"Wish - 2013"

In many ways I've been dreading this movie. Sure, the poster makes it look like a friendly, happy drama about a family overcoming difficulties in life, but then I found out about the rather gruesome real-life case upon which the story is based. There's a controversial cruelty in making a film like this when the actual family, in all likelihood, just wants to move on and forget the whole incident.

Surprisingly, there's a tastefulness in "Wish - 2013" that actually seems to take this into account. Make no mistake- this is a tremendously sad, heart-pounding film that deliberately tugs at theHeartstringsto provoke tears from the viewer. Oftentimes it just feels vindictive. When So-Won (played byLee Re) initially starts recovering there's a visceral shock just seeing this poor little girl sporting the scars of the vicious attack.

But in spite of all the shocking, horrific imagery, one message continuously rings throughout this film- it gets better. It doesn't happen spontaneously or magically. A lot of people have to go through a lot of work to rehabilitate this broken family- most of all the family members themselves, who have to learn to manage their emotional pain and grief with trying to think positive thoughts about the future instead of dwelling on the unchangeable past.

There's a very interesting contrast, first in medical and later legal jurisdictions, that gives us people reacting to terrible news in an incredibly emotional (but justified) way. We always see these events from the point of view of the family, and of those who sympathize with them in the wake of the attack. So contextually, we should be angry right with them- yet the detachment of the camera creates an unexpected feeling of panic. On some level, of course we want to lash out at something in the wake of a tragedy- but that doesn't make it a good idea. There's no feeling of judgment against the So-Won's parents for reacting the way they do. It still immediately begs the question, though, of what worse things may come in the longer term if anger is the default reaction instead of love and understanding.

DirectorLee Joon-ikis to be given enormous credit here for the effectiveness of this presentation. In lesser hands the drama of this film could have just been a cheap emotional ploy. But the dire nature of the situation is treated with all the seriousness it deserves. The feelings this film invokes in the viewer are genuine ones, and the characters shine as real people caught up in a tragic situation who realize the way to recovery lies with empathy.

The cast, too, does a fantastic job. The production values all around are extremely strong, and are executed in such earnestness that I can't fault anything about "Wish - 2013" even though it's almost exactly what I expected it would be. In the Korean language, the name So-Won can also mean wish. It can also mean estrangement. I am very glad to be able to write here that though this film could easily have gone the way of the latter, it is, indeed, a tearful statement on how even in the darkest hour that impossible wish may not be so impossible after all.

Review by William Schwartz

"Wish - 2013" is directed byLee Joon-ikand featuresSeol Kyeong-gu,Eom Ji-wonandLee Re.