Director Lee Jung-hyang returns nine years after The Way Home. Comparison with her previous films reveals a perspective on cinema and the world that has deepened and broadened. [A Reason to Live] revolves around the wounds of two very different women. One must live with the scar of losing her lover by a 17 year old youth, and the other is scarred by sexual molestation at the hands of her judge father. The two women must represent the director. Through these women Lee conveys bitter criticism of the worldwide problem of capital punishment and violent patriarchal society. By connecting the two issues, she emphasizes individual problems and social ones are by no means exclusive. She also exposes the possibility of healing through the two main characters’ arrival at reconciliation after conflict, tension and discord. The movie portrays how thoroughly wounds and healing can impact a person’s life with documentary touches. Song Hye-kyo makes a convincing heroine in a dramatic role, and Nam Ji-hyun delivers an impassioned performance as a teen that is simultaneously cheerful and melancholy. (JEON Chanil)