A Girl at My Door (2014)

A GIRL AT MY DOOR is a slice of filmed misery lit that comes to us courtesy of South Korea. It's a typically controversial little film from that country, featuring some stand-out performances from the lead characters and a whole lot of bad stuff going on. As is usual for this country's film-making, there's a professional slickness to the production, a real feeling of quality to it, that makes it watchable despite the grimness of the subject matter.The film reminded me a little of BREATHLESS except this time around it's a little girl who's getting regularly beaten by her father. Incidentally, the girl is played by the cute kid from THE MAN FROM NOWHERE, looking remarkably grown up. The film chronicles her relationship with flawed cop Doona Bae, who must be playing the most damaged and miserable character of her lengthy career. What follows is dark but humanised, with some nice and touching moments in the mix. The ending has some very controversial and unappetising moments that appear to have alienated some reviewers on this site, but it does end in a strong way. A GIRL AT MY DOOR isn't an easy watch, but then nobody said it was going to be.

I agree with other reviewers that this is an excellent , albeit dark, film that is well acted. I don't think that one can ignore the pathology present in the young girl. She manipulated her stepfather's situation with deliberate intent. I think, too, that she was also complicit in here Grandmother's death. She is also manipulating Young-Nam; whose own personality has defects. Donee is responsible; but the pathology is a product of her abuse. So to say Dohee is an innocent bystander; I feel is not wholly accurate. The subplots add to an understanding Young-Nam's personality point toward her strengths and weaknesses.

I just caught this film at the Dublin Film Festival. I always make a point of seeing any Korean film coming up - I love the way Korean film makers simply defy any notion of genre, they seem to delight in twisting expectations.This film didn't disappoint. At first, it follows the old plot line of a disgraced police officer, forced out to a dead end town to repair his (or in this case her) reputation. In this case, Young-Nam, a promising officer has been sent to an economically dying coastal town to keep her head down after an apparent scandal as she was outed as having a relationship with another woman. The film heads towards melodrama territory as she reluctantly starts to take care of an abused local girl, the daughter of a man seen by the other officers as too important to the town to take too hard a line with - they are content to hand out endless warnings without actually doing anything to stop him. Young-Nam is clearly unwilling to get too close to the girl, but finds it impossible not to offer her a safe refuge. From here, the film twists unexpectedly into some dark and weird territory as rather predictably, her good deed comes back to haunt her. The film does go into places where most films won't thread, in particular that difficult issue of the innocence or otherwise of abused children. But it is handled very sensitively, without shying away from hard questions.The film is not perfect - the performances are a little uneven (it looks like many of the minor characters are played by amateurs). Doona Bae is of course the big name in the cast, and she is, as always, a charismatic and powerful presence. She is one of those rare actors who can hold the screen even when showing little outward emotion. In truth, although she is entirely central to the film, the character is not as fleshed out as much as I think she should be - more the scripts fault than the actors I think. She is clearly a deeply unhappy woman, but its not obvious why she rejects the possibility of a happier life with her former lover. There are also some issues with pacing of the film, it seems a little uncertain at times, perhaps not surprising as the director is a first timer (but I have to say, she shows great promise). The film rolls on to a surprisingly (for a Korean film) conventional ending, but there are enough twists and ambiguity to make it quite a satisfying finish.

South Korean film 'A girl at my door' depicts the terrible neglect of a girl child.Before making this film,director July Jung stated that she had no intention whatsoever to talk about social issues like a little girl exposed to violence or the society that lets it happen.The film is able to have profound impact on viewers due to two minor subplots which include racism as well as lesbianism.One gets to see how a drunk father who is also a racist,ill treats his workers.There are hardly any Indians in Korean films.A girl at my door is the first Korean film which talks about the plight of illegal workers from India who have come to South Korea to earn a livelihood.Although there are many false accusations leveled against the police chief but she does not hesitate to help the abused girl.There is no value judgment about lesbianism as it is not depicted as a crime but for many police persons it is a touchy thing especially if a small girl is involved."A girl at my door" focuses on individual and private emotions of a victim and her benefactor.The director firmly believed that there are moments in this film where the audiences can really feel and share feelings of two protagonists.