Elegant Lies (2014)

Fantastic, the (red) thread - in every respect.

I have been reading only positive critiques about “Thread of Lies” all over the place. It just took a while before I could see the KMovie for myself. Basically, all the praise has already been said. Nonetheless! The story, which is sad in itself, is told, staged and acted in just such a wonderfully clever way! Despite the seriousness of its topic, the basic attitude is positive and light. The complex and complicated underlying social and emotional mechanisms are so sensitively identified and processed, I can't help but find words of praise for "Thread of Lies" myself, too! Absolutely worth seeing! The characters, their motives and backgrounds, their conflicting feelings, the gray in the shadow, the light in the darkness, everything comes across as multidimensional authenticity.

The older sister sets out to find out the actual reasons for the suicide of her younger, 14-year-old sister. We with her. There are traces – Suspicion. Culprit. Fault. Shame. As far as the eye can see... ...including the look in the mirror. Yet, it is not the index finger being raised. Rather, there is a hand, valiantly reaching out. Powerful!
It is not about accusation and blame or justification and defense. It is like it is. It was what it was. Recognizing THAT for what it is. Not sugarcoating it. No excuses. Recognizing each individual’s own contribution to some tragedy. It's all about this. To learn something out of it? In the best case!

In this KDrama, bullying (or mobbing) comes without bloody beatings and physical violence. Rather, it is the psychological, manipulative, nastily hidden, difficult-to-understand social-emotional mechanisms that are elaborated in an extremely sensitive, comprehensible way. A girl is forced into inner isolation at an age when the peer group actually becomes more important than family. Friendship, dependence, abuse - the boundaries are not yet so clear. When it comes to that, the young are still 'children' – perhaps with high ideals already, but still without lived friendship-experience. Friendship is a word with deep meaning, a powerful concept. It is related to high hopes and yearnings. It is needed, in order to survive in this world.
In contrast, there are parents who know better and still duck away. There are bullying victims who somehow survived. Also parents, who are absorbed in their own world. And in the middle of it all, a young girl says goodbye to this world. Decided and definite. Yet at the same time hesitant, too. Desperate after all. Helpless. A 14-year-old says goodbye to a world in which the only one, who knew about how she truly felt, was a stranger...

The complex story is processed in a non-linear manner. Compact and yet differentiated. The tragedy of the unspectacular is intensified by a rather subtly developed arc suspension. Touching, but not told in an overly emotional way. And what can I say... the story unfolds in such a true to life manner that you can't even be angry with the venomous perpetrator. At least not as much as you would like...

Fantastic, the (red) thread - in every respect.


PS:
The story is based on the novel “Elegant Lies” by Kim Ryeo-ryeong in 2009. Actually, the film production had a rather low budget and its initial difficulties to get started, as the topic is considered highly sensitive, especially in South Korea. The KMovie, however, gave the lie to the doubters. The response was enormous and consistently positive.

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Story: the story seems simple at first sight, a young girl dies but why? Is there a reason? This movies is more deep than I thought I can't say nothing without spoiling the movie, this movies is completely underrated. The red thread is very important, this movie is very detailed.
Acting: Everybody was important, the casting was amazing, I loved the good acting and the emotions, it can be heartbreaking and funny, with a lot of meaningful moments, and we see Hee Ae and Ah In before "secret love affair". Kim Hyang Gi was amazing, I can't imagine anyboydy that can portrait it like her
Music: it was fine I guess, don't expect a song, only instrumentals
Rewatch Value: It can be kind of heavy for some people but for me is perfect the way it is, it leaves you with a lot of questions about life in general, interesting
Overall: it was almost a perfect movie, perfect for a weekend

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Almost all of the following is in the synopsis of this movie. I just added a lot more detail.

If you have not seen this movie or have been hesitating over seeing it because of the subject matter and the fear of being overwhelmed by it, I encourage you to watch. I was, surprisingly and shockingly to me, not emotionally as devastated by this movie as I feared I would be. Bullying is a tormenting subject for me and I normally cannot abide movies about it, especially knowing that, in this case, the result is the suicide of this young girl.

This movie is so different from 99% of the bullying movies. All the others seem to deal with the physical aspect of bullying and the devastating psychological damage caused by it. And most of the movies deal more with boys. This movie presents bullying done in a more insidious, psychological way, as I think girls are more likely to engage in. It's sneaky, done with smiles and rumors and pretend friendliness with intimidation and,in this movie, the victim is fully aware of what is being done, but unable to escape as these are her only 'friends'. She is dragged into it repeatedly as it comes in waves between bouts of being ignored, getting benign attention, and then, when the mood strikes them, they attack her again. There seems to be one ring leader, as always. But no one is exempt as the followers themselves attack her in their own snide ways.

The Thread of LIes analogy is beautifully done as her older sister and mother, in their need to know 'WHY?', follow the thread of lies and omissions and half-truths her school mates tell them. At the same time, these children also lie to themselves and each other in their own fear and full knowledge of their own guilt and responsibility for what happened. The movie gradually exposes the cracks and fears in the perpetrators own lives that drove them to torment her and the guilty repercussions that begin to eat away at them. The thread analogy is also beautifully and heartbreakingly used as the older sister and the mother finally discover the notes Cheon-gi left for them in the balls of yarn she was constantly using in her knitting. She tells her sister there are 5 notes and it is this that sets her sister on her mission to expose the lies but, as she discovers 2 more notes, it is also revealed to her how mentally disturbed the main culprit is, and how devastated the second culprit is due to a simple misunderstanding and subsequent attack and betrayal of Cheon-gi. Even the mother and the daughter's notes reflect this sweet child's realization that they will be not only grieving but battling their own fear of what they missed or where they did not see what should have been seen.

The final ball of yarn and note is a bit of a cypher to me. (see below in spoilers-I would appreciate others' views on the meaning behind this final note and it's location)

A beautiful movie, superbly acted and directed and written. A must watch. I wish it could be shown in many many schools.

I wouldn't rewatch, just because I got all I want to out of it the first time around.

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Subtle movie on sensitive topic of bullying

I had watched a lot of school bullying movies but this one is totally different. Many of the viewers might have watched The Penthouse, where one student dies and all the main characters are viewed as the probable suspects Because they did something horrible to her.
Here in the movie, ELEGANT LIES shows an introverted girl who dies without any last words. So the probable suspects include her friends who turn out to be bullies. The movie had a sensitive topic yet it's subtle and not horrifying. It shows that communication with the kids is very important. Also how much friends are important too, because we tend to lean on them other than family but are all the friends worth keeping?
I wish she really could have made a true friend!!!

As in the poster, Cheon Ji (Kim Hyang-Gi ) is knitting a red scarf, its actually very deep meaning. The red scarf is a symbolic item and it is knitted well showing that the title ELEGANT LIES is indeed pretty but when the lies are unfolded and the truth is revealed showing the thread which is simple. when the girl asked to buy yarn from her mother. Maybe she had hope in those threads which comforted her. the notes in the ball of red yarn can be interpreted as she wanted someone to help her but also wasn't able to say the pain in her feelings
I really liked the mature approach of the sister Man Ji, towards the end. She really played a tough character easily and gave a new insight that what's right and wrong. Although she couldn’t save her sister, she saved another person.
Mother really had a hard time, as she was unable to read her kid's minds, and the situation also brought her into a tight spot where she also cannot have time to keep morning for her lost child because only two members are left to rely on each other.
Acting is really superb by everyone. I admired Hyang Gi and was astonished by Yoo Ah In. He is an actor who just come and goes of the screen but marks his presence. He cannot be ignored even if in a supporting role.

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Nothig is exaggerated, nothing seems fake in the movie.

The story is about discovering the truth behind the introverted look. And it's being discovered beautifully.

Here is the school bulling theme going through the movie but it is not exaggerated, is realistic, not disguisting or cruel unlike in other movies and dramas. It's rather mild and don't make you hate anybody who's involved but lets you relate it to yourself and understand deeply.

This movie is inspiring, deep, fresh, not really sad for me.

You can see characters development during the story, which is so rare nowadays.

The director (Lee Han) of the movie did a great work with actors. The story is based on the novel so no wonder it's really good. Btw the same novelist, Kim Ryeo-Ryeong, also wrote the novel which the film 'Punch' is based on.

Ah, I'm so glad there are such artists who are capable to creat this kind of movies.

p.s.: btw, Kim Hee Ae and Yoo Ah In again star together, I was pleased to see that. But as I've seen some of Yoo Ah In's works, so far I think he did really good only in 'Secret love affair'.

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Beautifully Written

Tragic but beautiful movie which explored the suicide of a young middle school girl. Her sister and mother wondered why it happened and as the movie went on, we came to find out what the cause was. Bullying.

The way in which the story moves is ever so carefully and almost silently like Cheonji. It goes well with the main characters overall and their mood.

This movie was realistic and explored the psychological/peer pressure that the girls in the class took part in. the victim knew it was going on around her, the giggling, secret texts etc making her seem like an outcast.

After the suicide, it's like there was a blame game as everyone felt guilty in one way or another. Whilst the family search for answers, the use of the yarn and the thread to uncover cheonji's last words was beautifully written. Holding onto her last words/thoughts were shown by the literal ball of yarn that she left for everyone.

Cast performed very well showcasing subtle actions but were so emotionally powerful. Beautifully written movie which opens up the conversation regarding peer pressure and depression.

In conclusion, please do check out this movie and give it a go.

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A thought-provoking movie.

I recently finished watching Glory and My Name and was searching for something along those lines. Nothing caught my interest, so as a last-ditch attempt, I just entered the tag for bullying and browsed through the search results until I came across Elegant Lies.

Elegant Lies is the story of a family that comprises of a mother and two teenage daughters, Manji and Cheonji. Their world is rocked when the youngest, Cheonji, commits suicide leaving her mother and older sister reeling. The movie largely follows a non-linear narrative as it delves into the story of Cheonji and the series of events that drove her to the edge.

Losing a loved one can really throw one off, especially if it's sudden. So wrapped up we are in our own lives that we tend to miss the signs or dismiss them momentarily, promising ourselves that we're going to check up on that one friend, that one acquaintance, or call up a family member that's been acting off lately. But before you know it, it's too late. Sometimes, things don't even feel any different, which tends to hit you harder. We see Manji, the older sister, grappling with this as she sets out to find the truth behind what might've driven her younger sister to take such a drastic step. As she goes through Hwayeon, her sister's friend, or Mira, her best friend's little sister who was in the same class as Cheonji.

Through Sangbak, their eccentric next-door neighbor that they gain after Hyunsook and Manji are forced to move following Cheonji's death, Manji learns things about her sister from this stranger that are in complete contrast to what she knew of her. Here, Sangbak expresses a point that is still relevant even today; we are more comfortable confiding in people we don't know as opposed to the ones we do because they won't subject us to scrutiny or wield those precious bits of ourselves that you shared with them like weapons to hurt you. As Hwayeon did. As Mira did.

Bullying doesn't just have to be physical confrontations or stealing someone's lunch or precious possessions. Sometimes it can be one's obliviousness or a thoughtless comment made in the heat of the moment. We all think we're good people and strive to make the world and others think so as well, not realizing that for some people, we're the actual worst. The realization that we often have trouble coming to terms with, as seen in Hwayeon's case, when she starts skipping school, stealing dishes, and badmouthing her parents' restaurant so they'll be forced to move apartments instead of confronting the possibility that she might be complicit in her friend's death.

The movie explores the themes of bullying, regret, friendship, isolation, grief, healing and familial relationships in various ways. Despite the sensitive issues and topics tackled here, this movie was quite watchable. It wasn't too intense that you had to stop, but it wasn't too lighthearted that it failed to deliver the message it was going for.

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