'Peppermint Candy' reveals the inextricable connection between an individual and the greater political movements he lives within, in its most unadulterated and pitiful way.

South Korean political history of the previous twenty years, Peppermint Candy is not tempered by its hysterical edge, which adds unpredictable violence to its vignettes of romantic, domestic, and business failure.

Lee Chang-dong presents a melodrama that stands apart from the plethora of similar productions due to its intense political element, because it doesn't lose its seriousness at any point and because it doesn't become hyperbolic in his effort to draw tears

The film offers a heartbreaking drama told in reverse chronology and spanning twenty years in both the life of the main character and the political history of Korea.