The Way Home
Quietly unfolding like a sweet and simple fable,The Way Homeis a touching, award-winning film about the common bonds that emerge between distant generations. Directed with delicate compassion by Jyong-Hyang Lee, it's the first South Korean film to receive distribution by a major American studio (under the art-house imprimatur of Paramount Classics), and begins when seven-year-old Sang-Woo (Yoo Seung-Ho) is left with his mute, stooped-over grandmother (Kim Eul-Boon) in her ramshackle hut in a rural region far from the comforts of Seoul. While his single mother struggles to find a job, the selfish boy initially resents his elderly relative, who responds to his obstinate behavior with unconditional love. Slowly, the boy comes to respect and love his caring grandma in return, and whileThe Way Homeis too slight for its 88 minutes and leaves important character details unexplained, its soothing rhythms, youthful humor, and playful score lend universal appeal to the story. (Amazingly, the 78-year-old Kim had never seen a film before appearing in this one.)--Jeff Shannon