Tiger Spirit 
Film Review
Title: Tiger Spirit
Director: Min Sook Lee

HOT DOC Tiger Spirit WEBSITE  

3 ½ Stars

Reviewed By: Katie Clancy (Calgary Correspondent - Canada) 

The split between North and South Korea was a devastating blow to many Koreans. As they search for a long-expected reunification they still experience the scars of the division and the loss of family and friends. Stoic in the face of their own tragedy, the people showcase the strength of their spirit.  Tiger Spirit explores the division of Korea into North and South, and its slow reunification. There are no walls to fall here, only a demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the ultra-modern South from its communist North. But the film is also filmmaker Min Sook Lee's exploration of the place where she was born, a place where she no longer completely belongs.  

The emotional vein of Tiger Spirit is the stories of the families split apart along with Korea. In the early days of the war many people escaped from the North expecting that reunification would occur within a matter of months or years. The governments of North and South Korea sometimes plan family reunions but due to the tenuous political climate between the countries the reunions are often cancelled. Filmmaker Min Sook Lee interviews the families in the South who have been separated, and the tenuous hope they have of once again seeing loved ones after fifty years.

As North and South Korea go about the very slow process of reunification, Min Sook Lee goes looking for a tiger. The tiger was once a symbol of Korea, one that still provides powerful feelings to some of its people. It was once a symbol of Korean resistance against Japanese rule and a powerful symbol of the strength and resilience of the Korean people. Lee joins ‘Tiger' Lim in his search for the Korean Tiger, thought to be extinct on the peninsula. She utilizes the symbolism of the Tiger as part of the symbol of reunification, never vilifying either side but instead using it as a key device to demonstrate how at least economically the countries are slowly coming together. 

Tiger Spirit demonstrates the resilience and strength of spirit of the Korean spirit. It is also a touching exploration by Min Sook Lee herself of what it means to belong somewhere. The desire to reunite what have become two very different countries over the course of fifty years is touching. Tiger Spirit provides a thoughtful exploration into the current state of Korea.