A Gentle Rhythm in Everyday Life: The Chosen Family at the Heart of 'Journey There'

She cleans them every day: the car and the piano. She cannot drive the car or play the piano, but for Chun-hee (Kim Hye-ok), who lives each day polishing the grand piano and old car her husband left behind as though washing her face, life is an endless task of wiping away dust. After moving into a new apartment, she meets Min-jun (Justin Min), a conductor from Germany, and Seong-chan (Park Dae-ho), a boy who dreams of becoming a pianist. A new melody begins to flow through her once-quiet days.

But it would be a mistake to think of this film as merely a quiet chronicle of a chosen family. Opening on the 28th, 〈Journey There〉 conceals powerful emotions beneath its spare, composed exterior. Its story is at times radical and dramatic, yet the film never leads with emotion or exaggerates it. Feelings built up through restrained direction and performances finally burst forth in the climactic concert scene. Against the beautiful backdrop of Gangneung’s four seasons, the film follows the time it takes for three people to become one another’s family. Its handling of language is delicate, too. Conversations that shift between informal and polite speech become a way of negotiating the distance between Min-jun, whose Korean is limited, and Chun-hee. The characters’ exchanges through sign language, music and letters sometimes resonate more deeply than words. Surprise appearances throughout by familiar actors, including Kwon Hae-hyo, Kim Jong-goo, Kang Gil-woo, Heo Joon-seok and Jung Yi-rang, add another small pleasure.

Quietly portraying the idea that those who meet must part and those who leave must return, 〈Journey There〉 is the second feature from 〈Bori〉 director Kim Jinyu, arriving six years after his first. At the 30th Busan International Film Festival, it won both the Directors Guild of Korea PLUS M Award and the KBS Independent Film Award. It also received the New Choice Award at the 51st Seoul Independent Film Festival.

Director Kim Jinyu and actors Kim Hye-ok, Justin Min and Park Dae-ho attended a press conference following a screening for the press and distributors at CGV Yongsan I’Park Mall in Seoul on the 16th. 〈Journey There〉 began when Kim watched a conductor in 〈Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda〉 and thought of a sign-language interpreter. He then spoke with people around him who had different struggles and ways of living, adding the question of how much we can truly understand another person’s feelings. “As a CODA who grew up with Deaf parents, I think a lot about language. We can communicate through visual language, spoken language and music, and I think a home or a building can convey a message, too,” Kim said. “As with 〈Bori〉, I included Korean subtitles throughout the film to make it accessible to Deaf audiences.” Of the music, he said, “I thought music could function as another language. One of the important pieces was composed and left behind by Chun-hee’s husband, who was Deaf. When it plays, we used a woofer to emphasize the low frequencies so the theater would shake a little.”

Kim Hye-ok has built her craft over many years in theater, film and television, winning audiences’ affection through numerous works, including 〈Old Miss Diary〉, 〈My Daughter Seo-young〉, 〈My Golden Life〉 and 〈What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim〉. Her character, Chun-hee, is left alone after the sudden death of her husband, Hyun-chul, her only family. Returning to the screen after a long absence, Kim explained why she took the role: “The screenplay showed the possibility of sharing a bond like family with neighbors, even without blood ties. More than anything, the premise itself was very similar to my own past experiences and circumstances. People talk about connections that come at the right time. I felt that such a connection had brought this project to me, so I chose it without hesitation.”

She also shared an amusing story about working with her fellow actors. “I was startled when Justin said he wouldn’t rehearse before filming, but he told me he wanted to preserve the dramatic feeling of meeting for the first time. The scene where we meet in the car really was our first meeting,” Kim said. “I liked him right away. He has a quality that makes you want to protect him, that brings out your maternal instincts.” The name Chun-hee, meanwhile, came from Moon Chun-hee, one of the women Kim Jinyu knows as the “older sisters” of Myeongju-dong in Gangneung. Moon also appears in the film as an older woman sitting on the stairs.

Justin Min made an impression on audiences worldwide through the Netflix series 〈The Umbrella Academy〉 and Kogonada’s 〈After Yang〉. Taking his first lead role in a Korean feature with 〈Journey There〉, he said, “I had been looking for a project I could do in Korea for several years, and as soon as I received the screenplay, I fell in love with the character and the story. Min-jun comes from Germany, but as a Korean American, I also felt a deep connection to him.” Speaking about using informal speech in the role, he said, “I was taught from childhood to speak politely to my parents and grandmother, so having to speak informally to Ms. Kim Hye-ok was even harder,” though he added that it was “a lot of fun.” He continued, “Apart from a few scenes, we shot this film in sequence, so the process of my character getting to know Chun-hee and Seong-chan was almost the same as my own process of getting to know the two actors. It’s difficult to define ‘jeong’ in English, but while filming, I felt that we were like family—that this was jeong.”

Discussing his screenplay’s use of informal and polite speech, Kim Jinyu said, “I strongly hoped the film would premiere at an overseas film festival, and I wanted to express Korean sensibilities to international audiences.” He continued, “I thought the relationship between the two could grow closer through the process of Chun-hee asking Min-jun, who had been speaking informally, to add the polite ending ‘yo,’ and then allowing him to speak informally again. I wanted to show that what matters more than informal or polite speech is the feeling between people.”

Park Dae-ho, who plays Seong-chan, is a pianist who took first place at the Asia International Chopin Piano Competition. This film marks his acting debut. He is currently a member of the CMK Ensemble and is nearing graduation from Korea National University of Arts. “Because it was my first time acting, I focused on fitting naturally into the film. When I struggled, the director, crew and Ms. Kim helped me,” he said. “Usually, I focus on how fully I can realize a piece in performance. But when I played as part of my acting, I focused more on what Seong-chan might be feeling as he played.”

The filmmakers and cast also had messages for audiences. “I hope it’s a film that gives people a little time to rest in a harsh world, and that if they have something they need to cry about, they can find some release in the theater,” Kim Jinyu said. Justin Min added, “When people leave the theater and encounter strangers on the street or subway, I hope they can think about how those people are facing difficulties of their own, too.” Kim Hye-ok laughed as she said, “I hope director Kim Jinyu makes some money from this film.” Kim responded, “As a music film coming along after quite some time, I hope it can play even a small role in Korean cinema.”

The film 〈Journey There〉 opens on the 28th.