We travel to the other side of the world again this weekend – to South Korea - for A Girl at My Door. To quote Jennie Kermode in Eye for Film: ‘A troubled child. A small town full of secrets. A young cop clashing with the system. It's a familiar set-up, but A Girl At My Door still manages to deliver something different. In a film full of close-ups, Doona Bae (best known to Western viewers for ‘Cloud Atlas’ and ‘Sympathy For Mr Vengeance’) delivers a sensitive, nuanced performance which challenges audience preconceptions and takes the film into dangerous territory’.
The dangerous territory is child abuse and the possibility of the relationship between the cop and the child sliding too far – both rarely dealt with in Korean society even now. But the film is much more about relationships and the tensions they bring about – both lead actors get good reviews for their portrayals of the two women as they step around the moral maze in the small town.
Although this is the first feature film from director July Jung, the producer is Lee Chang Dong (who directed the beautiful ‘Poetry’, seen here in 2012), so we can expect an emotional ride.