Welcome back to Movie Recaps.
Today I will show you a comedy, drama film from 2017, titled I Can Speak.
Spoilers ahead!
Watch out and take care.
During a rainy evening in the neighborhood, a mysterious man comes with a mallet to create
craters on the market building walls.
Another mysterious figure watches him from afar and makes sure to take pictures of what
he's doing.
The next morning, Park Min-Jae, a junior civil service officer, starts his new job at the
local district office.
He introduces himself to everyone and meets his new coworkers, A-Young and Jong-Hyun.
Suddenly, the mood of the workplace becomes very tense when one of the mysterious figures
from the night before shows up - she takes off the hood and the mask to reveal an elderly
woman called Na Ok-Boon, who approaches Manager Yang to tell him the man went to her neighborhood
to destroy the walls like he does every time it rains.
She has proof of it too: she's taken pictures and brought a sample of the sulphuric acid
the man put on the cracks to break them down more and cause corrosion.
The building owner cuts in, telling her the building is like that because of hooligans,
and Ok-Boon accuses him of sending thugs on purpose to make people abandon their shops
so they can redevelop.
She also starts making a scene as she begins yelling at them, so Min-Jae takes a picture
of her claiming it's part of the complaint-related evidence recollection.
He also points out she hasn't taken a number or filled in the corresponding forms and asks
her to do so before calling for the next number.
Ok-Boon accepts her defeat for now but promises she'll be back.
After she's gone, his coworkers tell Min-Jae about her: they call her "Goblin Granny" because
she's the biggest problem in town.
Whenever she sees even a little issue on the streets, she comes to the office to report
it - she's filled over eight thousand by now because she's come every day for the last
twenty years.
She complained through five different directors here and is their biggest headache, people
in town don't like her much either.
But Min-Jae thinks he can handle her if he goes by the book.
The following day, Ok-Boon shows up with a pile of filled paperwork and a bunch of numbers
in her hand, because she's going by the book as Min-Jae requested.
He gets ready to take her reports when he's suddenly called to the director's office,
who has heard what an efficient worker he is.
The director explains that their building redevelopment project is delayed because of
Ok-Boon's complaints, so Min-Jae gives them a solution: they should stop the project and
allow the company that legally bought the building to sue them over their poor safety
measures in the city, then they can lose it on purpose and the company will be given full
rights to do whatever they want with the building.
The director accepts this plan and congratulates Min-Jae for his smarts, saying he could easily
go from level 9 to a level 7 employee, but Min-Jae is happy where he is.
Later in the evening, Ok-Boon is arguing with business owner Hye-Jung over some sign, making
a scene in the middle of the street that must be stopped by the other neighbors.
All this is being watched by a young boy, Young-Jae, who gets scolded by Ok-Boon for
eating uncooked ramen.
This boy turns out to be Min-Jae's younger brother, and when he gets home, he doesn't
want to eat what Min-Jae made for him.
He also doesn't want to show him his schoolwork, and when Min-Jae points out they've moved
here because of his education, Youn-Jae responds he knows it was actually because of his job.
The next day, Ok-Boon shows up at the office with a box of photo evidence, because she's
heard about the lawsuit and is happy to know the nasty company that is always kicking out
tenants will get what they deserve.
While Min-Jae puts it all away with their unused files, Ok-Boon meets at a café with
her best friend Jung-Sim, whose age is starting to give her memory problems.
Ok-Boon is a little worried about that, but she also is very impressed by Jung-Sim's flawless
English when she hears her speaking it on the phone.
They chitchat about various topics - Jung-Sim wants to meet more often and take Ok-Boon
traveling with her, but that's turned down; and Ok-Boon mentions her tailor shop is slow
nowadays.
When it's time to leave, Jun-Sum forgets her handkerchief, but when Ok-Boon tries to return
it, she sees her friend is with a woman called Geum-Joo and decides to return it another
day.
Later, while doing some sewing on the handkerchief and watching tv in English, Ok-Boon is suddenly
startled by convenience store owner and friend Jinjoo-daek, who has come to pick the jacket
Ok-Boon fixed for her.
After she's gone, Ok-Boon makes a call to the USA, but when a man picks up and speaks
English to her, she gets too scared and hangs up.
The following day, Ok-Boon goes to her English class, but she has trouble keeping up - she's
surrounded by young people and the teacher goes too fast.
After class, the principal tells her she should take some of the free classes for seniors
at the local resident center, but she's tried them already and they couldn't help her, which
is why she's now paying here.
The principal gives her the money back and tells her they can't help her either.
On her way out, she sees Min-Jae speaking in flawless English to an American teacher,
so when he's done, she asks him to teach her English, promising that she'll pay.
Min-Jae turns her down, saying he doesn't have time to do it because he's too busy with
all the complaints she files.
The next day, instead of presenting a complaint, she fills a sheet of paper with another request
for him to be his teacher, which Min-Jae turns down again.
Ok-Boon then starts bothering him on the phone and shows up every day at the office to eat
and read in front of him.
She's started to become a problem in the workspace, but when asked to give up, she says that then
she'll hand in all the complaint forms she's been accumulating.
Seeing his coworkers beg him not to let her do this, Min-Jae accepts to give her a chance.
To test her level, he gives her a list of words she must study - they're long, complicated
words, but he tells her they're actually basic English.
If he passes his test, then he'll accept to teach her.
Ok-Boon studies hard but only manages to get a 75% when they agree on 80, so Mind-Jae tells
her he won't be teaching her.
When Ok-Boon returns home, he sees a bald man bullying Hye-Jung, reminding her that
she has one month to leave the building.
Ok-Boon jumps in to defend her and recognizes the bald man as the guy that comes every rainy
night to ruin the building, but the man and his friends ignore her and just leave.
Meanwhile, Min-Jae is on the bus home when he sees his brother in that very same neighborhood,
so he gets off the bus and follows him, only to find him having dinner with Ok-Boon.
She invites him to share their meal too, and Min-Jae is surprised to taste how much better
her food is than his own, he's also shocked to see all her English notes on the wall.
Ok-Boon explains that he would bump into Young-Jae often and see him eat uncooked ramen, so she
started to invite him over because eating alone is lonely.
Touched by her gesture, Min-Jae accepts to become her English teacher, and instead of
paying him, she can keep on inviting his brother to enjoy her food.
Their lessons start in the traditional way, with a textbook and asking each other "how
are you?".
But little by little, Min-Jae gets her to get more involved through more creative methods:
they play board games and have coffee at the office's cafeteria, he records some songs
with basic phrases for her to repeat, and eventually, he even takes her to a bar foreigners
usually hang out at.
Ok-Boon is nervous to talk to them at first, but when she sees they are nice and welcoming,
she soon befriends them and ends up drinking and playing darts with them.
Afterward, while walking home, Min-Jae tells her a bit about his life: while he was studying
abroad, his mother passed away, and his father didn't tell him until later when he died too.
Min-Jae actually wanted to be an architect and design amazing buildings, but now he's
merely a civil service officer that deals with building-related complaints.
Ok-Boon thinks his story is very sad, even if she didn't understand all of it because
he said it in English.
When the holiday weekend comes, the brothers spend it with Ok-Boon.
Young-Jae wonders why she wants to learn English so badly, so she explains she has a brother
that was adopted during the war and taken to the USA.
He doesn't speak Korean, so she wants to learn English to communicate with him.
Telling this story greatly upsets her, so she leaves them for a moment to cry alone,
and while she's away, Min-Jae memorizes the phone he sees written on the photo she's shared
of her family.
That night, Ok-Boom dreams of her childhood with her brother.
The next day, Min-Jae calls Ok-Boon's brother, but as soon as he mentions her name, the man
tells him he doesn't want to speak to her and requests not to be contacted anymore before
hanging up.
Later, when he visits Ok-Boon to have dinner together, he is too upset to eat anything
and decides to cancel their English lessons using the excuse that he needs to study to
become a senior civil service officer.
The following morning, Ok-Boon goes to the hospital to visit Jung-Sim, whose condition
has worsened.
Ok-Boon gives her the handkerchief back, which Jung-Sim still remembers, but her memory comes
and goes and she doesn't know for how much longer she may recall things.
Geum-Joo comes in and requests to talk to Ok-Boon, asking her if she'll help her friend
and fulfill her last wish.
Moments later, Ok-Boon returns home to discover Hye-Jung is being arrested for having sold
alcohol to minors, and she blames Ok-Boon for it, thinking she made one of her usual
reports.
The next day, Min-Jae and Young-Jae have lunch together at the office's cafeteria, and Min-Jae
tells him that since he isn't teaching Ok-Boon any longer, Young-Jae should eat somewhere
else.
Meanwhile, Ok-Boon comes to the office too and overhears Yang telling some coworkers
about the lawsuit trick.
Getting incredibly angry, she goes to A-Young and asks her to give her all the evidence
back, but it's been shredded since Min-Jae called it unused files.
Ok-Boon begins making a scene so Min-Jae is called to calm her down, only to be yelled
at by her too.
Ok-Boon is very hurt by his lies, which will cost many's people sources of income, and
wonders if this is why he's been teaching her English, so he says yes, he only did it
out of pity, which earns him a slap from her.
Min-Jae responds by telling her he's called her brother and he doesn't want anything to
do with her, which causes her to almost pass out.
All this is seen by Young-Jae.
Later, when Jinjoo-daek tries to visit Ok-Boon, she sees her shop is closed, which isn't normal.
Meanwhile, Young-Jae begins smoking inside the apartment because he's lost all respect
for his brother.
He tells him off for what he did to Ok-Boon, who only meddles in other people's lives because
she's lonely since she never had a family of her own.
At the market, the bald man shows up to try to kick Hye-Jung out of her shop, admitting
he was the one that reported her the other day.
But Min-Jae arrives just in time to defend her and tells the men they can't do anything
until the lawsuit is over, which earns him a scolding call from his boss.
All this time, Ok-Boon has been at the hospital keeping Jung-Sim company.
Her friend doesn't talk anymore and doesn't recognize anyone either, she just stares ahead
all day.
Ok-Boon is very upset by this, especially because Jung-Sim saved her life and she can't
do the same in return, so Geum-Joo gives her the letter Jung-Sim wrote for her before she
lost her sense of self.
At that moment, a reporter enters the room and tells her he belongs to the HR 121 coalition,
a support group seeking to increase public and political awareness of the tragic history
of girls used as comfort women during war, with the ultimate goal being to get an official
apology and reparations from the Japanese government.
Jung-Sim has been working with them for years and wants her friend to carry on her torch,
so Ok-Boon announces she's done hiding.
Some days later, she appears in the newspaper and the news because she wants to be one of
the victims to talk in front of the American House of Representatives, who will be soon
discussing the possibility of passing a resolution to solve this matter between Korea and Japan.
Now that everyone knows of her past, Ok-Boon goes to visit her mother's grave to let out
all her frustrated feelings, crying as she remembers how she was hidden by her own family
instead of being offered comfort.
When she returns home, everybody acts awkward around her, including Jinjoo-daek, who ignores
her.
But Ok-Boon is surprised to receive a visit from Min-Jae, who apologizes for everything.
After sixty years of not showing it to anyone, Ok-Boon takes out a picture of her and Jung-Sim
at thirteen together with other girls in a military camp, where they were forced to be
comfort girls.
One night, after a soldier cut her stomach multiple times, Ok-Boon tried to use a rope
to end things, but Jung-Sim saved her and inspired her to keep living until they can
escape.
As thanks, Ok-Boon embroidered that handkerchief for her.
Years later, an adult Jung-Sim started to go around telling her story, but the translators
would destroy what she actually said and changed it to lies like them having gone to the military
base on their free will to ask for food in exchange for services.
This is why Jung-Sim became fluent in English, and even wrote an entire letter in it to read
in front of the congress.
When Jung-sim started to have memory problems some months ago, Ok-Boon knew she would have
to take over her friend's duties soon, and that's why she started to study English.
Min-Jae accepts to help her again, and after he leaves, Ok-Boon goes to confront Jinjoo-daek,
who begins crying.
She is hurt because she thought they were friends yet Ok-Boon never trusted her with
her story.
Jinjoo-daek would've helped in any way, and would've stopped startling her, because now
she understands why it would make her flinch.
The two friends apologize to each other and make up with a hug.
Min-Jae begins helping Ok-Boon with her English again, and lets her practice her speech in
front of the whole office; for which Ok-Boon thanks him by gifting him a suit she made
herself for him to use during his interview.
Hye-Jung also leaves her a note with some dollars in it, wishing her luck and apologizing
for everything.
Some days later, Ok-Boon arrives at Washington DC with Geum-Joo, but her hearing is about
to get canceled because unlike Jung-Sim, Ok-Boon never presented proof that she had been a
comfort girl.
This news appears on tv and Min-Jae calls her to ask for details, feeling bad when he
hears her say she's lost because of her own pride.
Min-Jae gets an idea then and begins a petition for her to be heard, which he makes everyone
in the office sign.
The employees and neighborhood friends also begin handing out flyers to let people know
of the problem.
Min-Jae's director doesn't want anything to do with it at first, but Min-Jae convinces
him by pointing out this could be a great political move for his career.
The director ends up signing the petition and so do various of his politician friends,
including the Mayor of Seoul and the Minister of Gender Equality.
The day of Min-Jae's interview comes and he wears the suit, finding a good luck charm
in his pocket that Ok-Boon left for him.
When the interviewers ask him about his family, he says he has a little brother but also a
granny.
After the interview is over, he sees on the news that the petition wasn't approved because
Japan demands hard evidence, so he rushes to Ok-Boon's house to retrieve her old picture.
In Washington DC, protestors gather outside congress to show their support for comfort
women's rights.
The first one to talk is Michelle Van Janssen, a woman forced to comfort at hotels by the
Japanese in 1942 when she was 21.
She tells all the gruesome details of her experience, including the fact she cut her
hair to look uglier so the soldiers wouldn't choose her, but she only became an object
of curiosity.
They beat her, kept her lock, and treated her as less than a dog, but the congressmen
won't believe her, explaining the Japanese government said comfort women were volunteers
that did it for money and were treated better than the soldiers themselves.
Michelle calls them all ridiculous before passing her turn to Ok-Boon.
The congressmen protests though, because she still hasn't handed in her proof and her testimony
could be a lie, but the judge decides to let her talk and let that other issue be solved
later.
Ok-Boon is very nervous and freezes in front of everyone, but before they can take her
out, she hears a voice asking "how are you".
It's Min-Jae, who has come to bring the photograph and is now being stopped by security.
Geum-Joo tells them he's part of their organization and takes the picture to give it to the judge
as proof, so now that she has her friend's support, Ok-Boon finally talks.
She raises her shirt and shows the scars Japanese soldiers carved on her belly while telling
everyone about her terrible experience in Korean, which thankfully the interpreter translates
accurately.
She and her body are the evidence.
Then she reads Jung-Sim's speech in English, which is put on Korean tv, so her neighbors
are watching her and so is Jung-Sim, who manages a moment of mental clarity to be proud of
her friend.
The speech is met with a round of applause, and on their way out, all the congressmen
apologize to Ok-Boon except for the Japanese, who want to pay her for her silence.
Ok-Boon's response is giving them the finger.
The group retires to the waiting room, where one more man is waiting for Ok-Boon: her brother,
who saw her on the news and finally picked up Min-Jae's constant calls.
He apologizes for everything too and the two of them hug, happy to be together again.
The Comfort Woman Resolution was passed unanimously on July 30th, 2007; but even to this day,
Japan still hasn't apologized.
Ok-Boon gets along wonderfully with her neighbors now, who listen to her when she points out
certain dangers on the street.
Min-Jae's interview is successful, so he isn't a junior anymore, now he's Manager Park.
Ok-Boon continues to travel around the USA to keep up her fight, and when the guards
at airports ask her if she can speak English, she says she can.