House of Hummingbird, originally titled Beol-sae (Korean: 벌새), is a 2018 South Korean coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Kim Bora. It stars Park Ji-hu, Kim Sae-byuk, Lee Ju-hyun and Kim Hye-jun.
The film centers around a lonely 14-year-old girl named Eun-hee, who lives in Seoul in 1994. It follows her as she navigates the turmoil of adolescence along with the various difficulties her family faces, including her parents’ loveless marriage and her brother’s intellectual disability.
With its hyper-realistic portrayal of 1990s Seoul and keen focus on the personal struggles of youth, many viewers have wondered whether House of Hummingbird is based on director Kim Bora’s real life experiences.
Is House of Hummingbird based on Kim Bora’s own adolescence?
In several interviews, Kim Bora has confirmed that House of Hummingbird is largely autobiographical, and reflects many of her own experiences growing up in 1990s Seoul.
“It is based on my adolescence and centered around my parents, siblings and friends back then,” the director told The Korea Herald. “I tried to be as honest as I could be about that period of my life.”
There are certainly many parallels between Kim’s real life and the film. Like Eun-hee, Kim grew up in a house with an abusive father and a sick brother. She also attended an all-girls middle school.
“The sequence where Eun-hee puts tissue papers over her breasts to make them look bigger, I did that too,” Kim told The Hollywood Reporter.
In a director’s statement, Kim said her own adolescence was a “humbling, at times painful process of slowly opening my eyes to the complex realities of the world beyond my own.” The movie aims to honestly portray the universal emotions and awakenings of teenage-hood.
Specific plot points and details from Kim Bora’s life
In addition to mimicking the general environment Kim grew up in, House of Hummingbird also contains many specific details from her real adolescence.
In an interview with media outlet Naver, Kim confirmed the portrayal of Eun-hee’s family is based on her own.
“Eun-hee’s household situation is very similar to what my home was like,” she said. Like Eun-hee has a sick brother, Kim had a brother with an intellectual disability as a child.
Many of Eun-hee’s memories and experiences also mirror Kim’s. For example, in one scene, Eun-hee pricks her breasts with needles as a shaman ritual after hearing it would make them grow larger. Kim said she did the same ritual herself as a teen.
The fictional character Yu-ri has many similarities to Kim’s real-life best friend from middle school. Yu-ri comes from an extremely wealthy family, much like Kim’s friend did. Specific details like Yu-ri’s pink pager are lifted directly from Kim’s memories.
Other moments in the film depict real incidents Kim witnessed but was not directly involved in herself. For example, the attempted double suicide by Eun-hee’s classmates after being scolded by their teacher is based on an event Kim heard happened at her own school.
Autobiographical fiction
While House of Hummingbird is heavily based on Kim Bora’s adolescent experiences, it should still be considered a fictional, narrative work rather than a true autobiography.
As a writer and filmmaker, Kim took creative liberties to craft Eun-hee’s story. The details are realistic, but not documented fact.
“It’s fiction based on the emotions I felt and things I pondered during that period,” Kim told The Korea Herald. “I dramatized parts of my adolescence from memory to use it as material.”
The film condenses events from Kim’s teenage years into one semester and focuses on the most emotional and meaningful moments. Many specific conversations and interactions were imagined by Kim for the purpose of the film.
So in summary – House of Hummingbird is not a true autobiography, but an autobiographical work of fiction based heavily on Kim Bora’s own adolescent experiences.
The setting
While not a perfect historical documentation, House of Hummingbird strives for authenticity in capturing the look and feel of everyday life for teenagers in 1990s Seoul.
“I put a lot of effort into reproducing the 1990s setting, since that’s when I grew up,” Kim told The Korea Herald. From the fashion and hairstyles to the music and technology, she took care to visually recreate 1990s South Korea through subtle details.
The economic situation during that time period is also accurately portrayed. South Korea was still recovering from the 1997 financial crisis, and many families were struggling financially. The movie reflects the wide wealth gap that existed then between richer and poorer families.
According to Kim, she did extensive research to make sure she got even the smallest details right, like the design of school uniforms. “I tried to be very faithful to the 1990s,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Key historical details about 1990s South Korea depicted in the film:
- High unemployment and economic recession
- Rapid spread of Western culture and fashion
- Growing wealth gap between social classes
- Lack of support for marginalized groups like disabled and abused children
- Conservative social attitudes about divorce and women
While the characters and plot are fictionalized, viewers in Korea have praised the authentic recreation of 1990s Korean society. The visual details help transport audiences back in time.
Conclusion
In summary, House of Hummingbird is not a true story per se, but contains many autobiographical elements from director Kim Bora’s own upbringing in 1990s Seoul. While some details are dramatized or imagined, the core emotional journey of the protagonist genuinely reflects Kim’s adolescent experiences.
So while not a biography or historical account, House of Hummingbird offers an emotionally honest and visually accurate depiction of the realities of growing up as a teenage girl in 1990s South Korea.
