Grandmother Kim Eul-boon from the movie 'Jibeuro' Passes Away

In 2002, Actor Yoo Seung-ho Co-starred... Becomes Oldest New Actress Award Winner, Sparking Attention

An elderly grandmother (Kim Eul-boon) living alone in a remote mountain village takes care of her grandson Sang-woo (Yoo Seung-ho). Due to her hunched back like a sickle, they are about the same height but rarely make eye contact. This is because Sang-woo only chooses to do things that get him scolded when he tries to go home. He noisily rolls his rollerblades inside the room and throws a chamber pot outside, breaking it. While the grandmother is asleep, he even tries to find a place to sell a silver hairpin he secretly took out.

The grandmother’s face, covered with age spots, never contorts in anger. Instead, sensing her grandson’s craving for chicken, she even prepares a boiled chicken dish. Sang-woo pushes it away with his foot, saying it’s not fried chicken. Rather than getting angry, the grandmother reflects on herself for not fully understanding the child’s feelings. Though illiterate and hard of hearing, she continues to convey love through her sacrifices.

Kim Eul-boon, who moved audiences with her simple naturalism and warm motherhood in director Lee Jeong-hyang’s film Jibeuro... (2002) (translated as My Way Home), passed away on the 17th at the age of 95.

Grandmother Kim was running a vineyard and walnut farm in Yeongdong-gun, Chungbuk, when she was accidentally cast and acted alongside young Yoo Seung-ho. She was elderly, nearing eighty, and physically uncomfortable. However, she was so passionate that she repeated the director’s instructions multiple times to perform well. Near the end of filming, she expressed regret, saying, "It’s fun, but it’s ending." At the time, director Lee praised her, saying, "She is sharp and acts well," and "If there was an NG, she would restore the props to their original state, showing a good understanding of the film."

Director Lee made Grandmother Kim appear older and uglier than she actually was. This was to awaken the audience to the lack of civilization through the process of Sang-woo, the audience’s proxy, accepting his grandmother. Through the grandmother’s devotion and the peacefulness of the mountain village, the film followed the flow of conventional fantasy while eliciting refined acting from Kim, securing a vitality not seen in existing dramas. It allowed viewers to experience encounters with grandmothers that Korean cinema had neglected or that audiences had forgotten.

Jibeuro... attracted 4.3 million viewers nationwide and was a box office success. Grandmother Kim, who had no prior acting experience, became famous enough to be nominated for the oldest Best New Actress award in the history of the Grand Bell Awards. However, unable to endure the ongoing attention, she left her hometown in Yeongdong, Chungbuk, and lived in Seoul with her family.

The bereaved family said, "We would appreciate it if those who remember grandmother join in mourning," but also requested, "Please refrain from visiting the funeral hall due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19."