I Can Speak

Nah Ok-Bun is an elderly woman who is notorious for filing citizen's complaint at her district office and is nicknamed "Goblin Granny". When Ok-Bun meets Park Min Jae, a young man who has recently been appointed as a junior civil service officer, she is dissatisfied with his attitude of not caring about her complaints and only trying to do the jobs that are assigned to him.

But there is an opportunity for these two as Ok-Bun wants to learn English. The senior class run by the local resident center does not fit her level, and the class at the English academy is too fast-paced and so she is eventually kicked out of the class. Ok-Bun sees Min Jae speaking English very fluently with a native speaker in the academy. Forgetting all the troubles she had with Min Jae, Ok-Bun asks Min Jae to teach her English. Min Jae refuses Ok-Bun's request because he does not want to take on the troublesome role. When Min Jae sees Ok-Bun taking care of his younger brother, Young Jae, he is moved by her warmth and agrees to become her English teacher. Min Jae teaches Ok-Bun and Ok-Bun's English improves.

Min Jae learns that Ok-Bun wishes to learn English to continue her friend Jeong-Shim's dream of testifying at the comfort women public hearing in Washington D.C. Ok-Bun and Jeong-Shim were both victims of the Japanese Military during World War II. Although Ok-Bun has prepared what to say in the public hearing, she can hardly speak as she is overwhelmed by the pressure she feels in the unfamiliar surroundings. When people start to question Ok-Bun's behavior, she hears and sees Min Jae in the audience which gives her the courage to testify against the atrocities of the Japanese Military.

I Can Speak was released in theaters in Korea on September 21, 2017. On its opening weekend it topped the local box office, grossing US$5.2 million from 727,000 admissions over four days.^[5][6] By September 29, 2017, the film had surpassed the 1 million viewer mark and collected a total of US$8.1 million in ticket sales.^[7] During the Korean Chuseok holiday weekend, the movie attracted 462,939 viewers,^[8] increasing the total number of ticket sale to 2.86 million.^[9] According to the Korean Film Council, just twenty days after its release, I Can Speak had attracted 3 million viewers.^[10]

The film has won the prize for the "Comfort Women" victim scenario project which was sponsored by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. It was selected through a competition rate of 75: 1. The film was praised for its lively approach to the issue of comfort women which is based on anger and sadness. It was also selected for family film production support of Korean Film Council.