Come, Come, Come Upwards! (1989)

Come, Come, Come Upwards! 1989 / 아제아제 바라아제 1989 / Come Come Come Upward , Aje aje bara aje

The movie (directed by Im Kwon-taek) follows the divergent paths of two young nuns. Both leave the temple and weather the challenges of an earthly world that tests their faith. When the two women finally return to the temple, their fates could not be more different. For lack of discipline, Sun Nyog struggles after joining a Buddhist temple as a nun. She saves an alcoholic from suicide but he later rapes her and she is forced out of the temple. Still, she grows fond of him. Another nun, Jin Song, is a grim ascetic who does well at the temple. She goes to the mountains to do a long retreat in a cave, but a brutal old monk who is there rapes her. Meanwhile, Sun Nyog returns to the nunnery to attend to the dying abbess and shows her spiritual superiority.