For those of us living in the West, it is difficult to find films and series with sign language from Asian countries. On the one hand, because of the language barrier. On the other hand, because it often does not arrive as commercial cinema. Fortunately, this is changing thanks to the k-pop and k-drama phenomenon with the boost of streaming.
The Big Problem of Asian Productions
Western audiovisual productions are leaving behind the shameful days of the jazz singer, as the greatest exponent of cultural appropriation in which a white actor was frighteningly painted to play the role of a black person. However, while films and series from Asian countries in the last two decades are gradually introducing sign language, authentic representation remains anecdotal.
Despite the effort and interest shown by some actresses and actors to portray the role of Deaf people or some good documentation work by screenwriters for stories in which Deaf people are represented, the belief of producers and directors that Deaf people can be imitated by simply learning sign language appears to persist. It seemed that the movie CODA (2021), featuring real-life deaf actors and actresses, would have taught the world a lesson when Troy Kotsur won the Oscar for best supporting actor. But this has not been the case in Asian countries such as South Korea, where the hit series Twinkling Watermelon based on the same CODA story has still employed hearing actors to portray deaf people.
Many hearing viewers will be easily fooled even if the actors/actresses only make hand gestures instead of learning real sign language. However, it is not enough to learn the sign language lines of the script because authentic performance requires a deep understanding of Deaf culture. Narratives that do not include this authenticity run the risk of perpetuating harmful stereotypes and simplifications, not to mention the fact that Deaf and hearing viewers who know sign language will perceive it as some sort of huge gaffe that will completely ruin the movie or series, as well as the real harm being done to Deaf artists.
Hopefully the Asian industry will understand this in the future and open up to deaf actors/actresses, writers and directors to be an integral part of the creation of these stories, and give them the opportunity to enrich them. That being said, here are the best Korean movies and series in which sign language is represented.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
This movie has the merit of being one of the first in South Korea to use sign language extensively in commercial cinema. It is the first film in the acclaimed Revenge trilogy directed by Park Chan-wook, considered a cult work for its exploration of themes such as revenge, violence, and redemption. Although this particular film was a modest box office success, the huge success of its sequel, Oldboy, reignited interest in the first film in the trilogy.
The plot centers on a recently laid-off worker who, desperate to raise money for a kidney transplant for his sister, decides to kidnap the daughter of a friend of his former boss. This worker is a deaf character, although he was played by Shin Ha-kyun, a real-life hearing actor. Although all the characters in the movie who needed to communicate in sign language had actual contact with deaf people, the language consultant was also hearing and the production had no deaf actors or actresses in the cast.
Despite all this, the movie is highly recommended (as are the following installments of the trilogy), as it has a 7.5 rating on IMDB with over 75,000 votes. It also has the historic value of being the first commercial movie to include a sex scene in which the characters communicate in sign language.
Among the cast stand out South Korean actress Bae Doona, internationally known for her roles in films such as Cloud Atlas, the Netflix series The Silent Sea, and most recently the Rebel Moon films, also on Netflix. In a behind-the-scenes video, Bae Doona can be seen moved to tears as she faces the difficulty of achieving the necessary fluency in sign language for her interpretation:
Here is the remastered trailer of the movie, which you can still find on some streaming platforms.:
Sad Movie (2005)
The movie interweaves the lives of eight characters through four stories, all linked by a common thread: love and loss. One of these stories is that of Soo-eun, a deaf girl who works in disguise as a mascot at an amusement park. There she meets a young artist for whom she quickly develops feelings, but refuses to take off her mask in front of him because of a large scar on her face.
The role of Soo-eun is played by popular actress Shin Min-a, known for her later K-dramas Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021) and Our Blues (2022). The movie does not seem to be available on any streaming service, but can be found in its entirety on YouTube (e.g. here with English subtitles).
Glove (2011)
Glove tells the story of a former professional baseball player who, after a scandal, is sent to coach a baseball team of deaf high school students. The movie has been praised for being very moving, perhaps in part because it is based on true events, which adds an extra layer of authenticity to the plot.
It appears that the director of the play preferred to cast hearing actors and teach them sign language rather than cast deaf actors and teach them baseball. Although the crew went to great lengths to represent sign language appropriately, it would be interesting to know the opinions of deaf viewers in South Korea, and especially in the high school on which the movie is based.
Silenced (2011)
This is probably the best known film on this list, as it has had a greater international projection, especially when it became available on streaming services (at the time of this writing, it can be found on Netflix).
Silenced tells the true story of a school in Gwangju, in the southwest of South Korea, the same city where the fateful massacre of the May 1980 uprising took place. The deaf students of this school were sexually abused by the principal and teachers over a long period of time.
The movie had a huge social impact in South Korea. Within weeks of its release, public outrage was so intense that the case was reopened and the school was closed for good just two months later. In addition, the movie led to important legislative reforms: the maximum penalties for the crime of sexual abuse of persons with disabilities and minors were increased, an article requiring disabled victims to prove that they could not resist was repealed, and the statute of limitations was removed in cases of sexual abuse where the victim is under thirteen or a person with a disability. The law was popularly referred to as the 'Dogani Law' after the title of the Korean-language movie.
Of note is the performance of the respected and admired actor Goon Yoo, who won several awards for his work and later gained even more recognition for his participation in the spectacular film Train to Busan (2016) and the critically acclaimed K-drama Goblin (2016). Like Bae Doona for the film Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, he had to learn Korean sign language for the film, and both Bae Doona and Goon Yoo co-starred in the series The Silent Sea (would they have discussed their shared experience of learning sign language?). As a curiosity, the director of the movie Silenced, Hwang Dong-hyuk, was also the one who directed the famous Netfilx series Squid Game (2021).
Unfortunately, the South Korean case is not the only one in the world. Sexual abuse of deaf minors has also occurred in many other countries around the world, with those committed by schools linked to the Catholic Church being particularly egregious. In Unusualverse, a website dedicated entirely to all cases of sexual abuse was launched in 2019 and is available in Spanish, English and Portuguese: Stop Sexual Abuse of Deaf Children.
Bori (2018)
In this movie, Bo Ri is an 11-year-old hearing girl in a Deaf family where everyone communicates in sign language. This situation makes Bo Ri feel alienated in her own family, to the point where she wishes she were deaf. However, this movie is not just another story about a CODA girl (daughter of deaf parents); the director focuses on exploring the complexity of family relationships and how Bo Ri finds her place in them.
What is unique about this movie is that the director himself is a CODA, as his mother is deaf, so he wrote the story inspired by his own family experiences. Although the actor who plays Bo Ri's younger brother is deaf in real life, the characters of the deaf mother and father were played by hearing actors, which is a bit incomprehensible since CODA is the director of the movie himself.
Move to Heaven (2021)
Perhaps this series should not be on this list, since sign language only appears in the first episode. However, it has two interesting points: first, the plot of the story in this first episode serves to let viewers know that the main character, who has Asperger's syndrome, knows sign language. It is well known that sign language is also useful for people with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Second, the deaf character who appears in the episode is played by a real deaf actress.
The series has been a success and is easily available on Netflix.
Twinkling Watermelon (2023-)
This series is inspired by the movie CODA (2021), especially in its American version, which became especially popular because of its Oscar awards. You will be able to see sign language from the first minute of the first episode, although the series is about a young man in love with music, the presence of sign language is irregular throughout the series.
The story is not very original, telling the story of a young man with a natural talent for music in a deaf family, introducing as a novelty a fantasy element that includes time travel. The narrative focuses less on deaf-hearing family relationships and more on emotional bonds in general and the meaning of life.
The show has captured a large youth fanbase and sparked an interest in sign language in many of its fans, but it is a shame that the production of such a vibrant, engaging, and well-made show did not consider the possibility of having at least some of its deaf characters played by real deaf people. It is currently available on some streaming platforms that specialize in Asian productions, such as Rakuten Viki (it can also be found under the title Sparkling Watermelon).
