SECRET TEARS

On a rainy morning, Ku-ho, a life insurance agent who has grown weary of everyday life, is returning home with his colleagues when they accidentally hit a teenage girl, Mi-jo. She has no clue of her identity or where she came from. Ku-ho ends up taking care of the girl who has no voice, nor any memory. He is bewildered by his attraction to Mi-jo’s mysterious charm. As Ku-ho cautiously begins to admit his feelings for her, he is suddenly capable of conversing with her through telepathy. Mi-jo’s powers grow as she accepts Ku-ho’s feelings to the extent of controlling object from a distance. Disgruntled with their unconventional relationship, Ku-ho’s friends gradually unveil Mi-jo’s secrets. And as Ku-ho agonises over the truth, Mi-jo’s supernatural powers reach an uncontrollable, dangerous point. With his first film, The Whispering Corridor, director Ki-hyung Park not only achieved the biggest Korean box office hit of 1998, he also originated a horror movie boom in Korea. In his second film Secret Tears, he keeps a fragile balance between realism and fantasy, harmonising artistic intentions with popular appeal. The universal experience of love is penetrated by the unique sensibilities of the fantasy genre.