Korean Movie: Hope 2013

So-Won, also known as Hope, is a South Korean movie released on October 2013. The movie is based on a true story, the Nayoung case where an 8 year old girl who was sexually abused by an ex-convict. The girl was on her way to school when she was raped, beaten and left to die on a public toilet on a rainy morning. The Na-young case stirred the people of Korea because the offender only get 12 years of imprisonment for the brutal crime he committed. See summary at Wiki

Hangul.......소원
Revised Romanization .......So-won
Directed by ....... Lee Joon-ik
Produced by ....... Byun Bong-hyun, Seong Chang-yeon, Kim Yong-dae
Written by ....... Jo Joong-hoon, Kim Ji-hye
Release dates....... October 2, 2013
Running time ....... 122 minutes

Cast:
Lee Re as Im So-won
Sol Kyung-gu as Im Dong-hoon, So-won's father
Uhm Ji-won as Kim Mi-hee, So-won's mother
Kim Hae-sook as Song Jung-sook, psychiatrist
Kim Sang-ho as Han Gwang-sik, Dong-hoon's best friend
Ra Mi-ran as Young-seok's mother and Gwang-sik's wife
Yang Jin-sung as Do-kyung, police officer
Kim Do-yeob as Han Young-seok

Watch Hope online at GoodDrama. Link here.

The girl was brutally raped and left to die and all that @$$#07& get is 12 years of imprisonment? Just because the offender claimed that he cannot remember what he did to the girl because he was drunk, doesn't mean that he can get away from his crimes. What a lame judicial system.   He should be hanged or be in prison for the rest of his life for what he did to that poor, innocent girl. My heart was torn into pieces when Hope told his father that the bad guy has to be captured for hurting her. It was so sad that she had to live the rest of her life with a colostomy bag. The little girl suffered not only physically, but also emotionally. She was traumatized at the sight of a male figure that even her own father cannot go near her, he had to wear Momoko's costume, a popular character that children love, just to get close to her. Fortunately, the people around her are very supportive and always cheer her up so she can recover fast. The film was entitled "Hope" to show that there is still hope after everything bad that happens.

The movie won several awards namely Best Actor, Actress and Director for  Sol Kyung Gu, Uhm Ji Won and Lee Joon Ik, respectively, at the 34th Blue Dragon Film Awards. Yang Jin Sung played a minor role as the officer Do Kyung in this movie before she was main lead for the recently concluded Bride of the Century drama.

The film opened my eyes to the dangers out there. As a parent, the only thing you worry about when your children reaches school age is their safety once they are in school. No matter how busy parents are they should always see to it that their children reach school safe. I have a 6 year old daughter who goes to school through a carpool service but still, this made me worry about her safety once she is there. Always teach your child to not talk to strangers and to go in groups when outside the campus. The best advice we can give our children is for them to always remember what we have taught them, "Safety First."