Director Lee Chang-dong’s sensitive, deeply moving portrait of an elderly Korean woman’s struggle with writer’s block and dementia was awarded the prize for Best Screenplay at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Mia lives in the city with her grandson and works as a caretaker for an infirm elderly gentleman. Her quiet, uneventful life is interrupted by three events: a local girl’s suicide, a diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer’s, and her introduction to the world of poetry at a local community center. Her poetry instructor’s commandment to stop and see the world as it is leads to a journey of self-discovery and a quest for beauty. Jeong-Hie Jun is radiant, imbuing Mia with humanity and melancholy. Despite being repeatedly ignored and disrespected by her grandson and generally overlooked by the rest of her community, Mia finds solace in her newfound appreciation for the world. Seeing both ugliness and beauty with new eyes, she struggles against both mediocrity and time. As a result of her illness, her ability to use language effectively is slowly trickling away. (Korea | 139 mins) Read our story about this