There are many movies with the background set in the Japanese colonial period. Many of them make us feel uncomfortable. The invasion and domination of our country by the Japanese imperial regime was more or less attributable to the divided people and the incompetent ruling class. That makes our heartbreaking history even more gloomy. However, the movie Resistance: The Story of Yu Gwan-sun (hereinafter referred to as Resistance) completely eliminates such discomfort in our minds.

Resistance directed by Cho Min-ho tells the story of Martyr Yu Gwan-sun imprisoned in Seodaemun Prison. While attending Ewha Womans University, Yu Gwan-sun participates in the March First Independence Movement, also known as the Manse Movement on March 1st, 1919 and later goes down to her hometown of Byeongcheon (Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do) to lead the Manse Movement and is imprisoned and later dies in the prison. Resistance deals with the independence movement after that.  

However, the focus of the movie is not her death. The camera captures the long “endurance” of seemingly unimportant people whose bodies are confined but whose minds are free, and those whose bodies are suppressed but their souls are not suppressed. 

Yu Gwan-sun is at its center. The Japanese imperial regime doesn’t let her go, since she is the one who led the rebellion, They can’t break her mind and try to overpower her body first. Harsh and severe tortures are inflicted. Shaking pain and a stabbing scream! But that’s all. No matter what persecution is applied, the girl does not give in. She is ready to die for the cause.

Yu Gwan-sun has the innocence of a 17-year-old girl and sometimes blames herself for not even thinking about anything else while regarding the independence movement as an obligation. However, she seeks another independence movement so as not to regret not having tried it.

The story in the textbook about a martyr, who “died in prison after torture,” is calmly unraveled during the 105-minute running time. Ko Ah-sung, who plays the role of Yu Gwan-sun, also reveals the reason why she starred in the movie, saying, “It was simply not a woman’s life story I expected, and the one year Yu Gwan-sun lived in prison before she died felt fresh and vivid.”

75th Edition of The Monday Times (March 14, 2022)