A Jump Cut to Art: Im Kwon Taek Retrospective in IFFK 2007

Perhaps the tongue-twister name of the director may not be as familiar with the film-buffs as that of Almodóvar or Kim Ki Duc. But Im Kwon Taek, one of the best known and most prolific directors from South Korea, has done what most mainstream Malayalam film makers desperately crave to do: making a successful transition from commercial to art films – and remaining successful in both. Even his life resembles the rags-to-riches story of a bollywood film.
Im Kwon Taek was born in a remote village in South Korea on May 2, 1936 in an impoverished family. He went Pusan in search of a job and worked there as a laborer in a shoe factory. Later he moved to Seoul and started working as a production assistant of Jeong Chang-hwa, an active film director of that time. Soon he learned the tricks of the trade and gained enough confidence direct a movie. He made his directorial debut in 1962 with the film Farewell to the Duman River. Soon he followed it with many box-office hits of various genres. But by the end of 1970s, he realized the necessity to make more meaningful films. His second innings, as a serious film-maker, started in 1981 with the film Mandala. His most recent famous films are Sopyonje and Chunhyang, both of which are included in the retrospective here. Both the films are marked by the fantastic use of Korean classical music, Pansori, and beautiful frames. The following are the synopsis of his films included in the retrospective (Source: Wikipedia, www.koreanfilms.com).

1. Sopyonje (112 min, 1993)
One day in the early 1960’s, Dongho, a man in his thirties (Kim Kyu-Chul) arrives at a village inn. He is absorbed in deep thought while listening to a Pansori song by a woman of the inn. In his childhood, Yubong, a vagabond singer of Pansori (Kim Myung-Gon), comes to his village. Yubong falls in love with Dongho’s widowed mother. He leaves the village with Dongho, the widow, and his adopted daughter Songhwa (Oh Jung-Hae). However, the widow dies while delivering Yubong’s baby. Yubong teaches Songhwa Pansori music, and teaches Dongho the drum. Songhwa and Dongho are raised as a pair of Pansori singer and drummer. They wander about doing Pansori for a living, but their lives are getting harder during and after the Korean civil war. With the influence of western culture, Pansori gradually becomes less appreciated and favored, even despised by people. Dissatisfied with his miserable life, Dongho leaves home after having a dispute with Yubong. Broken hearted, Songhwa refuses to do Pansori. Yubong makes her go blind in an attempt to complete her Pansori. Blind Songhwa manages to lead a pitiable life after Yubong’s death. Time passes and Dongho comes back with guilty feelings to look for Songhwa and Yubong. He finally encounters Songhwa. Songhwa sings her Pansori at his request with the accompaniment of his drum. After spending one night together, they separate again. Songhwa leaves to continue her vagabond life.

2. The Tae Black Mountains (105 min, 1994)

Six years after renouncing the secular world to solve the riddle of life and death, young Buddhist monk Beob-wun (Ahn Sung-ki) is still roaming the country without coming any closer to enlightenment. While riding a bus, he sees a recreant monk placed in a predicament because he does not have his identification. He helps out the monk, named Ji-san (Jeon Mu-song), and the two begin to travel together. Ji-san, who always has a bottle of booze on hand and even carries around a suicide pill, sometimes seems like an enlightened saint and at other times like a reprobate infected by secular life. At first, Beob-wun regards Ji-san's eccentricities as mere outward show and despises him for it, but he increasingly senses an extraordinariness about his traveling companion. After repeated meetings and partings, the two monks settle down at a small temple deep in the mountains. While climbing up to the temple one day in an inebriated state, Ji-san falls asleep in the snow and freezes to death. Beob-wun burns Ji-san's remains and seeks out his own mother (Park jung-ja). He also meets Ok-sun, a woman Ji-san had never gotten over. His meetings reaffirm the futility of all secular relationships, and young Beob-wun sets off on his ascetic path once more.

3. Chunhyang (120 min, 2000)
The story of Chunhyang is a centuries-old Romeo and Juliet-like tale of young lovers. The governor's son, Mongryong (Cho Seung-woo), falls in love with the lovely Chunhyang (Lee Hyo-jung) while out on a day trip, and marries her without his father's knowledge. With his high standing, Mongryong is expected to take a test that will enable him to obtain a lofty career position. Since Chunhyang is of a lower caste, their marriage could jeopardize his career. Unfortunately, Mongryong's father gets appointed to a position in Seoul, and he is forced to move away from his new bride. Even worse, the new governor attempts to make Chunhyang a courtesan, but she refuses, staying faithful to her husband. The new governor jails her and sentences her to death.

4. The General's Son 1 (108 min, 1990) and The General's Son 2 (1991)
Kim Doo-han lost his mom at the age of eight and he survives on the streets as a singing beggar. His natural born fighting skills places him on the mean streets of Jongro with the kisaeng house Woomigwan at the center. He is soon recognized for his incredible strength and ability. He finds out through Shin Ma-jeok, the head of a student gang, that he is the son of General Kim Jwa-jin who fought against the Japanese army. Meanwhile, the Yakuzas expand their sphere of influence and try to take over the Jongro streets but Doo-han protects the Korean vendors of Jongro and wins their respect. When the head of Woomigwan, Kim Gi-hwan is arrested, Doo-han becomes the leader of the Jongro gang.

6. Surrogate Mother (95 min, 1987)

Surrogate Mother is set in the Joseon Dynasty. Shin Sang-gyu, the firstborn son in a distinguished family, and his wife Yun (Bang Hee) fail to produce an offspring. After much deliberation, his mother (Han Eun-jin) and his uncle Shin Chi-ho (Yoon Yang-ha) decide to bring in a woman to receive Sang-gyu's seed and give birth to an heir. Shin Chi-ho personally seeks out a village inhabited by women known to perform such surrogate services, and chooses Ok-nyeo (Kang Soo-yeon), the daughter of a former surrogate mother named Pil-nyeo (Kim Hyeong-ja), for his nephew. On the night of the consummation, Sang-gyu is captivated by Ok-nyeo's beauty and becomes enamored of her, to the intense jealousy of his wife Yun. When Ok-nyeo shows signs of being with child, the entire household exalts her. Even Ok-nyeo forgets her place for a while and comes genuinely to love Sang-gyu. Pil-nyeo looks back on her own past and remonstrates with her daughter, but Ok-nyeo refuses to listen. The moment Ok-nyeo gives birth to her son, he is placed in the arms of Sang-gyu's wife Yun. The Shin family rejoices, but Ok-nyeo is ordered to leave the house that very night, without ever having seen her son's face. One year later, Ok-nyeo rebels against the inhuman tradition of her time by hanging herself outside the house where her son lives.

7. Festival (103 min, 1996)

Jun Sub, a successful novelist, returns to the village of his youth for his mother’s funeral. The estranged family members bristle in each other’s company as the film compares the plot of one of Jun Sub’s novels with his own family.

8. Chihwaseon (Painted Fire) (2001)

Essentially the same movie as Julie Taymor's Frida, Chihwaseon tells the life story of a famous 19th-century Korean artist. It contains many great and beautiful passages, but the overall effect is too fast and basic. This film depicts the life of a drunken, womanizing, self-obsessed but brilliant artist. Jang Seung-Ub, also known as "Ohwon," is an outsider, a lower-class artist who teaches himself through raw perseverance and talent, while all other Korean artists rely on their upper-class upbringing. Ohwon paints with passion, while they paint with training. When a Japanese nobleman commissions a painting, he asks Ohwon how he achieved such high standing from such low beginnings. So begins the crash course in Ohwon's life. In the beginning, a man named Kim Byung-moon saves the young Ohwon from a beating in the street. The young boy draws him a picture by way of thanks, and Kim takes him on as an apprentice. In fits and starts, we see Ohwon variously working with his own young apprentice, going through women like they were toilet paper, drinking a lot, avoiding the volatile politics of the time and of course, painting.