Seyong Jo's "Let's Dance"

"Let's Dance," by Seyong Jo,* is essentially a stylized documentary about abortion in Korea.  The movie includes fictionalized scenes, as in the beginning of the preview below, but the heart of the movie is a series of interviews with women who have undergone abortions in Korea.



The interviews are powerful.  Their strength comes from the startling openness and honesty of the women, who tell their stories in a a plain, straightforward way that nevertheless manages to be tremendously moving.  Although we don't hear the questions, the interviewer (Jo, I assume) clearly handled the interviews with considerable skill, reminiscent of Errol Morris.

The movie is refreshingly free of Michael Moore-style propaganda.  It depicts a demonstration against abortion, and also shows oral argument before the Supreme Court of Korea in a landmark case in which the court declined to overrule the country's anti-abortion statute.  But the movie never engages in polemics, instead letting the women speak for themselves.  The result is nuanced and complex, and leaves room for doubt and contradiction.  One woman holds a memorial service for her terminated child.

After the movie there was a brief Q&A session with Jo.  She said (through a translator) that there are cultural differences between Korea and the United States.  For instance, at one point in the movie, Korean women tend to start crying, but in America that wasn't the case.  I decided not to speak up, but in truth I cried too.  Some things are universal.

* "Seyong Jo" is how her name is spelled on the website of the Chelsea Film Festival.  I have also seen it spelled "Se-young Jo" and "Se-yong Jo."  My understanding is that "Jo" is her family name and "Seyong" is her given name, which is why I refer to her as "Jo" in this review.