Christmas in August - Motifs

Motifs

In the film, there were several motifs that the director tried to convey to the audience. Photography had a significant part in this movie. The director purposely made the scenes of the film very still and slow. His purpose doing so was to create the sense of a photo, where everything is still. This was meant to allow the audience to observe every detail, just a like a photo. Windows were another motif, encompassing the same idea of photography. During the scenes, where Da-rim and Jung-won would have a silent conversation on opposite sides of a window, the window symbolized a picture frame, creating a living portrait. When Jung-won's childhood love came to visit his shop while he was washing the windows, her image is blurry behind the window. This was meant to symbolize that she no longer had a clear place in his life. That's why when the other scenes, where Jung-won sees Da-rim from behind the window, the audience observes that Jung-won always sees Da-rim vividly, symbolizing that she does have an important part in his life. During one of the last scenes, Jung-won is seem affectionately reaching out to Da-rim behind a window. Photos are meant to capture precious memories, and we can only remember, unable to change the photo's reality. This was the symbolism of windows. The funeral portrait was another motif, which symbolized Jung-won's acceptance of his early death. In the earlier scenes of the movie, Jung-won took a funeral portrait for an elderly woman. She had come back a second time to take her funeral portrait because she wanted to look her best, meaning she acknowledges her death soon and wants to make the most out of it. Through the movie we see Jung-won and emphasis on han, internal suffering. Near the end of the movie, Jung-won returns to his shop and proceeds to take his funeral portrait. This shows that he had finally come to terms with his early death, and was able to die peacefully, with no regrets. This can be confirmed by his final quote. The final quote, itself, became a motif. “I knew that someday love would become nothing but a memory, like the countless photographs left behind in my recollections. But you alone have remained a part of me. I leave these words to thank you for letting me depart with your love."-Jung-won. This explains the reason why Jung-won did not try to tell Da-rim that he was fatally ill and did not try to reach out or explain to her his sudden disappearance. Jung-won did not want to taint the love he and Da-rim shared. It can be speculated that he did not want it to be love out of pity. Like a photo, he wanted to preserve his memories of Da-rim while they were still innocent and happy, unlike his childhood love, which turned out to be an unfortunate ending. This allowed him to die peacefully, departing from the world with his innocent memories of her. In the scenes where his childhood lover came back, she requested him to take down her portrait. But at the end of the movie, it is seen that Da-rim's portrait remained in his shop window, symbolizing how Jung-won will never forget about her and take her out of his life.