The Way Home
This movie is dedicated to all the grandmothers of the world
-writer - director Jeong-Hyang LEE
More accustomed to the luxuries of the modern world, a spoiled seven-year old boy must stay with his old-fashioned grandmother in a small rural village while his mother looks for work. At first Sang-woo rudely rejects his grandmother's way of life. But gradually, through her constant show of kindness and love, he learns to accept and understand the simple pleasures of nature and her lifestyle. Sang-woo leaves the village a different boy. Because of his grandmother, he sees the world around him with a new found respect and appreciation.
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THE WAY HOME tells the touching story of two people as they overcome their differences in an effort to find a bond of understanding. The silent and patient grandmother, a creature of nature and solitude, finally reaches her grandson from the material world, by quietly and constantly offering him unconditional love.
When Sang-woo's mother must go off in search of work, he is left to stay with his deaf and mute grandmother. He brings with him not only his game-boy and beloved action-figure postcards from home, but a chip on his shoulder. He is horrified to be in a place without electricity, without indoor plumbing and absolutely "without anything to do!" Sang-woo resists his grandmother's early attempts at pleasing him. He outright rejects her traditional meals, preferring Spam and cola over her kimchi. He plays with his postcards and toys from home as he rudely ignores his grandmother and tries to forget his boring environment.
When the batteries in his game fail, he whines and begs his grandmother to buy him new ones. She solemnly gives the sign for "sorry" and even though Sang-woo understands that she does not have the money, he continues to beg her for the batteries. Frustrated, he steals her ornamental hairpin while she is napping and heads out to their small village to purchase the batteries himself.
This, however, proves fruitless as no one in the rural village has the right-sized batteries. Disappointed and distracted, he heads home but quickly gets lost. Only when a kindly old man gives him a lift on his bicycle, does he safely reach the path to his grandmother's house. And there, on the path, his worried and patient grandmother waits. Noticing her hair held up by a brass spoon, Sang-woo hides the stolen hairpin behind his back and quietly follows her home.
Their difficulties to communicate continue. One afternoon, after a long, tedious attempt at communicating in sign language, the grandmother misinterprets Sang-woo's urge for chicken. She trades her vegetables at the nearby market for a chicken which she then lovingly prepares for Sang-woo. Her ungrateful grandson has a fit -- he didn't want home-cooked chicken, he wanted Kentucky Fried Chicken. Only in the middle of the night - hungry, sad and alone - does he eat his grandmother's chicken.
The first hint of Sang-woo's kindness and change of heart appears when he cares for his sick grandmother the next morning. He gently covers her with warm clothes and awkwardly tries to prepare a meal for her.
Several days later, Sang-woo accompanies his grandmother to the local market. With the small amount of money she makes from selling her vegetables, his grandmother buys Sang-woo a new pair of sneakers and takes him to a Chinese restaurant, two things she can ill afford. But she is pleased to do it and watches him eat as she sips on green tea. A last treat of some chocolate candies tops off the day.
When she puts him on the bus home, Sang-woo doesn't realize that his grandmother does not have enough money for two bus tickeks as he is distracted by meeting up with his two friends: Hae-yeon, a young girl on whom he immediately developed a crush, and a neighborhood boy and rival, Cheol-e.
Sang-woo is surprised when he does not see his grandmother get off the next bus. He waits and waits at the bus stop. Finally, she appears. Exhausted, moving slowly down the dusty, dirt road, she is toting the heavy package that earlier, as Sang-woo sat on the bus next to his friends, he had refused to take. Fighting back his tears, he now takes the package and carries it home. He slips the last chocolate snack, the one he was saving for later, into her bag.
The next day it is Grandma who slips something into Sang-woo's wagon full of toys. She has wrapped his portable game player in plain paper. Thinking it useless, he stuffs it into his pocket and it is not until later, after he has fallen and injured himself, that he unwraps the package. In it he finds not only his game player, but money enough to purchase new batteries. As he stumbles home, his tears are more in recognition of this woman's loving heart than for the scrapes on his knees. And, again, bent and fragile, she appears on the path, awaiting the return of her grandson.
Grandma shows Sang-woo a letter from his mother, who is coming to take him back home to Seoul. Worried that he will lose touch with his illiterate grandmother, Sang-woo makes a desperate attempt to teach her to write a few phrases.
When the day comes for their parting, Sang-woo hands her a small package and hurries to take a seat on the bus next to his mother. As the bus slowly pulls away, Sang-woo makes the sign for "sorry" with tears streaking down his face. When his grandmother can no longer see the bus, she unwraps what Sang-woo so hurriedly handed her. There, pre-written and addressed to Sang-woo, are his beloved postcards. He drew pictures expressing possible situations -- "grandma sick" and "I miss you" - so that his grandmother could easily communicate with him.
