K-Movies Recommendations

Hello all,
Today I will give some recommendations for Korean films that you must watch at the end of 2020. The film that I recommend, of course, I have watched it too and in my opinion, it is good and must be watched!

1. Pawn
   Pawn (Korean: 담보; RR: Dambo; MR: lit: Collateral) is a 2020 South Korean human drama film, directed by Kang Dae-gyu and produced by Yoon Je-kyoon. The film starring Sung Dong-il, Ha Ji-won, Kim Hee-won, and Park So-yi, is a human drama that revolves around two debt collectors, Doo-seok (Sung Dong-il) and Jong-bae (Kim Hee-won), who take nine-year-old girl Seung-yi (Park So-yi) as “collateral” from her mother, an illegal immigrant.
   The film was released in theaters on September 29, 2020. It generally received positive reviews and good ratings. It became the number one box office film in South Korea. As of December 6, 2020, Pawn with gross of US$13.60 million and 1.72 million admissions, stands at 8th rank among all the Korean films released in the year 2020.
   Synopsis :
   In 1993, Doo-Seok (Sung Dong-il) and Jong-bae (Kim Hee-won) working as debt collectors in Incheon, South Korea, while collecting debt from Myung-Ja (Yunjin Kim) gets her nine years old daughter Seung-Yi (Park So-Yi) as collateral. Myung-Ja is an illegal immigrant and she is deported from South Korea. Suddenly, Doo-Seok and Jong-bae become Seung-Yi’s guardians. The two men and the girl eventually form a family-like bond as they live together.
2. The Preparation
   The Preparation is a 2017 South Korean drama film directed by Cho Young-Jun, starring Go Doo-Shim and Kim Sung-kyun.
   
   Preparation tells the story of a mother who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. This mother prepared her mentally retarded son for his inevitable death.
   But her clever handling of money and unwavering zeal for life enabled her and her son to survive. His son, In gyu, is a 30-year-old man who is mentally disabled. In-gyu is a grown child who understands nothing but sleep, eats, and plays.
   Until one-day Ae Soon was diagnosed with deadly cancer and predicted not to have more than 6 months. Ae Soon must face reality and train her son to live independently without him.
3. HOPE (2013)
   Hope (Korean: 소원; RR: Sowon), also known as Wish, is a 2013 South Korean film directed by Lee jun-ik, starring Sol kyung-gu, Uhm ji-won, and Lee Re. It won Best Film at the 34th Blue Dragon Awards.
   The film is based on a true story, the infamous Cho doo soon in 2008, in which an 8-year-old girl, named “Na-young” in the Korean press, was raped and beaten by a drunk 57-year-old man in a public toilet. The court sentenced the man to only 12 years in prison, which caused outrage in the country due to the brutality of the crime and the man’s history of physical and sexual violence.
   Sypnosis :
   A young girl named So-won lives an idyllic life with her working-class parents Dong-hoon and Mi-hee. One day on her way to school, So-won is kidnapped, beaten, and raped by a male stranger before being left for dead. Fortunately, she survives and can call an ambulance.
   The police notify Dong-hoon and Mi-hee of the attack and they rush to the emergency ward. Upon their arrival at the hospital, they are horrified by the extent of So-won’s injuries. So-won suffers from multiple internal injuries and has to undergo major surgeries. Dong-hoon is advised by a surgeon that So-won will have to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of her life. Moreover, once So-won regains consciousness, she can identify her attacker with the help of Jung-sook, a psychiatrist.
   So-won’s attacker is arrested at his home, and the case becomes a media sensation much to the horror of her family and friends. When the reporters converge at the hospital, Dong-hoon takes So-won to a different room and hides her from the media attention. So-won exhibits symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and briefly mistakes her father for her attacker, screaming at him as he tries to fix her colostomy bag. Dong-hoon is heartbroken by this episode and is further hurt when So-won refuses to look at him or speak to him.
   Mi-hee initially refuses psychological help for her daughter as she wishes for So-won to resume her normal life. However, she relents after understanding her daughter’s mental state and enlists the help of Jung-sook. Dong-hoon struggles to pay for medical expenses and calls his friend and manager, Gwang-sik, with the intent of quitting his job to help take care of his family. Gwang-sik is aware of Dong-hoon’s situation and convinces him to keep his job, also providing him with money to pay for So-won’s medical bills.
   Mi-hee and her friends rent mascot costumes to play with So-won to help cheer her up; this gives Dong-hoon the idea to hide underneath the costume of his daughter’s favorite cartoon character, Cocomong, to communicate with her. So-won is unaware of who is underneath the costume, but she opens up to “Cocomong” and allows him to hug her. Gradually, So-won’s physical condition improves and she can return home. During the car ride home, So-won vomits after passing the site where she was attacked. She and her parents are soon comforted as they notice that the local community has decorated their home with notes of encouragement. Mi-hee is touched as she sees that their home had also been cleaned during their absence.
   Dong-hoon resumes work but also finds the time to dress up as Cocomong and accompany So-won on her way to and from school. Soon, her mental state improves and she realizes that her father has been hiding underneath the costume the entire time. Touched by his love and concern for her, she takes off the head of the costume and can look at her father for the first time since her hospitalization.
   The family is worried about the upcoming trial as So-won has to testify against her attacker. With great effort, they attend the trial and So-won describes what happened during the attack and identifies her attacker. Unfortunately, the man is only sentenced to 12 years in prison, angering So-won’s family and friends. A fight breaks out in the courtroom with Dong-hoon intending to kill the attacker. So-won stops Dong-hoon and begs him to take her home.
   The family leaves the courtroom with little closure. Sometime later, Mi-hee has given birth to a son and is congratulated by family and friends, including Jung-sook and Gwang-sik. In the closing narration, So-won confides that she still struggles mentally and often has to leave school early, though the birth of her brother has given her a renewed sense of purpose.