Dear my little niece who will be one year old in this November

I recently watched South Korean independent film “FAQ”, which was released at local movie theaters in last week. To be frank with you, I could not help but reflect on not only what I went through many years ago but also what you will endure sooner or later once you grow up more. In our country, numerous kids are relentlessly pushed by their parents to study and then excel themselves day by day without having much fun at all, and the satiric fantasy of “FAQ” often outrageously and sharply reminds me of this very depressing reality of our society.

Because you already seem smart enough to recognize and understand your little world, you will grow up to become a pretty smart girl several years later. I am sure that my younger brother and his wife will provide you lots of education as much as possible, but I am seriously wondering whether you will be emotionally burdened as much as the little young heroine of “FAQ”. Dong-choon (Park Na-eun) is as clever as you might become someday, and, boy, how hefty and joyless her daily life is as she is constantly demanded to study even after her official school time. Once her school time is over, she must study lots of extra stuffs ranging from high school math to Taekwondo before the time to sleep eventually comes, and she is even pushed to study Farsi later just because her domineering mother believes that Farsi will be another necessity in her education.

It is no surprise that Dong-choon sometimes enters her little fantasy world which looks sunny and cheerful with a couple of colorful imaginary figures. These figures look pretty much like those silly figures you will encounter via many TV shows for young children out there, but they seem quite real to Dong-choon nonetheless because she has no real friend around her. In fact, they often provide her some sensible support and guidance her parents cannot give, and this certainly means a lot to her.

On one day, Dong-choon comes across a sudden unexpected thing which will change her life forever. In the middle of her school field trip, she happens to get a plastic bottle of traditional rice wine, and she decides to put some of rice wine into a smaller glass bottle just because of being curious about that. Like I and my younger brother once were, you will be curious about what adults often drink, and I am sure that you will see yourself from Dong-choon’s impulsive decision to keep a bit of rice wine to herself.

And then this small transgression of hers leads to a really strange happening. Dong-choon begins to hear the popping sounds generating from her rice wine sample, and, what do you know, it turns out that these popping sounds are actually a series of Farsi messages conveyed via Morse code. Fortunately, Dong-choon already learned Morse code, so her growing curiosity motivates her Farsi study much more than before.

My niece, that reminds me of how I quickly became quite fluent in English during my high school years. Because of my growing curiosity on movies, I was quite determined to learn more via the Internet, so I came to study English a lot more than before just for getting much more information on the Internet. As a matter of fact, that eventually led me to my friend/mentor Roger Ebert and several other foreign colleagues/friends who are very passionate about movies just like me. Unlike many of my family members, they have sincerely accepted me for who I am (Let’s talk later about my openly gay life, kiddo), and I really wish that, as studying one thing after another in the future, you will eventually find something you will happily and enthusiastically study and learn at any time. Believe me, that will give you some air whenever you feel pressured or suffocated at any time in the future.

Anyway, the rest of the movie follows how Dong-choon lets herself delve more into what might not merely be a pigment of her rich imagination. After one particular message from her rice wine sample turns out to be true, she willingly follows whatever is instructed by her rice wine sample, and one of the most amusing scenes in the film comes from how she later attempts a bit of brewery for hearing more from her rice wine sample.

During its last act, the story becomes all the more outrageous as fully revealing a fantastic hidden conspiracy at last. My niece, you will probably come to question its young heroine’s sanity more than before, but, unlike a pointlessly toxic and delusional flick named “Joker” (2019), the movie is really ready to take a leap along with its young heroine without looking back at all, and you will really understand and empathize with her inner despair. Maybe she is indeed crazy, but how can’t possibly she go insane in such a constantly pressuring circumstance like hers?

If you like movies more someday, you will appreciate more of the good efforts from director/writer Kim Da-min and her main cast members. Park Na-eun confidently carries the film with her likable natural performance, which is absolutely crucial in making us care more about her character’s wild emotional journey. In case of several adult performers around her, Park Hyo-joo and Kim Ji-hoon are sometimes frighteningly realistic as your average South Korean parents, and Kim Hee-won provides some extra comic relief as another substantial adult character in the story.

My niece, I have lots of concern for your future because of how our society has gotten worse and worse for kids and many other socially disadvantaged people including myself during last several decades, and I can only hope that you will never lose the capability of empathy and generosity despite whatever will happen to you during next several years. Perhaps you will watch “FAQ” with me someday, and who knows? You may be capable of more empathy and understanding in addition to realizing that you are not alone at all.