History Returns Through a Name [Slate]

Still cut from the movie "My Name."

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Jeju, 1998. High school student Lee Young-ok (Shin Woo-bin) wishes to change her name, thinking it sounds too feminine and old-fashioned. Her mother, Choi Jeong-soon (Yum Hye-ran), who is approaching her sixties, does not know why she gave her that name. All of her memories from 1949, when she was just an eight-year-old girl, have completely disappeared. The journey of retracing the past is both cautious and heavy. Director Chung Ji-young's new film "My Name" is a story about memory. Set against the backdrop of the Jeju 4·3 Incident, it depicts the recovery of life and dignity for those forced to live after even their names had been taken from them. By unraveling a historical tragedy, once buried in grand discourse, through one individual's search for her name, the film achieves a universal resonance.

The focus is not so much on the historical event itself, but on the emotional remnants left behind in its wake. This resonates with the younger generation's desire for self-reinvention across generations. Director Chung juxtaposes Lee Young-ok's classroom in 1998 with Jeong-soon's process of recovering her memories to illustrate this. Lee Young-ok is elected class president but quickly becomes a puppet. She is helplessly swept into group violence led by the transfer student Kim Kyung-tae (Park Ji-bin). Meanwhile, Jeong-soon, through psychiatric treatment, gradually pieces together fragments of her memory. As she travels across Jeju, her recollections of that day 49 years ago become increasingly vivid.

In a moment, the true nature of the emotions that have long dominated Jeong-soon is revealed as historical reverberations. The violence of an era persists in the form of stubbornness that cannot be explained, inexplicable fear, and excessive obsession. The sense of frustration Lee Young-ok feels can no longer be dismissed as mere adolescent emotion. It opens up the possibility of interpreting her experience as the consequence of living in a generation affected by the silence of the parent generation.

Still cut from the movie 'My Name'.

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Rules imposed without context often feel oppressive to the younger generation. For Young-ok, changing her name initially seems like a simple process to shed an old-fashioned label. It is an expression of her desire to redefine herself, break free from the framework given by her parents, and live with an identity of her own choosing. However, the film does not focus on the fulfillment of that desire, but rather on the journey of discovering the truth that lies beyond it. As Young-ok uncovers the history embedded in her name, she changes her mind. This is likely because changing her name came to symbolize an act of erasing the past narrative and writing a new one.

Memories of the Jeju 4·3 Incident began to surface in the late 1980s. The film is set in 1998, a period of transition when the issue evolved from a regional wound to a matter of national investigation and truth-seeking. Previously, it existed only in the language of literature, art, and civil society. This is why novelist Hyun Ki-young, after publishing "Aunt Suni," had to endure detention and interrogation.

Director Chung captures the moment when personal recovery and historical healing begin simultaneously. To show that the Jeju 4·3 Incident continues to impact the present lives of survivors, he presents fragments of memory and uses school violence as a metaphor for the mechanisms of state violence. Unlike his previous works such as "Jiseul" (2013), which realistically depicted the terror of villagers trapped in caves, this film traces how grand narratives ultimately manifest in individual lives. The goal is not mere reenactment, but empathy.

Still cut from the movie 'My Name'.

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It is an interesting shift, considering that Director Chung has long dealt with institutional violence. In his previous films, such as "Nambugun" (1990), "White Badge" (1992), "Black Money" (2019), and "The Boys" (2023), battlefields and courtrooms served as spaces for uncovering the truth. In "My Name," remnants of history are discovered in everyday life.

Although the focus has moved from public spaces to private ones, the critical perspective has deepened. Generations who have experienced war and national division often raise the next generation in silence. The unspoken past operates in families in different forms: unexplained sensitivity, tacit taboos, and excessive anxiety. The children’s generation experiences only the outcomes, not knowing the causes. This demonstrates that the way historical tragedies are passed down is not limited to textbook knowledge or explicit memories.

Seventy-eight years have passed, and commemorating the past has become commonplace. However, the emotions left by the past are seldom addressed. Knowing about an event and understanding the wounds it caused are different matters. The same goes for recording history and breaking the silence. The film pinpoints this gap with precision. A new name is possible, but the emotions that have accumulated over the years are not so easily resolved. If the past remains unexplained, can the future truly be free?

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