Barbie is a feature-length film out of South Korea about the dark side of adoption. Directed by Lee Sang Woo, Barbie is based on a true story of two sisters, Soon-Young and Soon-Ja who dream of going to America. Soon-Young is the older sister who is sort of the caretaker of the family. Her father is special needs and her uncle is a total douche who is making arrangements to basically sell one of his nieces to an American man. They’re calling it adoption but money is exchanging hands and no legitimate agencies are involved. The American brings along his 13-year-old daughter Barbie who has heart disease and needs a transplant. Guess who’s supposed to provide the organ?
Lee Sang Woo is considered one of South Korea’s most controversial film directors. His prior works include a film called Mother is a Whore (about an HIV-positive guy living in a shack who pimps out his mom) and another titled Father is a Dog (about a man who treats his sons like dogs).
Through Barbie, Lee sheds light on some of the feelings S. Koreans like himself had about wanting to go to America to escape their lives in a country struggling to recover from war. S. Korea suffered almost a million civilian casualties and many of those who survived were left in abject poverty. In the years that followed the Korean war, the country became known for their high rates of adoption to first world countries like the US. Even today he says that children are still being sold in places like the Phillipines for the equivalent of around $3,000. US dollars.
Director Lee Sang Woo himself came to America with big dreams and attended Cal Berkeley as a theater major. When immigration asked him why he wanted to come to America he said “I love America. I want America.” Although, this film doesn’t give off the impression that it’s going to be any sort of Cinderella story. Going by the trailer and the clips, it seems more comparable to Grave of the Fireflies.
Barbie stars real-life sisters Kim Sae-ron and Kim Ah-ron. It originally screened in 2011 at the Busan Film Festival but had its first premiere in S. Korea on Thursday. Here is a clip.
[Source: Hancinema]
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