Reference
Plucked from a modern society, Sang-Woo is taken to live with his grandmother while his mother looks for work back home in the city. Sang-woo doesn't understand the traditional village life and calls his grandmother every name he can think of since she is a mute and he doesn't know how to communicate with her. He doesn't know how to fend for himself as his grandmother patiently helps him adjust. His anger at being left there is expressed through his disrespectful behavior such as throwing food, throwing tantrums and name calling. But in the middle of the night when he has to go to the bathroom, he quickly learns he has to use a chamber pot and he is disgusted.
He clings to his electronic video game that keeps him distracted from his new life and connected to his old life. But his batteries die out and he just has to have new batteries to be able to survive in his new world. Each day his grandmother selflessly takes care of him and works hard to make sure his clothes are clean and he has food to eat. He steals her only valuable treasure - her hairpin - while she is sleeping on the porch and runs to buy batteries. But, he had no clue how far he had to walk and how hard the trip would be. His grandmother was waiting for when he returns empty handed, tired and crying.
He so desperately wants KFC but his grandmother only understands chicken. So she takes her him and some melons to the market and tries to sell them on the street or trade them. To get to the market they have to walk far and wait for the bus. On the way back, Sang-woo decides he is riding the bus with some neighbors because he is smitten with the neighbor girl, leaving his grandmother and the chicken behind. He waits for her when he gets off the bus thinking she will be on the next bus, but she does not return. Instead she returns the next morning walking form the market in the rain all night. She make the chicken for him and he is angry that she didn't understand Kentucky Fried Chicken. He throws the food in another tantrum. His grandmother takes ill and he cares for her. Once recovered, he returns to his usual spoiled self.
Sang-woo's grandmother needs him to thread her needle for sewing and this frustrates him that she cannot do it herself. From the beginning he would begrudgingly thread the needle and throw it back to her.
As the film continues, the viewer can see growth in Sang-woo but it is not consistent. His mother finally returns and now he is genuinely concerned about his grandmother. He threads as many needles as he can for her before he has to leave and he tries to teach her to write to him showing her the words for "I am sick" and "I miss you."
The final scene of him boarding the bus and signing to her from the back window gives the viewer hope that no all was lost on him from his grandmother's unconditional love.
