[HanCinema's Film Review] Sad Vacation

"Sad Vacation" is an independent film by student director Eu Il-won that was showcased at the 2011 Jeonju International Film Festival. This young talent exposes the stigma surrounding "'Lai Daihan" (Korean/Vietnamese ethic mix) and the discrimination and hardships they face.

The film takes place mostly in Vietnam. Doo-il works at a detective agency in Korea and is asked by his friend/business partner Chang-soo to bring back a suitable Lai Daihan Chi from Vietnam. Chang-soo has a client in Korea on his deathbed that wishes to meet the daughter he abandoned years ago. Doo-il reluctantly takes the job and heads to Vietnam.

Chi is a young women who lives a hard life in Vietnam but manages to hold down a respectable job as a result of her relationship with her Korean boyfriend. But when he leaves her to go back to Korea she is left to fend for herself and is overcome by th discrimination she has to endure in order to make ends meet.

With the help of Chang-soo's contact in Vietnam, Doo-il, a brash and selfish individual, sets out in search of a Lai Daihan that will fit the bill. Doo-ill is not too concerned about whether or not the girl he brings back is in fact the rightful daughter of the dying man; he is just looking for results. Because of the harsh stigma Lai Daihan have to endure in Vietnam their whereabouts are hard to pin down. After searching the sweltering streets of Vietnam Doo-il finds Chi and convinces her to come back with him to Korea.

With Chi not being able to speak Korea and Doo-ill lacking the ability to speak Vietnamese, the two awkwardly make their journey back to Korea. However their destination is never met as unexpected circumstances hinder their trip. "Sad Vacation" is journey without a destination and the characters constantly feel out of place. Chi is a alien in her home country and Doo-ill's personal prejudices prevent him from acting on any sense of empathy he might have for this young girl. Interestingly, when these two characters are interacting they are not so much talking to, but rather at each other. This point struck me in particular as it seems that even if there was a common language between the two the level of miscommunication would still persist as a result of their personal, as well as cultural, differences.

The film comments on how there is no social space in which such a relationship can exists in contemporary Korea. The prejudices attached to Lai Daihan in both Korea and Vietnam have not been reconciled, leaving individuals in limbo and in search of cultural and social identities. The road to exposing and overcoming such stigmas has also yet to find a final destination or resolution. Like the film and its characters, the situation involving Lai Daihan is still an on going issue that needs to fully enter the public consciousness of both nations in order to begin paving a road for the future.

-Christopher J. Wheeler

Q & A: "Sad Vacation" JIFF 2011 by hancinema

Advertisement