More often than not, we come across some inspiring examples which show the affection of family members: The story of the sister who saved her brother left behind in a burning gym, the story of the son who gave his father his liver to save him from liver cancer and so on. We often see or read about such touching stories on TV or in the newspaper. What is the source of such behavior which puts more priority on a father’s or brother’s lives than one’s own?
    During our lifetime, it can safely be said that the most precious thing is our family. Thanks to family, we can bear all hardships that happen during a lifetime. Although some people blame me for what I have done, my family is always on my side. The "relationship" with family can be said to be the most significant and greatest of all relationships in the world. Despite its importance, we often treat "them" carelessly and take “them” for granted.
    As the famous Korean proverb goes, blood is thicker than water, so family is destined by an act of Providence and the bonds of family are bound so tightly that worldly power cannot undo the knot. In the movie I am Sam, we are able to witness the love between Sam the father who is mentally retarded and his beloved daughter, Lucy. The story is like this. Sam who has only the mental capacity of a seven-year-old lives with Lucy, who was born of him and Rebecca.
    They go to restaurants on Wednesdays, they watch videos on Thursdays, and they sing together on Fridays. These routine activities are how father and daughter lead their lives together. Although their everyday lives seems abnormal to most onlookers, they make a happy family, sharing the happiest times of their lives. When Lucy is seven years old, she becomes afraid of outpacing her father's intellect. So she deliberately fails in her school and the social welfare authorities visit Sam's house. It is declared that Sam is not capable of raising Lucy. Lucy is taken into care and Sam is allowed to meet her only 2 days a week. Sam is frustrated with sadness after having his daughter taken away. He decides to go to court to appeal the decision and try to get Lucy back. To do so, he visits an elite and progressive lawyer Rita Harrison. Sam goes on trial with the Harrison’s aid to regain custody of his child. He finally gets Lucy back.
    During the court scene in the movie, the public prosecutor says to Lucy, “Honestly, do you want your father to give you more things?” In response, Lucy says, "All you need is love." Her answer explains exactly what I’m writing about here. It shows the greatest love lies between Sam and Lucy, family love. We can see that their love cannot be broken by any outside power because it is enduring and unending.
    In the Korean movie, Family, there are three main characters: A daughter named Jung-eun, her father and her brother Jung-hwan. One day when Jung-eun comes out of prison, she goes to see her family. To be exact, she wants to see her brother Jung-hwan. But her ex-boss Chan-hun doesn’t leave Jeug-eun alone. In the last scene of this movie, her father is killed by Chan-hun, who is willing to sacrifice himself for his daughter’s sake. The first scene had started with arguments between the two, Jung-eun and her father. At the end of the movie, they come to reconcile dramatically with each other. The most impressive, touching scene for me is when Jung-eun shaves her father’s face. This might seem a normal scene, nothing special, but I can her true love for her father when I see her hand shaving him. It immediately makes my heart ache to see Jung-eun unable to convey her real feelings to her father. She cannot tell him, “I love you…” and she lets her father go to heaven without expressing her love for him. While watching the movie, I think, we realize that we should express our feelings of love to those close to us including family, friends, and relatives. I think we should let them know what is truly in our hearts. If you don’t speak what’s in your heart, they might not know your real love for them.
    There are various forms of love like that between father and daughter or mother and son. My Brother is a touching movie which represents brotherly love.
    Set in the late 1990s, two brothers born in successive years are in the same class at school. Jong-hyun is handsome and well equipped in fighting while hair-lipped Sung-hyun is innocent and gentle. A state of hostility exists between the brothers as they fall in love with the same girl. She is the most beautiful in the small town and hostilities escalate as they both attempt to win her.
    One day they clash in an angry explosion of violence and rage. Afterwards, Sung-hyun asks Jung-hyun to make a wish. All Sung-hyun wants in return, is to hear just one word “Brother”… which he has never heard his brother say. To his disappointment, Jong-hyun refuses to the last to call him “brother”.
    When Sung-hyun dies, Jong-hyun goes to the clump of trees where they used to go during their high school days and cries out, “I feel real sorrow for you . . . I am so sorry… Brother…” This movie tells me that there is something about the brothers which cannot be described. In Jong-hyun’s last speech, we see the love between them which cannot be broken.
    Watching the three above-mentioned movies, I was able to reconsider the meaning of family…, the meaning that can be ascribed to all of history and in all places. What is the meaning of family to us? Mother, father, brother, sister… What does my being mean to them?
    Sometimes our tempers flare at them without hesitation or we treat them without care, but we know that their very existence itself can always provide us with a place of refuge. The word “Family,” the relationship between parents and children or brothers and sisters is more valuable and precious than any other thing in the world.
Let’s express that love to our parents, brothers, and sisters in three simple words:
“I love you…”

- Happy only being together
- A lonely smile sometimes being on a lovely face
- Sometimes they become my friends
- The face full of wrinkles makes my heart so sad
- Look alike
- Person who renders his/her shoulder for me
- Person who cries more than I do when I am sad
- Person who defend me when I am offended
- Person who has a pang of sorrow more than I do when I am in agony
- Person who loves me more than I
That exactly is… FAMILY…
 

[# 271 Review]