As an old lady looks into the distance where high-voltage power pylons are visible, green leaves sprout from a dead tree nearby, and she looks at her son’s back. Senior citizen Kim Mal-hae, who has protested the construction of pylons for ten years, married young to avoid becoming “a comfort woman” and lost her husband and parents-in-law in the Bodo League massacre. She has considered committing suicide with her two sons; despite living entirely for them, she couldn’t look after them the way she wanted to. Rather than exploring her past, this film quietly observes her present daily routine as she forages for vegetables or sits on a bench. Embracing her life in Miryang, The Whispering Trees explores how connected people and spaces really are. The sight of the towering pylons making their ugly presence felt, disconcerts and raises questions. Showing Mrs Kim sitting on her bench or among the protesters, like David versus Goliath, the film aims its questioning gaze at the invaders rather than at the people protecting the place.(LEE Seung-min)