hankyoreh

South Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon won the best actress award at the Cannes film festival Sunday for her role in "Secret Sunshine" depicting a woman struggling to rearrange her life after the tragic deaths of her husband and only son.

Jeon is the second actress from South Korea to win an award at a major international film competition. Kang Soo-yeon won the best actress award at the 1987 Venice Film Festival for her role in "Surrogate Mother."

The 34-year-old actress was considered a favorite from early on, gaining acclaim for her powerful performance as a young mother whose life is suddenly torn apart. It was directed by Lee Chang-dong, a former South Korean culture minister who previously was the director of award-winning local films like "Peppermint Candy" and "Oasis."

"I cannot believe it," Jeon said as she received the award.

"I heard there were many fascinating actresses who performed wonderfully, and I'm not sure if I'm entitled to stand here on behalf of them. I thank the Cannes and the judges who gave me this honor."

"Secret Sunshine" tells the story of Shin-ae, played by Jeon, who leaves Seoul for a remote town to rearrange her life after her unfaithful husband is killed in a car accident. Shin-ae tries her hardest to adjust to the provincial community and not to be looked down upon as a single mother, sometimes by ostentatiously pretending to be rich. Her behavior eventually causes her tragic fall when a neighbor abducts her only son and kills him after she fails to provide a huge ransom.

The movie revolves around Shin-ae's misery and the unrequited love from a nonchalant, easygoing car repair shop owner, played by Song Kang-ho. Throughout the story, the issue of religious salvation prevails as Shin-ae tries to find solace in Christianity and then bitterly turns away from it after finding her own falsity.

Jeon is one of the most versatile and well-known actresses in the South Korean movie industry, having performed a wide range of roles from that of an unfaithful urban wife (Happy End) and a countryside tomboy (My Mother, the Mermaid) to a reticent, tradition-ridden widow (Untold Scandal). She rose to stardom with the 1997 box-office hit, "The Contact."