The first thing I am going to talk about in this blog is Maundy Thursday, a film that I recently watched and had become one of my favorites. I watched it because I super luurve Kang Dong Won and I like Lee Na Young but never thought it would be one of my favorite movies since its synopsis sounds so depressing. I was surprised that it was actually lighter than what I expected and I fell in love so much with the friendship and love that was formed in that tiny room where Yujeong councils the man waiting for his death, Yunsoo.
Recently there has been rape and killing inside the campus that made me so angry and question why do people do such crimes? Why do they do such horrid acts and how could they kill so heedlessly? Like most people I know, I consider those people animals and I had never wondered if they too have a conscience and a human soul. Watching Maundy Thursday gave me a peek into the life of a certain criminal, Yunsoo, on death row who was accused of rape and murder. Unlike most Hollywood thriller films which portray such criminals as psychos and focus more on their genius of avoiding the most skilled investigators in their country, Maundy Thursday focused more on how such a crime had affected its doer. Here is a human being not a crafty psycho and the act of murder together with the pains he had faced in life brought him so much guilt that it was so painful living another day.
Another character in the story, Yujeong, is a suicidal woman who bitterly hates her mother. Both Yujeong and Yunsoo view life with hatred and dreaded waking up in the morning finding out they have another day to live. But each found a confidante in each other. I would never forget Yunsoo’s words to Yujeong that he is the best person to tell a secret for he will keep that secret to death. But I don’t think Yujeong confided to Yunsoo because of that, I think it was because he and Yunsoo were so alike that Yujeong felt comfortable confiding in him. It was actually surreal watching both of them find a friend in each other and maybe a reason to enjoy life more and this is the reason I love this film so much. Ironically, Yujeong is a victim while Yunsoo is a criminal but it was heartwarming seeing them both lose their bitterness to this world and seeing them let go of their hatred with the help of each other. Watching them, I thought that this must be love.
After watching this film, I was very absent-minded. The film made me ponder about a lot of things. Could the mother of the victim truly forgive her daughter’s killer? Could someone really harbor such hatred to her mother for years? And what really is forgiveness? It was also nice that the film showed that an execution was as difficult for the executioner as it is for the executionee.
Watching the film was bittersweet. I cried at the depressing ending but I will never forget the friendship that Yujeong and Yunsoo had as well as the transformation they brought to each other.
