunately, this was moments before he committed suicide when he turned to face the train. The train is the symbol that guides the film in reverse chronology, and his cry to return to the past signifies his tragically late recognition of the past's significance for his life. Issues of masculinity in South Korean culture arise in the film. Yong-Ho's masculinity is broken during the Gwangju Massacre scene in which the militarized masculinity enforced by the Korean government — a required 26-month duty in the military, an order to kill innocent civilians, and a need to conform to the standards of the other soldiers around him — ultimately force Yong-Ho to compensate later in life by interrogating the student protesters who inevitably were the reason he was put in that situation. This theme continues with the way he treats women later on in his life, objectifying and mistreating his wife Hong-ja and ultimately losing his one link back to his innocence, Sun-im. What results in the beginning of the film, which will be the end of Yong-Ho's life, is an ultimate humiliation and a lamentation for a lost innocence where personal history is connected with the history of South Korea.


Critical Reception

In 2020, the film was ranked number 12 among the classics of modern South Korean cinema by
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
's
Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...
.


Awards and nominations

;2000
Baeksang Arts Awards The Baeksang Arts Awards (), also known as the Paeksang Arts Awards, are awards for excellence in film, television and theatre in South Korea. The awards were first introduced in 1965 by Chang Key-young, the founder of the Hankook Ilbo newspap ...
*Best New Actor -
Sol Kyung-gu Sol Kyung-gu (born May 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Public Enemy (2002 film), Public Enemy'' film series, ''Peppermint Candy'', ''Oasis (2002 film), Oasis'', ''Silmido (film), Silmido'', ''Hope (2013 film ...
;2000
Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...
*Best Film *Best Director - Lee Chang-dong *Best Supporting Actress -
Kim Yeo-jin Kim Yeo-jin (born June 24, 1972) is a South Korean actress and activist. Kim made her acting debut in the stage play ''What Do Women Live For'' in 1995, and has since remained active in film and television, drawing praise for her supporting role ...
*Best Screenplay - Lee Chang-dong *Best New Actor -
Sol Kyung-gu Sol Kyung-gu (born May 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Public Enemy (2002 film), Public Enemy'' film series, ''Peppermint Candy'', ''Oasis (2002 film), Oasis'', ''Silmido (film), Silmido'', ''Hope (2013 film ...
;2000
Blue Dragon Film Awards The Blue Dragon Film Awards () is an annual awards ceremony that is presented by ''Sports Chosun'' (a sister brand of the ''Chosun Ilbo'') for excellence in film in South Korea. The Blue Dragon Film Awards considers only blockbusters and popula ...
*Best Actor -
Sol Kyung-gu Sol Kyung-gu (born May 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Public Enemy (2002 film), Public Enemy'' film series, ''Peppermint Candy'', ''Oasis (2002 film), Oasis'', ''Silmido (film), Silmido'', ''Hope (2013 film ...
*Best Screenplay - Lee Chang-dong ; 35th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival * Special Jury Prize (tied with ''
The Big Animal ''The Big Animal'' ( pl, Duże zwierzę) is a 2000 Polish film directed by Jerzy Stuhr from a screenplay by Krzysztof Kieślowski, based on a short story ''Wielbłąd'' (1995) by Kazimierz Orłoś. Plot Mr. Zygmunt Sawicki is a bank employee, wh ...
'') *Don Quijote Award *Netpac Award - Special Mention *Nominated for the Crystal Globe


References


External links

* *
North American Site (In English)Official site (mostly in Korean)
at koreanfilm.org

{{Grand Bell Awards Best Picture 1999 drama films South Korean drama films South Korean independent films Police detective films South Korean nonlinear narrative films Films about suicide Films set in 1979 Films set in 1980 Films set in 1984 Films set in 1987 Films set in 1994 Films directed by Lee Chang-dong Best Picture Grand Bell Award winners 2000s Korean-language films 2000s South Korean films