Habitual Sadness

Title Habitual Sadness 2 (Naj-eun mogsoli 2)
(Follow-up to "The Murmuring")
Year of Production 1997
Director Byeon Young-Ju

The story of the women at the "House of Sharing" continues. The old women who share a common bond lead a peaceful life in the countryside, raising vegetables, chickens and painting pictures. They are no different from the elderly women we see everyday. But they are all marked by pain and sorrow from their shared history of being comfort women during World War 2. They became subject to prejudice in their own homeland after their return to Korea. It is painful for them to watch other peoples' children and grandchildren, and they feel rage when the Japanese government tries to cover up the crimes they committed against them. The films asks us to remember what these women sacrificed and the shame and misery they faced even as these individuals pass away often forgotten by their own people.