''A Brand New Life'' () is a 2009 film. It is the debut feature of director Ounie Lecomte, who directed and wrote the film. Loosely based on Lecomte's own experience, ''A Brand New Life'' is set in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

in 1975. The film portrays a girl who is left in a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

orphanage by her father and her struggle to adjust to a new life. ''A Brand New Life'' was released in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

on October 29, 2009. The film grossed over

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

167,776 and was well received by critics. It won several awards, such as the Best Asian Film Award at the 22nd Tokyo International Film Festival and the jury award at the 2009

Cinekid Festival The Cinekid Festival is the largest international film, television and new media festival for children aged 4 to 14 held at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It started as a small children's film festival and has now grown into a lar ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Plot

Jin-hee (

Kim Sae-ron Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

) is a 9-year-old girl whose father leaves her at an orphanage after remarrying. Before leaving her, her father buys her new clothes and a cake to convince her that she is going on a trip. This coincides with the Korean title, which literally means "traveler" or "tourist". In the orphanage, she tries to come to grips with the abandonment by her father and insecurities about a possible adoption. She gradually makes friendships, although she retains the belief that her father will return to take her back, and struggles (sometimes violently) not to adjust to her surroundings. In the end, Jin-hee is adopted by French parents who are eagerly waiting for her at an airport to meet their new child.

Cast

as Jin-hee * Park Do-yeon as Sook-hee *

Go Ah-sung Go Ah-sung is a South Korean actress. She began her career as a child actress, notably in '' The Host''. Her other notable works include ''Snowpiercer'' (2013), ''Samjin Company English Class'' (2020), as well as the TV dramas ''Master of Study' ...

as Ye-shin * Park Myung-shin as a nanny *

Sol Kyung-gu Sol Kyung-gu (born May 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Public Enemy (2002 film), Public Enemy'' film series, ''Peppermint Candy'', ''Oasis (2002 film), Oasis'', ''Silmido (film), Silmido'', ''Hope (2013 film ...

as Jin-hee's father * Oh Man-seok as Director Goo * Shin Young-sik as Ye-shin's foster father *

Moon Sung-keun Moon Sung-keun (born May 28, 1953) is a South Korean actor and politician. He has won three Blue Dragon Film Awards, two Baeksang Arts Awards, and two Chunsa Film Art Awards for Best Actor. Career Moon was born in Tokyo, Japan. His father was Re ...

as a doctor * Richard Wilson as puppeteer/U.S. soldier * Rob Youngs as Sook-hee's adoptive father * Luke Doyle as guitarist/U.S. soldier * Harvey Schmidt as Jin-hee adoptive father

References

External links

* http://cafe.naver.com/traveler2009 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brand New Life 2009 films French drama films South Korean drama films 2000s Korean-language films Films shot in Seoul 2000s French films 2000s South Korean films