<People of Ko-bang Neighborhood (Kkobangdongne salamdeul)> (1982)

Director : Bae Chang-Ho
Production Company : Hyeon Jin
Date of Rate : 1982-07-02
Date of Theatrical Release : 1982-07-17
Running Time : 108 min.
Opening Theater : Pureun Theater
Genre : Social Drama

Staff :
Writer : Lee Dong-Cheol
Screenplay(Adaptation) : Bae Chang-Ho
Producer : Kim Won-Du
Director of PhotoGraphy : Jeong Kwang-Seok
Gaffer : Song Mun-Seob
Music : Kim Young-Dong
Art Director : Lee Myeong-Su
Editor : Kim Hee-Su

Cast(Actor/Actress) :
Kim Bo-Yun, Ahn Seong-Ki, Kim Hee-Ra, Kim Hyeong-Ja

Synopsis

In a poor neighborhood of Seoul, the inhabitants live together in harmony despite their difficult circumstances. Myeong-suk (Kim Bo-yeon), who lives in the neighborhood, always wears a pair of black gloves. She has been raising her son Jun-il (Cheon Dong-seok) by herself, but when she marries a hoodlum named Tae-sub (Kim Hee-ra), she gets saddled with the responsibility of supporting him as well. Jun-il, who has never known his real father, keeps getting into trouble out of a sense of rebellion. Myeong-suk opens a shop with her hard-earned money and business begins to thrive. Then one day, Jun-il's father Ju-seok (Ahn Sung-ki) comes back into her life. Ju-seok is a cab driver, but he used to pick pockets for a living. For this reason, he has been to prison no less than three times, leaving Myeong-suk alone soon after they were wed. Myeong-suk waited for him over and over, but he kept getting sent to prison and she was finally unable to wait any longer. Ju-seok reminds Myeong-suk that he is Jun-il's real father, and asks her to come back to him. When Tae-sub finds out what is happening, Tae-sub declares to Myeong-suk that he loves her and tells Ju-seok to leave. He beats up Myeong-suk and reveals to Jun-il, who thinks his father is dead, that Ju-seok is his real father and a former pickpocket who has been serving time in prison. Jun-il runs away from home, and his mother searches all over for him. Realizing that Jun-il has been thrown into confusion because of Ju-seok, she decides to sell her store and move far away. But Tae-sub, who has been hiding the fact that he once killed a man, meets his victim's wife with only a few days to go until the statute of limitations for his crime is due to expire, and is wracked by guilt. Upon learning the truth, Myeong-suk gives the money she received for the shop to the dead man's wife and tries to leave with Tae-sub. Insisting that he must pay for his crime, Tae-sub turns himself in to the police and asks Ju-seok to leave with Myeong-suk. As she is about to set off with her son, towing a cart loaded with their belongings, Ju-seok's taxicab stops in front of her. At that moment, Myeong-suk's black gloves come off her hands. In the end, Myeong-suk and Jun-il get into Ju-seok's taxi and the three of them depart together.
Meanwhile, Pastor Gong (Song Jae-ho) builds a church in the neighborhood clearing to give the people faith and help them to become independent. Kil-ja, who has lived a destitute life, develops feelings for Gong and gets a new start in life with his help.

Notes

"Bae Chang-ho's debut film, which showcases his subtle directorial skill in vividly portraying Seoul's hillside slums and features a passionate performance by Kim Bo-yeon"
People of Ko-bang Neighborhood is the directorial debut of Bae Chang-ho, who was 29 years at the time it was made. The movie tells the stories of the diverse inhabitants living together in a poor neighborhood of Seoul in the early 1980s people who had nothing to their name after leaving their hometowns for the city. The central focus is placed on Myeong-suk, known by her nickname "Black Gloves." The camera realistically depicts the structural contradictions of Seoul by using long shots to capture urban development sites and alienated slums. The life led by Myeong-suk, who struggles to raise her child alone among violent and irresponsible men, delivers a deep emotional impact without veering into sentimentality. The understanding of social reality that informs this film appears to be a result of Bae Chang-ho's experience as an assistant director on Lee Jang-ho's Good Windy Day (Balambul-eo joh-eun nal). His trademark long takes and lyrical aesthetic come through with great beauty and reality in spite of the crude camera equipment. The plaintive final scene of the movie in which Myeong-suk looks at herself in a cracked mirror as she leaves the slums, where she lived an indigent but compassionate life is especially effective in intensively revealing her determination to overcome her difficult circumstances.

Afterword:

- Because of the double censorship system in effect at the time advance censorship of the screenplay followed by a second inspection of the finished print Bae Chang-ho's movie went through multiple revisions. The censorship board, which did not want a film depicting the actual lives of the city's poor to be made, subjected the screenplay to numerous overrulings and rejections before begrudgingly approving it, with more than 60 amendments and a proviso to discard the title, People of Ko-bang Neighborhood.
- The majority of movie was shot in a now-vanished slum area in Cheolsan-dong, Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi-do. The inhabitants fiercely protested, asking, "Why are you filming our down-and-out lives?" During night shoots, the loud noises from the generator awakened the neighborhood residents, who would get up in arms and drive the crew away.

Director Bio: Bae Chang-ho (1953- )

After graduating from college in 1977, he began acquiringon the set experience working as an assistant director to director Lee Jang-ho. He made his directorial debut with People of Ko-bang Neighborhood (Kkobangdongne salamdeul) and went on to make Iron Men (Cheolindeul) (1982), The Flower at the Equator (Jeokdo-ui kkoch) (1983), Whale Hunting (Goraesanyang), The Winter That Year Was Warm (Geu hae gyeo-ul-eun ttatteushaessne), Deep Blue Night (Gipgo puleun bam) (1984), Whale Hunting 2 (Goraesanyang 2) (1985), Hwang Jin-I (Hwang Jini) (1986), Our Joyful Young Days (Gippeun wuri jeolmeun-nal), Hello God (An-nyeonghaseyo Hananim) (1987), The Dream (Kkum) (1990), Stairways of Heaven(Cheongug-ui gyedan) (1992), The Young man(Jeolm-eun namja) (1995), and Love Story (Leobeuseutoli) (1996). He has an affinity for long takes and is recognized for the lyrical melodramatic beauty of his films. He is considered to be part of the Korean New Wave of the 1980s.