Oseam

A fire takes the mother of Ga-mi and her little brother Gil-son. Ga-mi loses her sight in the same fire. Gil-son is very young and does not know their mother is dead; he keeps asking where she is. The two children take shelter with the monks at a temple in the mountains. There Gil-son wants to go to a small hermitage called Oseam, where he believes he will be able to see his mother. The film rests on a Korean folk story; Oseam is a real place and its name comes from the story of a small child who stayed there. The animation, directed by Sung Baek-yeop, runs seventy-five minutes, and though it looks like something made for children its subject is death, mourning, and a child's inability to grasp either. The drawing is plain, the colours are pale, the music is sparse. The story is in no hurry and never once closes off the child's question cheaply.