Why you can trust 12DOVE
South Korean Young-Chan is the ‘snail’ of Yi Seung-jun’s prize-winning documentary.
Deaf and blind, he’s reliant on his tactile senses, using finger-tapping to communicate.
His wife Soon-ho has a debilitating spinal problem, so what emerges is a touching study (in more ways than one) of the trials, terrors and triumphs of living with physical disability.
Never patronising nor begging for sympathy, it attempts to show how this couple experience the world, from the sensual delights of walking along a seashore to the very real ordeal of changing a light bulb.
Shame the pace is so snail-like.
James Mottram is a freelance film journalist, author of books that dive deep into films like Die Hard and Tenet, and a regular guest on the Total Film podcast. You'll find his writings on 12DOVE and Total Film, and in newspapers and magazines from across the world like The Times, The Independent, The i, Metro, The National, Marie Claire, and MindFood.