“Every time I see her, I hear the shutter click.”
After her father’s passing, Yeo-reum (played by Kim Si A), whose hobby was photography, no longer takes photos. That is until she meets Yeon-woo (played by Yoo Ga Eun), the school’s soccer star player. Without realising it, she uses her late father’s camera to take photos of her. When she develops the film, she discovers photos of her father’s high school lover (played by Kwak Min Kyu), uncovering a secret about her father in the process.
[WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD]
Although the premise of Summer’s Camera (directed by Divine Sung) is a little heavy and sad – we begin with Yeo-reum not being able to bring herself to use the last few shots of her father’s film roll, the overall vibes of the movie from the get-go has a rather soft and hopeful feeling about it. Maybe it’s because the colouring for the film gives it a warm and light tone while at the same time being a little muted and faded, giving it a rather “old film” look, which is perfect for the subject. I don’t usually talk about the more technical aspects of the films I watch since I’m no expert, but that was the first thing that struck me while watching the film.
Anyway, back to the film plot. When Yeo-reum chances upon her school’s soccer star player Yeon-woo, she is immediately drawn to her and ends up finally picking up her father’s camera again to take photos. Finally finishing his film roll, she develops the film and through her father’s photos, ends up getting to know about his high school lover – a man. She starts to wonder why her father who is gay ended up getting married and having her… So out of curiosity, she seeks out her father’s ex-lover who works as a barber, and starts to develop a friendship with him as she asks him about her father, their relationship, also using him as an “Aunt Agony.”
The whole film, being a coming-of-age film, had very cutesy vibes but also growing pains. So we get to experience that fluttering feelings of first love coupled with growing pains of adolescence, made worse by the fact that Yeo-reum is still grieving the loss of her father, and later on in the film, breaking up with her first love. Life is full of ups and downs after all.
One of the questions that was left unanswered though, was whether her father had committed suicide, and if so, why? Her father once mentioned to his ex-lover that he felt like the centre line, and we see Yeo-reum walking on the centre divider of the road… before we see her father doing the same just before his accident. Maybe Yeo-reum was trying to figure out her father’s last thoughts just before his passing?
The film ends with a flashback – to when Yeo-reum’s father first introduces her to photography, and we see that Yeo-reum first “hears the shutter sound” when she saw her father so focused on taking a photo. I guess we tend to take photos of the things we love, which is why Yeo-reum is inspired to take a shot whenever she sees something she likes. Yeo-reum realises that her father did love her and her mum when she sees photos of the both of them in her father’s old camera, finally giving her some closure perhaps.
For a coming-of-age film, Summer’s Camera dealt with heavy topics like suicide and grief in a somewhat breathable manner. The film doesn’t linger on the darkness and sadness for too long but gives it enough space to co-exist with the small joys of everyday life, so you leave the theatres with a light heart.
—
This film was screened at the 2025 Jeonju International Film Festival.
