This deeply personal documentary from hometown filmmaker Min Sook Lee follows the trail of grief left behind when her mother died by suicide when she was a preteen.
A singular documentary from critically acclaimed filmmaker Min Sook Lee wraps an entire family's history, its mysteries and controversies, its lies and its truth, into one story. Lee's mother died by suicide when the director was 12 years old, and in this film she aims to fill up the vacuum of information that was left after the sudden death.
Her journey to find out more about who her mother was takes her through hometown Toronto and ancestral South Korea. Along the way she speaks to her father, a former intelligence officer; her maternal uncle; and her mother's old neighbours.
Lee asks tough questions of her subjects. The most time is spent interviewing her father, a fascinating figure, whose memory she doesn't trust. Over multiple scenes, he reveals more about his less-than-ideal past and the documentarian expertly weaves the political climate that he experienced with the personal ramifications on their family.
As she mines other peoples’ memories of her mother, Lee allows viewers into the processing of new information and to sharing in her very personal grief. Lee is dogged in her determination to find the truth. Ultimately, There Are No Words shows us how generational trauma can weave itself across countries, languages, and beyond.
KELLY BOUTSALIS
Content advisory: suicide
Screenings
TIFF Lightbox 4
Scotiabank 11
Scotiabank 4
TIFF Lightbox 5