Berlinale: Open your teacher’s armored heart!

This year, children’s films from all over the world are once again demanding a lot from their target group at the Berlinale. Even in the Generation Kplus section, together with an eight-year-old alpaca shepherd, they experience how a mining company massively threatens their nature-loving way of life (“Raiz”, ages 7 and up) or have to witness the fears two sisters in Lima endure when they are attacked by the guerrilla group “Luminous Path” can be picked up at night (“Reinas”, from 12).

The world of the protagonist of Kim Hye-young’s South Korean feature film debut “It’s Okay,” which is recommended for ages 11 and up, is actually not okay at all. Nevertheless, with her unbiased nature and her courage, In-Young always manages to laugh in the face of fate and make the best of it. In-young is played captivatingly by 17-year-old actress Lee Re, who celebrated her breakthrough as a child actress in Lee Joon-ik’s drama “Hope” at the age of seven.

Right at the beginning of the film, the high school student loses her single mother in a car accident while performing with her dance group overseas. From now on she lives alone and manages to evade the youth welfare office for the time being. She continues to rehearse with her ambitious troupe, which rehearses traditional Korean dances. The sequences from rehearsals and performances, harmoniously woven into the plot, impress with the young dancers’ precision and ability to concentrate. This female cosmos is dominated by the strict chief choreographer Seol-ah, who is fascinatingly embodied by Jin Seo-yeon. This pathologically disciplined woman does not accept the slightest mistake in herself or others.

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In-young is also bullied by her fellow dancers because she no longer has to pay for her own training since her mother died. In particular, Na-ri, the daughter of a sponsor from the renowned school, is giving her a hard time. In-young’s only support is a friendly pharmacist in her neighborhood, to whom she can also show her grieving side, and an old school friend, played by Lee Jung-ha, the superhuman hero of the Disney action series “Moving”.

When the landlord throws her out because of her overdue rent, she secretly moves to the dance school with all her belongings. This doesn’t go well for long, her teacher Seol-ah catches her and grudgingly takes her in for a few days. Of course, she first sets up a lot of rules. Her perfect apartment speaks volumes; In-young is graciously allowed to set up a sleeping tent in her private dance hall in the basement. The girl is horrified to discover that Seol-ah only eats bright green smoothies. In an imaginative scene, she imagines Seol-ah as an evil witch who is only slightly inferior to Angelina Jolie’s “Mistress of Evil”.

But with carefree baby steps, In-Young manages to penetrate her teacher’s armored heart. Seol-ah is also obviously a victim of an over-ambitious mother – just like her fellow dancers, who are terrified of failing. Until the big final performance for the 60th anniversary of the Seoul International Arts Company, the choreographer and her dancers have to learn to emancipate themselves from their demanding mothers, who were themselves students at this school. This is how disciplined lone fighters become a dance troupe that works together joyfully.

The story is quite predictable and the film blatantly falls into the category of fairytale encouragement films in which friendship and a sense of community are sold as the key to happiness. Nevertheless, In-Young’s cheerful fighting spirit is infectious and gives the dance drama a special magic. Ultimately, the cinema should always be a place of refuge and dreaming – especially for young viewers. And lo and behold – the children’s jury of the Generation Kplus section awarded him a Crystal Bear.

»It’s okay«, South Korea 2023. Directed by Kim Hye-young. Starring Lee Re, Jin Seo-yeon, Chung Su-bin, Son Suk-ku, Lee Jung-ha. 102 min. Date: February 25th, HKW1

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