The Winter Child (2024)

In the things that pass, for those that stay

Kim Dong Ah is a teenager who seems to have been born frozen in the cold winter, and becomes obsessed with things that have not changed and are static, as if frozen, after his parents' divorce. His mother's love, which he thought would last forever, changed, and that change had a great impact not only on Dong Ah's family but also on his own life. With his mother gone, his father, wounded, became violent.
In order not to hurt himself and to avoid hurting others, Dong Ah thought that it was best not to change and not let anyone into his life, for fear that one day this person would decide, like his mother, to abandon him.
With his large round eyes, poorly defined face and dark, bushy eyebrows, he has a deep voice and a dry expression and humor. He has had to leave school.
But suddenly, Song Yeon Woo comes into his life, a young man, also 18 years old, with a very warm character, who finds it natural to smile and is friendly towards others. Yeon Woo always approaches Dong Ah with a smile, and little by little he breaks the wall of sadness and coldness that he has built around him. Who is this person who seems to show everything about himself without hiding anything, but whose true feelings Dong Ah is unaware of? How is it possible that this boy, so different from him and as warm as spring, can make him feel unknown emotions? Is Yeon Woo a figment of Dong Ah's imagination?
With this interesting and intensely powerful story, Kim Yeo-rim, the writer and director of the short film 'The Winter Child', exposes how people, emotions and relationships pass over time. Time melts the frozen and freezes the melted. But there are things that human beings need to hold on to so that they do not escape.
In the director's own words, the film sends a message of comfort to those who are suffering in the midst of numerous changes, to those who hold on to something that may be painful: it is okay to let go and move on. It is necessary that painful things pass by, so that those that give us happiness and warmth remain forever, like the fire at the end of the short, in contrast to the ice/winter motifs that are maintained in most of the audiovisual.
Starring Hyun Woo Ahn and Woo Joo Hwang in the leading roles, and the cinematography by Gyu-ri Lee and Park Jeong-hyeon, the short film captivates the viewer.
'The Winter Child' seems to generate a lot of opinions among contributors to this forum. Of course, this is a film in which there is no promise of a vision of gay life, as most viewers expect when reading the labels "Gay Male Lead" and then "LGBT+." The film takes an introspective view of the soul of a young man. The movie has a way of staying with us even when it's over.
Kim Yeo-rim makes Dong Ah one of the most complex characters in recent films. This is a young man who is difficult to understand on a simple level.
The image of Yeon Woo melting Dong Ah's icy exterior and her ironclad belief that she can't change anything in her life will haunt me forever. Yeon Woo is the person who comes into his life to help him come out of his shell.
However, the ending may leave many viewers with more questions than answers: Is returning to the same beginning a good change? Is it preferable to stay in one place or seek changes that allow us to free ourselves from what causes us pain? Or instead, is it preferable to change by killing your previous self? Could Yeon Woo be a figment of Dong Ah's imagination? Could it be your inner voice that refuses to remain still, unchanging, unchanged?
Although 'The Winter Child' will divide opinions, the film deserves to be seen due to the complexity and care that the director puts into the story, and the excellent performances of its protagonists.

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