Whale

January 30, 2023
Cheon (Modern Family) draws on Korean myths for a disturbing tale about three women in mid-20th-century South Korea. Chunhui was born in a stable and is the only child of Geumbok, who ignores and neglects her. (In Chunhui’s isolation, she befriends a retired circus elephant.) As a teen, she is falsely accused of arson, imprisoned, and tortured, and isn’t released until she’s 27. Cheon then backtracks to the story of a woman known as “the old crone,” who maimed her daughter then sold her for two jars of honey. The crone lives only for money and revenge, hiding a fortune in her hut which Geumbok finds years later during a storm. Throughout the meandering story, the image of a whale repeats: first as a harbinger of change for young Geumbok, and later as inspiration for Geumbok to build a movie theater. Geumbok’s ambition as a businessperson, though, eventually results in her murder at the hands of the Yakuza. (A mythical curse from the crone also seems to have played a part in Geumbok’s demise.) The unruly blend of myth and modernity doesn’t always work, and the blasé tone used to depict violence and torture will turn off some readers. It’s intriguing, but not for the faint of heart.