Movie Review: Innocent Witness — Jung Woo-sung’s Sincerity and a Perspective Beyond Prejudice
🎬 My Fondness for Jung Woo-sung
I was interested from the start because it stars Jung Woo-sung. I personally really like him.
I’ve never really been into specific idols or had much of a fan following for celebrities, but Jung Woo-sung is different.
I’ve always liked the seriousness and intensity he shows on screen.
Sometimes it’s a bit of a shame when he plays a villain… haha.
In this movie, Innocent Witness, I was even happier to see him play such an honest and upright character.
To me, Yang Soon-ho felt like a Type AB character, while Ji-woo, the girl on the autism spectrum, seemed like a Type A.
The chemistry between the two was a major highlight of the film.
🔽 Want to see the chemistry between an ISTP female lead and an ESFJ male lead?
🕵️ Plot
A mysterious incident occurs in a house in a certain village. An elderly man’s body is found with a bag over his head…
There was a witness watching this terrible commotion from afar: a girl on the autism spectrum living in the house directly opposite.
Ji-woo wasn’t someone with low intelligence; she was assessed as having sensitive hearing and a lack of social skills. However, she witnesses the old man’s death through her window.
The suspect was the housekeeper, who claims she was trying to help the old man as he attempted suicide. But Ji-woo’s account clearly describes it as an attack. Lawyer Yang Soon-ho (Jung Woo-sung) takes on this case.
💡 Reflections
The Temptation of Power and Compromise
The movie occasionally shows societal contradictions, the power of the ruling class, and wrongdoings.
The ruling class is represented by Lee Byung-woo, the CEO of the law firm where Soon-ho works.
Lee Byung-woo invites Soon-ho to a drinking party and pressures him to enjoy the company of hostesses,
offering him a big case as a condition.
I really liked Jung Woo-sung’s acting in that scene.
The subtle acting that showed his regret after the party was over.
As someone who tries to live an upright life, it was truly impressive.
If he had given in even a little and gone down the wrong path, I would have felt terrible.
A Father’s Letter
Speaking of regret, Yang Soon-ho’s father is also a great man.
The father writes a letter to his son.
“When you said you wanted to enter the legal profession as a child, I was so happy.
It wasn’t just because you were becoming a lawyer, but because I thought you had grown up so well.
And anyone can make a mistake.
Love yourself; only then can you love others.”
The moment I read this letter, I felt my heart ache.
How did the father, who stayed at home, grasp his son’s situation just by the atmosphere? I thought he was an amazing person.
On Prejudice
One of the key words of the movie is ‘prejudice.’
To be honest, I haven’t had much prejudice toward disabilities since becoming an adult. I’ve always thought of it as something natural.
The autism spectrum is often judged as a lack of intelligence, but I think it’s actually just that communication feels relatively difficult because other abilities are so superior. For example, being able to calculate rapidly or having computer-like precision in observation.
If you had computer-like intelligence, wouldn’t slow conversations feel frustrating? From Ji-woo’s perspective, she might actually think ordinary people are the strange ones.
Even a friend of mine who was close to me—and in a profession that should be free of prejudice—once showed a negative view of the autism spectrum. I don’t completely fail to understand it.
Because some people just dislike things that are new or different.
But wouldn’t they want to step outside that fence? For their whole lives?
Now, with future technology, human lifespan will easily reach 100 years, and even 500 or 1,000 years will be possible.
During that long time, how many people will be content living like a hamster on a wheel inside a fence?
I wonder: is this wrong, or is it just different?
I’m not sure yet, but my path is to experience the world outside the fence.
I believe this is the path to making the world warmer and brighter, even if I can’t judge what is right or wrong.
📽️ Wrapping Up
I highly recommend watching Innocent Witness, as it’s rated for ages 12 and up.
How did you find this movie?
