The Fantasia Film Festival 2023 is in full swing in Montreal, and this past weekend I went to see one of the showings in the series of films portraying aspects of modern Korean history.

“Take Care of my Cat (고양이를 부탁해)” is truly a coming of age movie portraying the lives of 5 high school friends post-graduation. The location is set in Incheon, a town on the outskirts of Seoul in the year 2000. Seeing how Incheon looked back then in comparison to how incredibly fast it has developed today, is quite shocking and further underlines that immense and rapid growth the country experienced in the last 2 decades.  

The movie takes us on the journey of these 5 women by viscerally bringing to our attention the poverty levels some of them endured, which meant they could not afford to attend university, thus, further succumbing them to a life of “low-income earners”.

It was an interesting experience for me to step back in time to the year 2000, the year when my parents and I came to Canada. I was 15 back then so a few years younger than the women portrayed in this film. I reminisced on life when you had to walk to someone’s house and say hi from the window to invite them for a coffee or a walk, and to the days of the flip phones which I greatly cherished. It was also nice to see a simpler way of life before the advent of social media that has taken over our lives today. 

The story of each of the 5 women is well depicted throughout the film. We almost have a conclusion for each of them with regard to where life takes them and what choices they will make. The film also unravels their personalities one by one and it’s empowering to see their resolution to be strong and to persevere despite their adverse family backgrounds or societal mindsets.

I think it is well worth a watch if you get the chance to find it online. Despite the film not being very popular when it was first released, it has gained a lot of popularity due to fans. It is also one of BAE, Doona’s debut films and she went on to become one of Korea’s greatest actresses.

 

I want to thank the Korean Cultural Center for sponsoring these films and for allowing the audience to get a glimpse into Korea’s recent past.

 

At the end of the show, we were all gifted with a cute stamp from KAKAO friends. Since my stamp says, “I am the best”, perhaps I should use it at work (LOL).