"Now My Eyes Have Seen You": A Comparative Study of Secret Sunshine and the Book of Job

This essay engages in a comparative study of Lee Chang-Dong's Secret Sunshine (2007) in light of the biblical book of Job, focusing on issues of grief, recovery, and theodicy. Drawing from perspectives in philosophical, mystical, and pastoral theology, three allegorical interpretations of the f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion and popular culture
Main Author: Ng, Teng-Kuan (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Saskatchewan [2011]
In: Journal of religion and popular culture
Year: 2011, Volume: 23, Issue: 2, Pages: 166-181
Further subjects:B Secret Sunshine
B Occupation
B Korean cinema
B religion and film
B Lee Chang-Dong
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:This essay engages in a comparative study of Lee Chang-Dong's Secret Sunshine (2007) in light of the biblical book of Job, focusing on issues of grief, recovery, and theodicy. Drawing from perspectives in philosophical, mystical, and pastoral theology, three allegorical interpretations of the film's title are suggested. The eponymous "secret sunshine" adumbrates, first, the female protagonist Shin-Ae's hidden journey toward her true self, a self in which the theological virtues of faith and love are mystically internalized. Second, it intimates the quiet, unobtrusive presence of an emphatic Immanuel in the figure of Jong-Chan, the film's male protagonist. Finally, through a meditative exegesis of the film's closing sequences, it will be argued that "secret sunshine" points toward the transcendent beauty and comfort that may be found in the quotidian and commonplace.
ISSN:1703-289X
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and popular culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3138/jrpc.23.2.166