The Significance of an Ancestors Memorial Ritual Conducted by the Women

After watching the short film The Lee Families, I felt the urge to talk about how subtle its Korean title, “The Siblings of the Lee Family”, is. First, the main character, Yeong-seo (played by Cho Yun-ji), is most likely not considered as part of the Lee family; Lee is the surname her mother could keep, as is customary in Korean culture, but not pass down to her child. Then, there is barely any man in sight. And yet, the Korean title could be understood as “The Brothers of Mr. Lee’s Family”, depending on whether you go by the accurate definition of the Korean word "hyeong-je-deul" - siblings - or the one commonly accepted in Korea’s deep-seated patriarchal society - brothers. I had no choice but to meet the director myself to ask a few questions.

The graduation work of director Seo Jeong-mi, The Lee Families, which was selected to the Cannes Film Festival's Cinéfondation section, is a film that that already provides answer under its curious title. The director doesn’t beat around the bush: "The patriarchal system has always been an interesting subject to me." Who should inherit the house left by the grandfather? Yeong-seo, who doesn’t know how to tell her mother that she is filing for divorce, hopes that her situation will become more comfortable for her if her mother could receive her fair share of the inheritance, namely the familial house. The mother, Suk-hyeon, is positive that her daughter is enjoying her life as a married woman, simply wants to stay in the house where she spent her childhood. They may have different reasons, but they are working toward the same goal. The only hurdle standing in their way is Tae-seok (played by Lee Ju-hyeob), the son of Yeong-seo’s aunt. As the only male left in this lineage, he raised his awkward yet confident voice to claim full ownership of the house and plans to sell it for a profit. The fact he doesn’t even share the Lee surname doesn’t matter, he just hides behind his mother who married into the Lee family.

This hysterical family drama that is all too familiar to Koreans came from the director's curiosity. Seo Jeong-mi, who grew up in a household mostly full of women, said that she found problematic “that attitude of not harboring any discontentment for the fact we could never claim ownership on anything due to our gender." As the director stated, "It was strange to see male siblings be prioritized for all occasions such as inheritance, among others, and the female siblings not consider this as anything particular. Gender is simply something that is given to you, and yet even family names are passed down according to your gender. It is very likely that Yeong-seo, the protagonist, is not regarded as part of the Lee family, but she hoped to be someone who could carry on the intangible values embraced by the Lee family. This film is a heartfelt encouragement to this kind of initiative."

Seo may have become aware of this problem long ago, but this observation has remained over the years as acute as ever. As a result, she received different kinds of feedbacks. Among them, many expressed some reserve regarding the necessity of featuring an ancestor’s memorial ritual in the final scene. It naturally begs the question of whether it is appropriate to criticize the pretenses of the patriarchal system on one hand and then follow this up with a ritual that is traditionally performed by men in order of seniority. “I really felt like the sisters needed to be among themselves and perform the ritual in honor of their father. Without any man among them. I wanted to show that there is some meaning to doing something that had never been the prerogative of women." There is indeed something unusual to the ritual seen in The Lee Families. The only persons who gather to burn incense, bow, and drink alcohol are women. As if the director believed that change starts from the very fact such a situation can become a reality.

Seo Jeong-mi's attitude of striving for change through seemingly insignificant clues may stem from the way she took her start on the path to become a director. As a freshman in Humanities with a vague inclination for arts, she found out that “unlike other artistic fields, all it took to prepare for the entrance exam to join a film school was to know how to write stories”. This led her to drop out of college and try her chance at the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA) the following year, where she enrolled in the Film Department. Therefore Seo Jeong-mi's decision to major in film was not driven by determination, far from it. She admits it herself, "Actually, it was only after entering the film school that I became interested in that medium, that I tried to learn more about great directors such as Almodóvar and the Dardenne brothers. Surrounded by knowledgeable peers, I naturally developed an inferiority complex, and I think I went to great lengths to conceal it." This eventually led her to acknowledge that talent is a vague notion and to strive to find stories that only she, someone “who lacked what is commonly referred to as artistic sensibility”, could tell. “From my first short film up to now, I have primarily made narrative-driven films. Since I was incapable of creating sensitive and visually appealing films like my talented peers, I concentrated on building structurally tight narratives.

This style is instantly recognizable in her early short films, Soyoung's Film and Kim Jeong-im's Youngest Granddaughter. Both films developed from collected piece from her own life: a student named So-yeong on a long break from school who reunites with her classmate on the set of his graduation film only to meet with younger students full of passion in Soyoung's Film, and a character burdened with guilt over her deceased grandmother in Kim Jeong-im's Youngest Granddaughter" "I was indeed her youngest granddaughter", confirmed Seo Jeong-mi as she shared her memory of participating in her grandmother's funeral ritual. 

While she has faced criticism, some people even asking her why she was treating films as her personal diary, Seo Jeong-mi does have a partner in films. Yoon In-a is a writer who collaborated with her on her previous work, Kim Jeong-im's Youngest Granddaughter, and they also worked together on the screenplay for The Lee Families. The two have been close friends since the beginning of middle school and have maintained their friendship for 15 years, calling each other "best friends forever" and "companions for the future." "Since we have shared the same values since we were young, we also share the same dreams”, explained Seo Jeong-mi. About their working method, she said: “I write the screenplay up until the third draft, and then I show it to In-a and we develop it together. We also develop her own stories in collaboration. Through this writing process, the quality improves quickly and ends up including parts I would have never been able to come up with alone."

Perhaps this is a way for her to prove herself? Her conclusion that "what I have gained from filmmaking is people" seemed deep. “I find it fascinating that films allow us to share our thoughts with someone. It was after I joined the film school that I first realized that the experience you gain by receiving instantaneous feedback is very special”. Seo Jeong-mi, who graduated from KAFA in February of this year, is currently working as assistant screenwriter for a TV series. She expressed concerns about the decisions and preparations she needs to make to continue making films in the future, and she expressed a desire to shoot a feature film that would combine black comedy and thriller codes. Of course, proper preparation will only start in earnest once she is back from Cannes. “Before this trip, one of the things I was anticipating the most was the moment when everyone dresses up in suits and evening dresses to watch films. I wonder if I will ever have the opportunity to experience such a thing again in my lifetime!”