--- title: "Poetry" year: 2010 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/poetry" fi1m_score: 87 critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 16 published: "2026-09-16T13:20:27.540462+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T13:20:27.779855+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Poetry (2010) Directed by Lee Chang-dong · 2h 19m · Drama **Fi1m score: 87** · Critics 79 from 16 reviews *In a sentence:* A grandmother takes up poetry, though the men around her make a good case for swearing > Lee Chang-dong’s *Poetry* is a deeply moving drama about a grandmother learning to write while facing illness and her grandson’s wrongdoing. Yoon Jeong-hee makes its patience worthwhile, even when the classroom scenes linger too long. ## Synopsis Yang Mi-ja (Yoon Jeong-hee) enrols in a poetry class while facing a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. She wants to write a poem, and the Poet (Kim Yong-taek) encourages her to look closely at the world around her. Outside the class, her grandson Jong-wook (Lee David) is implicated in a school scandal involving rape and a classmate’s suicide. Mi-ja must reckon with the allegations while trying to find words of her own. Her lessons ask her to pay attention to ordinary life just as her illness threatens her memory and her family’s troubles make that attention increasingly difficult. ## Review Lee Chang-dong’s *Poetry* is a patient, moving drama that takes its elderly heroine’s wish to write seriously. A poetry class could easily supply a consoling subplot to a story about illness and family disgrace, with each lesson helping someone cope. Here, the lessons become harder to separate from the trouble outside them. Yang Mi-ja is learning to look carefully at ordinary life while her grandson’s involvement in a rape and suicide scandal gives her reason to turn away, and that conflict keeps the film alive. Yoon Jeong-hee gives Mi-ja an uncertainty that never settles into helplessness. Her interest in poetry is allowed to seem awkward and incomplete; the performance does not keep signalling that a revelation is on its way. We were moved by her persistence in the poetry class, because trying to find words while facing Alzheimer’s makes an ordinary beginner’s difficulty painful to watch. She still has to work out what she wants to say. The performance leaves room for curiosity as well as distress. The men around Mi-ja are concerned with protecting themselves, and Lee Chang-dong lets their self-absorption show through the politeness. Jong-wook (Lee David) is her grandson, which makes the scandal harder to keep at a comfortable moral distance. We have to consider the harm done to a girl while remaining close to a woman who cares about someone implicated in it. That is difficult material, and the film handles it without leaning on graphic violence or making Mi-ja’s suffering an excuse for him. Kim Hyun-seok’s cinematography supports the quietness without turning Mi-ja’s wish to see beauty into an invitation to admire every image. We are asked to attend to her effort, and the visual restraint helps. Shin Jeom-hee’s production design is similarly unobtrusive: the poetry class remains an ordinary place of learning, with no promise that entering it will sort out the rest of her life. That plainness keeps the classroom scenes from feeling like an advertisement for the healing powers of art. Kim Hyun’s editing gives Mi-ja time to hesitate, but not every pause needs to be kept. Some of the poetry-class passages continue after their value is clear, and at 139 minutes we occasionally wanted the film to move on. Its subdued manner can also leave an important change in feeling harder to read than it needs to be. These are real costs of the approach, even if a brisker, more explanatory version would risk losing what is affecting about it. The obvious danger in a drama about Alzheimer’s is that we spend the running time anticipating decline and learn little about the person. Mi-ja’s attempt to write gives her work that requires judgement and curiosity, and Yoon Jeong-hee never makes that work seem like an endearing hobby. Her uncertainty about poetry is worth taking seriously in itself. We would recommend it even to those usually put off by films about writers, with fair warning about its slow pace and distressing subject matter. Give it an evening when there is no need to hurry. *Fi1m score 87, published 16 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (16) - **Sight and Sound**, Trevor Johnston (90/100, inferred): The film uses a grandmother's poetry class and emerging Alzheimer's as a lens for a social critique of patriarchal self-absorption. It builds to a powerful, compassionate conclusion that elevates the story to near-greatness through its lead performance. [Read](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/6365) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): The critic praises this mysterious and beautiful film as a remarkable Korean meditation on life, death and memories. They single out the way the protagonist refines her consciousness and makes sense of her life in the shadow of death and Alzheimer's. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jul/28/poetry-film-review) - **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (Critic's Pick): The critic praises the film's quietly devastating humanism and its emphasis on truly seeing the world, as embodied in an older woman's poetry class amid personal turmoil. Yun Jung-hee's restrained yet emotionally complex performance anchors the story. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/movies/11poetry.html) - **Slant Magazine** (3.5/4): Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry is another sobering philosophical work by the South Korean auteur that contemplates an innocent’s sense of grief and guilt. The film’s beauty derives from the belief that there’s nothing more liberating than learning to speak a language of one’s own creation. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/poetry/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (85/100, inferred): The review highlights the film's daring quietness and subtlety in exploring beauty, truth, and mortality through a grandmother's experiences. Yun Jung-hee's delicate performance and Lee Chang-dong's insightful direction are singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-may-06-la-et-poetry-20110506-story.html) - **IndieWire**, Eric Kohn (B+): The review praises the film's ability to find solace and meaning through verse amid tragedy. It highlights the director's skill in blending personal awakening with moral complexity. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-solace-in-verse-lee-chang-dongs-poetry-243694/) - **Evening Standard** (80/100, inferred): The film is a gently moving, almost Ozu-like drama about an eccentric old woman who joins a poetry class while grappling with her grandson's involvement in a school scandal and her own Alzheimer's diagnosis. It highlights the superb central performance from Yun Jeong-hie as the quietly plucky Mija. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/poetry-review-7425990.html) - **Time Out**, David Jenkins (4/5): The film poses questions about creative inspiration and making art amid tragedy through the story of a grandmother dealing with family trauma and illness. Yun Jeong-hie's meticulous central performance anchors the delicately meandering drama. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/poetry-1) - **Total Film**, Carmen Gray (75/100, inferred): Lee Chang-dong’s quiet and unhurried film centres on a woman developing Alzheimer’s who joins a poetry class amid her grandson’s implication in a classmate’s suicide and rape scandal. It stands out for its lack of typical Korean cinema ultra-violence, making the social bleakness more impactful. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/poetry-review/) - **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): Lee Chang-dong's quietest and most thematically complete film follows a grandmother writing poetry while facing physical and mental decline and her grandson's actions. The moving lead performance by Yun Jung-hee and intelligent melodrama about a woman in a male-dominated world stand out. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/poetry/5014146.article) - **The Times** (70/100, inferred): The review describes a delicate film that pulls off a tricky subject with sophistication and solemnity while keeping a sharp eye on characters' foibles. It notes the veneer of politeness over Korean society coming down amid the central events. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/poetry-g5hfk62skl5) - **Variety** (70/100, inferred): The film is described as a deceptively gentle, quietly haunting tale with a tender ache, elevated by Yun Jung-hee's memorable performance and Lee Chang-dong's subtle intelligence. It notes the lack of sentimentality despite heavy themes and some longueurs in the poetry class scenes. [Read](https://variety.com/2010/film/reviews/poetry-1117942817/) - **The Hollywood Reporter** (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the film's muted tone and elliptical style make for difficult viewing, though layers of meaning reward close attention. It explores the ambivalent role of art amid moral vacancy in a society marked by casual depravity. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/poetry-film-review-29652/) - **The Playlist** ([A]): Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry is a masterclass in weaving weighty themes with insight, compassion and humanity. It builds to a heartrending climax that is truthful and unexpected, with an achingly devastating badminton scene. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/jdiff-11-review-roundup-poetry-everything-will-be-fine-my-words-my-lies-my-love-20110308/) - **The Skinny**, Chris Buckle (★★★★): Despite dark themes of rape, suicide and Alzheimer’s, the film uses poetry as a metaphor for fully appreciating life and the present moment. The critic singles out the subtle, anchoring lead performance by Jeong-hee Yoon and the considerable emotional impact of the film’s enigmatic ending. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews/poetry) - **Eye for Film**, Paul Griffiths (70/100, inferred): The film is a serene and haunting piece that drifts at the pace of its central character Mija. It contemplates the role of poetry and art in a modern society while highlighting a damning generational loss of morals. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/poetry-2010-film-review-by-paul-griffiths) ## Details - **Director:** Lee Chang-dong - **Director:** Lee Chang-dong - **Writer:** Lee Chang-dong - **Cinematography:** Kim Hyun-seok - **Editor:** Kim Hyun - **Production design:** Shin Jeom-hee - **Costume design:** Yi Choong-yun - **Producer:** Lee Joon-dong - **Cast:** Yoon Jeong-hee as Yang Mi-ja; Lee David as Jong-wook; Kim Hee-ra as Elder Kang; Ahn Nae-sang as Ki-beom's Father; Kim Yong-taek as Poet; Park Myung-shin as Hee-jin's Mother; Jang Hye-jin as Mr. Kang's Second Daughter-in-Law; Kim Nam-jin as Soo-ok - **Runtime:** 2h 19m - **Release (the US):** 11 February 2011 - **Genres:** Drama - **Box office:** $349,899 - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWgTXm7cJYs ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, sd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: ES, FR, KR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Ikiru* (1952), Fi1m 92: Another late-life reckoning that gives an ordinary person’s choices patient, serious attention. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ikiru.md) - *The Gleaners and I* (2000): For its close attention to overlooked people and the ordinary things they notice. - *A Separation* (2011), Fi1m 93: Family loyalty makes doing the right thing painfully difficult for almost everyone. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-separation.md) - *The Quiet Girl* (2022): Patient observation and restrained performances make small acts of care matter. - *Central Station* (1998), Fi1m 85: A difficult older woman earns our sympathy without having her roughness tidied away. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/central-station.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/poetry