To his credit, Soon-Ho researches Autism and applies himself to understanding an accommodating Ji-Woo’s quirks, allowing him to use to his advantage in court.īut again, Ji-Woo is presented as a kind of freak show in court and – slight spoiler – when a second trial is required, she is again in a tug of war between the two sides as to whether she is a valid witness. By this point, Soon-Ho has gained Ji-Woo’s trust so she has a new ally though Hyun-Jung is a little cautious. Ji-Woo has a friend, Shin-Hye (Kim Seung-Yoon), entrusted by Hyun-Jung to look after her at school, but even she turns out to be a nasty bully in a contrived subplot that again could have been more relevant to the main narrative. Other facets of Ji-Woo’s condition include counting the spots on Soon-Ho’s tie, having sensitive hearing, and only eating blue sweets. It is important to note that by virtue of being a Spectrum of traits that represent autism, the savant approach seems to be a favoured one in film and TV but serves to be the most misleading. Hardly presenting a progressive depiction of an Autistic person, this sets the campaign back 32 years. Harking back to Rain Man from 1988, Ji-Woo walks about as if in a stupor, her eyes focused everywhere but in front of her, whilst her fingers are bent into a fixed position. Naturally, the first mention of Autism incurs equating it to mental disability, as if Ji-Woo is a head case, and almost by supporting this, she is shown to be childlike, slow witted, uncommunicative, and inattentive. I guess they’ve never met Anne Hegerty then. ![]() For example, all autistics like puzzles and games, they cannot lie, and being intelligent is atypical for someone on the spectrum. Questions arise in my mind about the research done for this film, or more accurately how it is translated and disseminated in Korea, as many clichés, stereotypes, and broad generalisations of dubious veracity are thrown about here. Usually, I spend a lot of time discussing the plot in my reviews, so forgive me if I take a slightly different tact in this instance. Regular readers will already be sick of me bringing up my own Autism every time I review a film on this subject, and whilst I can’t claim to be an expert on every aspect of it, I do at least know whereof I speak. Of course, this is part of the overall narrative as Soon-Ho does eventually slip up and is forced to look at himself and repent, except it is handled with typical schmaltz.Īs you may have already surmised, Lee took the second way and chose to make this about Autism, which I do applaud. Imagine the backsides Lee could have set fire to had he chosen to expose this as the focus of his story, fictional otherwise. That this would be a topical issue to address shows director Lee Han is still on a mission to cover relevant social situations in is films, but with Innocent Witness, he could have gone one of two ways with this premise.įirstly, it could have just been about Soon-Ho’s pernicious exploitation of a vulnerable person to score that courtroom victory and maybe get a partnership out of it. Lawyers are known for their underhanded tactics when it comes to winning a case so we shouldn’t be surprised that someone would sooner or later base a story around a lawyer manipulating someone with a mental/neurological condition for their own gain. Undeterred, Soon-Ho befriends Ji-Woo in the hope of gaining her trust and getting her to testify. Feeling Ji-Woo’s testimony would be deemed unreliable because of her Autism, Soon-Ho tries to have her take the stand at the trial but her mother Hyun-Jung (Jang Young-Nam) refuses to allow it. The details of the death are confusing, made worse by the fact the only witness is Im Ji-Woo (Kim Hyang-Gi), a 15 year-old girl with Autism. To test him, Yang is given a pro-bono case by his bosses to defend housekeeper Oh Mi-Ran (Yum Hye-Ran) against a charge of murder against her elderly employer, which she denies, claiming it was suicide. ![]() Yang Soon-Ho (Jung Woo-Sung) is a lawyer who recently shifted to a major firm to pay off the debts his dementia-ridden father Kil-Jae (Park Geun-Hyung) accidentally racked up. Thankfully, this is repudiated by the mother of the autistic girl in question, proclaiming she had never once thought that herself, otherwise it wouldn’t be her daughter. ![]() Lee HanĪ line actually spoken in a film apparently designed to help broaden our understanding and knowledge of Autism. Innocent Witness (Jeungin) Korea (2019) Dir.
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