Movie Review
The Miracle In Cell No. 7

OK Cinephiles, it is time to review another film!  This month I have chosen an older Korean film that was released in 2013.  Directed by Lee Hwan-kyun and staring Seung-ryong Ryu (War Of The Arrows), who plays Yong-Goo a developmentally challenged adult who is found guilty and sentenced to death for the murder and rape of the young daughter of the commissioner of the Korean National Police while trying to find a highly coveted Sailor Moon backpack for his 6 year old daughter Ye-Seung (Played by So Won Kal).. 

Upon arriving in prission he is hated and abused by his cell mates, but after observing  Yong-Goo’s gentle and innocently helpful personality. which  includes saving the life of a fellow cellmate, and the prison warden, they begin to see that he is most likely innocent.  

As payback for for saving the life of his cellmate, His fellow prisoners sneak Ye-Seung into the cell to cheer up Yong-Goo, however there is a problem getting her out on time, and they eventually get caught and Ye-Seung is sent away, and becomes so depressed at being separated from her father she refuses to eat and must be hospitalized

The warden begins to questions whether Yong-Goo (who has the intelligence of a 6 year old) could have written the confession he signed during police interrogation, and tries to have the investigation reopened.  He meanwhile visits Ye-Seung in the hospital, and she asks the warden if he can arrest her too.  Also indebted to Yong-Goo for saving his life, he risks his career and those of his fellow guards by bringing her to the prison.  Over the following months Ye-Seung helps the other cellmates by teaching one to read, and stealing a fellow students cell phone so another cellmate may call his pregnant wife.  

Despite the wardens continued efforts to prove Yong-Goos innocence it is soon apparent that; due to the fact the victim was the daughter of the police commissioner the verdict and death sentence will stand.  It isn’t until Ye-Seung is grown and has become a lawyer many years later that she is able to get the Korean courts to overturn the conviction.

I really enjoyed the The Miracle In Cell No 7, and while the premise of the movie is implausible, it helps make the films message that much more emotionally jarring and disorienting.  Adding to the disorientation is that the film was billed as a comedy, and you are repeatly slapped in the face when presented with the fact that behind the childish antics of Yong-Gu and Ye-Seung, you are really watching an indictment of the Korean criminal justice system, the media for trying a suspect on TV for ratings, and of the class structure in modern day Korea.   It makes you ask yourself if an advanced society with a modern and supposedly fair and impartial judicial system can handle the responsibility necessary to carry out the ultimate punishment of death.  The film had more of impact on me then Dead Man Walking, or The Green Mile. 

I also thought it interesting that Hwan-kyung Lee decided to disguise the film as a comedy, it had the feeling of being more in the style of a Chinese film, in the sense that it uses metaphors to indirectly criticism the government, which I find a little odd for a country that openly flaunts it’s democracy and freedom of speech.

I highly recommend The Miracle In Cell No 7!  Just be sure to sit down with a box of Kleenex in addition to your pop corn!  I would also recommend screening the film before allowing young children to watch it,  as the movies more serious scenes may be inappropriate.

TRAILER:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAsBlmSIksk

The Miracle In Cell No. 7 can be purchased from Amazon by clicking on the link below. (NOTE:  Brent’s World in NOT Monetized.) I do not make any money from the links posted on this site.

https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Cell-No-Ryoo-Seung-Ryong/dp/B079NCNKD1/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Miracle+in+Cell+no+7&qid=1558538731&s=gateway&sr=8-1

It is also available in DVD and Blu-Ray

Unfortunately this film is NOT available on the Apple Music Store.

You may also pay to watch the full movie on youtube. For w1,200 (Can someone please comment if the content is also available in the US?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQXptQR2ml8