North and South, Red and Blue, and White

The plot of Shiri, the first blockbuster film in South Korea, is told largely through the formal and technical elements rather than the dialogue. For instance, the first ten minutes of the film is completely action-packed with zero dialogue.

One interesting motif that says a lot about the plot is the color scheme. I noticed that blue and red appear over and over again throughout the film, especially red in relation to North and blue in relation to South. For example, the movie opens with the severe training the North Korean soldiers undergo while wearing a hat with a red band around it. Furthermore, Hee wears a red coat when she is walking behind Lee Jang-gil at the grocery store. On the other hand, the South Korean soldiers are dressed in blue uniforms and there are blue candles on the tables at the restaurant where Yu and his friend meet to discuss about the information leakage. Nonetheless, we do see North in association with the color blue and South with red. For example, the South Korean citizens are dressed in identical red colored shirts at the soccer stadium. In addition, the blue soft drink, Pokari Sweat, appears in relation to both Park and Yu. Yu drinks it when Hyun comes back from the grocery shopping and Park hides behind the Pokari vending machine when he is being chased by Yu and his men.

White also plays a significant role, for Hyun knits a white sweater for Yu. In her voice message, Hyun remarks how she feels neither as Hyun nor Hee when she is with Yu. Thus, she is able to be a person who does not have to pretend to be someone who she isn’t, a person with no or pure color. In fact, It is interesting to note that one actress plays three characters; Lee Myung-Hyun the fiancé of Yu, Lee Bang Hee the spy, and Lee Myung-Hyun the sick patient (Kim 260).

There is a theme of reunification in Shiri that is either supported or looked down upon. There are elements that are against the convergence, including Hee and the baby Hee carries. For instance, the movie ends with the death of Hee, who represents the North, and the death of the baby that she carries, who symbolizes the hope of integration between the North and the South.

However, the hopes and dreams for the reunification are prevalent throughout the film, represented by the motifs of family photos and the main theme song. We see Hee who burns her family photo in the beginning, and Hee who keeps a photo of her and Yu in her room which Park sees. Thus, there is a sense of nostalgia for someone who cannot be in the same space and time. In fact, Hyun’s favorite song, “When I Dream”, has a line that goes like the following: “when I dream, I dream of you / maybe someday you will come true.” For these reasons, there are definite sense of longing for and antagonism against the reunification .