Planet of Snail, a South Korean/Japanese/Finnish documentary, directed by Seung-Jun Yi lets us into the lives of two extraordinary people, the deaf-blind Korean poet and writer Young-Chan, who’s enclosed existence allows him to live without the entrapments of ego, but allows for a wonderful, singular love story. He is connected, heart and soul, with his wife, Soon-Ho, who suffers from a spine disability, and is diminuitive in size when compared to her husband. They share the world through his writing, and finger braille, she is his window on the world, he is her heart.
Through the course of this moving film, we see how the two of them live together, take on the world, share dinner with friends, go sledding for the first time, and communing with nature.
These types of documentaries always give me pause, and allow me to reflect on my own life, these two could be angry, and at odds with the world at large, but they seem happy, even joyous, which always makes me reconsider my own faults and problems. How can I have anything to complain about, when this heart-warming couple seems so happy with who and where they are in life?
Seung-Jun Yi is one of the most renown Korean directors in the world documentary scene. Amongst over a dozen documentaries Seung-Jun has directed the award winning ‘Children of God’ (2008). Seung-Jun’s interest has always focused on the life of, so called, the unseen minorities. This has become his signature style of filmmaking.
