''A Brand New Life'' () is a 2009 film and the debut feature of
Ounie Lecomte, a Korean adoptee who grew up in France who directed and wrote the film.
The film also marked the cinematic debut of actress
Kim Sae-ron.
Loosely based on Lecomte's own experience, the movie is set in
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
in 1975. A girl abandoned by her father at a
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
orphanage struggles to adjust to a new life.
''A Brand New Life'' was released in South Korea on October 29, 2009.
The film grossed over
US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
167,776
and was well received by critics. It won several awards such as Best Asian Film at the
22nd Tokyo International Film Festival and the jury award at the 2009
Cinekid Festival in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
.
Plot
Jin-hee (
Kim Sae-ron), 9, is abandoned by her father at an orphanage run by Catholic nuns after remarrying. Before leaving her, he buys her new clothes and a cake to convince her that she is going on a trip. This coincides with the Korean title, which literally means "traveler" or "tourist". At the orphanage, she initially struggles to accept her abandonment by her father and insecurities about a possible adoption. She gradually makes friends, though she sticks to the belief that her father will return for her. She struggles, sometimes violently, to adjust to her surroundings and makes a failed attempt to run away from the orphanage. Eventually, she is adopted by a French couple. The movie's final scene is of her arrival at the airport in France to her "brand new life".
Cast
*
Kim Sae-ron as Jin-hee
* Park Do-yeon as Sook-hee
*
Go Ah-sung as Ye-shin
* Park Myung-shin as a nanny
*
Sul Kyung-gu
Sul Kyung-gu (; born May 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Upon his graduation in 1994, he appeared in numerous theatrical productions, such as the hit Korean adaptation of the German rock musical '' Subway Line 1'', and productions of Sam Shep ...
as Jin-hee's father
* Oh Man-seok as Director Goo
* Shin Young-sik as Ye-shin's foster father
*
Moon Sung-keun
Moon Sung-keun (; born May 28, 1953) is a South Korean actor and politician. He has won three Blue Dragon Film Awards, two Baeksang Arts Awards, and two Chunsa Film Art Awards for Best Actor.
Career
Moon was born in Tokyo, Japan. His father was ...
as a doctor
* Richard Wilson as puppeteer/U.S. soldier
* Rob Youngs as Sook-hee's adoptive father
* Luke Doyle as guitarist/U.S. soldier
* Harvey Schmidt as Jin-hee's adoptive father
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brand New Life
2009 films
French drama films
South Korean drama films
2000s Korean-language films
Films shot in Seoul
2000s French films
2000s South Korean films