Little Forest

Source: IMDB.

I came across this Korean movie as I was channel surfing. The synopsis said something about nature's power to heal. The story seemed to be about a young woman who returned to her mom's hometown which is a village in the Korean countryside. The sight of rice fields, mountains and forests instantly took me back to Minamiuonuma, the small Japanese town I resided in for two years when I did my postgraduate course.  

As I had shared before, I was overcome with homesickness during my first month in rural Japan. I thought I could not adapt myself to life in the countryside. How could I survive in a place with no cinema, shopping mall and cafes? I eventually adapted to life in the countryside and though I am happy to be back in my home city and living life as a city girl, sometimes I do miss the Japanese countryside. I miss cycling along the paths in between the rice fields. I miss walking to the nearest 7–11 with my friends, just to buy ice cream or bento. I miss walking to the one and only cafe not far from the 7–11 to enjoy cake and coffee. I miss waiting for the infrequent trains at Urasa station. I miss going to Koide and walking around there during all four seasons just to get a haircut. 

As someone who is cold averse, I miss how I adapted to the snow-heavy winter of Minamiuonuma. When going to Koide, we would usually take a bus from Urasa station that would take us to a bus stop within walking distance to the mall which had the hair salon but one day, we missed the return bus and actually walked all the way to the train station in the snow. It was a non-event but its amazing how sometimes its the non-events that stay on your mind. 

Back to the movie Little Forest, it was produced in 2018 and directed by Yim Soon-rye. According to IMDB, the movie is about "a young woman grows tired of life in the city and returns to her hometown in the countryside." I would say the synopsis is pretty accurate. 

I love it when movies show the transition in seasons and this movie showed us the beautiful Korean countryside during spring, summer, autumn and winter. The winter season was especially poignant for me. Minamiuonuma is situated in Niigata prefecture which is known as "snow country" due to its heavy snowfall. 

Persimmons were abundant there during autumn. In Little Forest, the young woman, Hye-won, dried peeled persimmons and then hung it outside to dry during winter. Her mother told her, "If you massage it [persimmon], it will become soft dried persimmons in winter. Winter has to come to eat good dried persimmons."

Later on, when the snow was falling, Hye-won took one of the dried persimmons outside and ate it. She said, "If the dried persimmon tastes this good, it means it is deep into winter."

Persimmon tree in Minamiuonuma in autumn.

There were many good quotes from this movie. 

One was mentioned by Hye-won when she asked her friend if she had told the guy she likes that she likes him. Her friend said she hadn't and that the guy should know that she likes him. Hye-won told her:

"If you don't say anything, how would he know? 
They [guys] don't know anything if you just keep quiet and patient. 
You have to spit it out or it'll rot inside you."

Towards the end of the movie, Hye-won read a letter her mother had written for her. I liked this quote from the letter:

"When things are hard, remember the scent of the land, the wind and the sun here."

The rice fields in Minamiuonuma in summer.

Upon reflecting the contents of the letter, Hye-won's thoughts were:

"For mom, the nature, her cooking and her love for me have been her little forest. I should find my own little forest too."

We all should have our own little forest.