(⚠️Warning: Spoiler Alert)

1. Title: Set me free

2. Director: Kim Tae Yong

3. Writer: Kim Tae Yong

4. Runtime: 108 minutes

5. Language: Korean

6. Country: South Korea

7. Cast: Choi Woo Sik, Kim Soo Hyun (1970), Kang Shin Chul, Jang Yoo Sang,...

8. Plot:

Young Jae was studying in a vocational school. He wasn't raised by his family but sent to a Catholic group house named Issac's House from his early days because his family didn't have conditions to feed and rear both him and his little brother, Min Jae.

Young Jae wanted to become a priest, which he also used as an excuse to remain staying at Issac's House. He was under the cloak of an obedient child in front of his nurturers and the priest from local church. In fact, Young Jae stole shoes in the group house to sell to his friends at school. One day, the director of the house found out the disappearance of shoes and attributed the thefts to Beom Tae, Young Jae's roommate. He made efforts to cover his guilt and shut Beom Tae out.

Whereas Young Jae was managing his deceptive life, her father came with a view to dumping his brother on him. Young Jae exploded with anger and threatened his father by trying to commit suicide. Finally, he made them leave but lost the director's confidence due to revealing his explosive aspects.

At the end of film, Young Jae was on the way to move to another place in countryside.

9. Review

Set me free is an indie film, which is produced with low budget and aim art and cinematic experts' recognition.

I have watched the movie twice. On the first time, I really didn't understand its underlying meaning.

But I decided to watch it again a few days ago. Surprisingly, I think I really got something.

From the beginning till the end, I always kept a question about the title "Set me free". I wondered "free from what?"

Young Jae was the main character with a bad and selfish manner. When you see chaebol drama, some characters are depicted to be chained in a golden and magnificent cage. But that is not the case here. Young Jae was stuck in the plight of the poor, the orphan-like, the believer.

First: He came from poor and underpriviledged background but made money by using the material support from church and god as a resource. You can see that his life constantly whirled in a constant way: with lies, with money,...

Second: He was a child with a complete family but had to live a orphan-like life with a family-like strangers. In terms of logics and linguistics, that a child with family lived a orphan-like life is a false (0) statement. Similarly, that an orphan-like life accompanied family-like ones is obviously false (0). Lastly, that strangers are family is also untrue (0). The paradoxic reality even becomes much absolute because these strangers are real strangers both physically and mentally, whereas Young Jae always kept his true family both physically and mentally.

Third: He was a make-believe believer. He was make-believe, but in the end, he was still a believer. Why do I say that? Young Jae always wished to become an honorable priest that worshipped god in church but he went against god's preaching to make sinful money. Young Jae believed that following god might help him to escape from poverty and misery. But his belief only made him even much poorer and more miserable. However, I was surprised at his showup in chancel when he was doomed to banishment. He saw Beom Tae, and cried in front of him under the witness of God. Then, I think he was till a believer to a certain extent no matter how much he believed.

Those conflicts were the things that trapped Young Jae with his deep hatred, despair and fury. But in the end, I'm glad he was set free and started over. Even I doubted that ending like an opening to a new group house was another trapped life or not, but at least he was mentally free.