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MONEY
Did you know
Shot for just $2.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
Secret Sunshine
2007 2h 23m KO
👍
7.2
SOLID
★7.2TMDB · 250
Drama
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
Shin-ae moves to her recently late husband’s hometown. Despite her efforts to settle in this unfamiliar and too-normal place, she finds that she can’t fit in. After a sudden tragedy, Shin-ae turns to Christianity to relieve her pain, but when even this is not permitted, she wages a war against God.
“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”
Where to watch · US
Cast
Jeon Do-yeon
Lee Shin-ae
Song Kang-ho
Kim Jong-chan
Jo Young-jin
Park Do-seop
Seon Jeong-yeop
Jun
Kim Young-jae
Lee Min-ki
Park Myung-shin
Female Missionary
Cha Mi-kyung
Boutique Owner
Oh Man-seok
Pastor
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Lee Chang-dong
- Writers
- Yi Cheong-jun, Lee Chang-dong
- Languages
- Korean
- Countries
- South Korea
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Made its money back 4.0× over at the box office.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
ERA
Did you know
Released 19 years ago.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Lee Chang-dong, shot by Cho Yong-kyu. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Christian Basso. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Kim Hyun shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Jeon Do-yeon and Song Kang-ho and Jo Young-jin carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
WILD
Did you know
IMDB entry: tt0817225 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Lee Chang-dong directs. Cho Yong-kyu behind the camera. Christian Basso scores. Kim Hyun cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in South Korea. Dialogue in Korean.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Shot for just $2.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
- 2Made its money back 4.0× over at the box office.
- 3Released 19 years ago.
- 4Directed by Lee Chang-dong, shot by Cho Yong-kyu. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 5Original score by Christian Basso. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 6Editor Kim Hyun shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 7Jeon Do-yeon and Song Kang-ho and Jo Young-jin carry the top of the cast.
- 8IMDB entry: tt0817225 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 9Classified under 10 themes, including "mother", "based on novel or book", "faith", "suicide attempt".
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Cho Yong-kyu
- Original score
- Christian Basso
- Editing
- Kim Hyun
- Production design
- Shin Jeom-hee
- Costume design
- Cha Sun-young
- Makeup / hair
- Shin Jae-ho
- Runtime
- 143 min · 2h 23m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $2,900,000
- Box office
- $11,581,469
- Return
- 399% of budget
- Original language
- KO
- Certification (US)
- NR
Awards
- Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Feature Film
Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.
Also by
Lee Chang-dong
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Production companies
Who made it
Cinema Service
KR
Pinehouse Film
KR
CJ Entertainment
KR
Key crew
- Production DesignShin Jeom-hee
- EditorKim Hyun
- Special Effects SupervisorHong Jang-pyo
- Special Effects Makeup ArtistShin Jae-ho
- PropsJang Seok-hun
- Short StoryYi Cheong-jun
- Camera OperatorKim Byung-seo
- Costume DesignCha Sun-young
- Makeup & HairSong Jong-hee
- Supervising Sound EditorSeo Yeong-jun
- Script SupervisorLee Jong-un
- ProducerLee Han-na
- Lighting DirectorChu In-sik
- Assistant DirectorJeong Seung-koo
- Line ProducerJe Jeong-ju
- Executive ProducerKim In-soo
- Executive ProducerLee Chang-dong
- SoundSteve R. Seo
- ColoristLee Yong-ki
- Music CoordinatorSantiago Zambonini
- PublicistJoshua Jason
- PublicistReza Sixo Safai
- Sound Effects DesignerKim Yong-joo
- Production Sound MixerYoon Hae-jin
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- mother
- based on novel or book
- faith
- suicide attempt
- loss of loved one
- move
- migration
- church
- child kidnapping
- miryang
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical2010-12-22NR
Also known as
International titles
- 密陽KR
- MilyangKR
- シークレット・サンシャインJP
- 밀양KR
- Sol SecretoBR
- シークレット・サンシャイン：2007JP
- Secret SunshineKR
