603 East Liberty Street
Ann Arbor , MI
2014 | 104 minutes | Directed by Boo Ji-young
Actress Yum Jung-ah won Woman of the Year in Film at the 15th Women in Film Korea Awards for her role in this labor rights drama.
Sun-hee is a mother of two children and has no choice but to work as a temporary worker at a large retail store to support her family. She works hard to gain a permanent position at her job in order to make a better life for her kids. But, her teenage son, Tae-young, grumbles that her job is not making enough money to buy him a smart phone and to pay for his school field trip. When Sun-hee is about to become a permanent employee, she’s laid off out of the blue. Soon, she and her temp co-workers become aware that their company is being merged and is avoiding its employment obligations to the temp workers. As a shy but devoted mother, she never thought about putting on a strike against the company. But, when other temp women co-workers begin their solitary fight against the unjust layoffs, Sun-hee finds courage to stand in the front. Meanwhile, Tae-young did not understand his mother’s fight for unjust layoff until he himself experiences being underpaid when working at a convenience store to earn money for his field trip. He comes to realize his mother’s meaningful fight against injustice. With her once estranged son’s understanding, and together with her united colleagues, Sun-hee starts to make a giant step forward for a better life and a better world.
Check out this review on Twitch.
