Sister Yujeong (언니 유정): What’s in This Title?

👭“Sister Yujeong” is a delicate film that explores the complex nature of a deep bond between two sisters. So what’s in this title? Birth order followed by an interesting word order.


🎬 Main trailer (English subs):

📝 About the Film: cultureflipper.com/blog/sister-yujeong

Psy’s “Gangnam Style” popularized the term “oppa,” and as you might have guessed, there is a counterpart: “unnie” (an older sister). This word in the Korean title establishes the birth order right off the bat, but this context is lost in the English word “sister.” Although it refers to an actual blood relation in this film, “unnie” is a form of address used by women to refer to other women they’re close to in various social contexts: an older friend; an older classmate; a friend’s older sister; an older sister-in-law with whom you’re on good terms; and even a waitress who looks too young to be an “ajumma” (married or middle-aged woman).

The younger sister Gi-jeong in the film would naturally call her older sister “Yujeong unnie,” but the word order is switched in the title. This switch inadvertently results in a nun reference in English, but oh well. In Korean, though, the unconventional format delivers an intriguing tone, and by using “unnie” almost as an adjective, it further emphasizes Yujeong’s self discovery in understanding what it truly means to be an older sister to Gi-jeong.