<The Night before the Strike (Paeop jeonya)> (1990)

Director: Lee Eun, Chang Dong-hong, Chang Youn-hyun, Lee Jae-goo
Format: 16mm/ Color
Running Time: 105 minutes
Genre: Drama/Fiction

Staff :
Producer: Lee Yong-bae, Lee Eun
Script: Kong Su-young, Kim Eun-chae, Min Gyeong-cheol
Cinematography: Kim Jae-hong, Oh Cheung-ok, Lee Chang-joon
Lighting: Kim Jeong-ho, Song hoon, Lee Yoon-dong, Lee Chun-hyeong, Lim Tae-hyeong
Editor: Jeong Seong-jin, Jeong Jin-wan,
Music: Ahn Chi-hwan, Cho Seong-wook
Documentation: Kim Do-yeon, Hwang Kil-Chae

Cast(Actor/Actress) :
Kang Neung-won, Ko Dong-yeob, Kim Dong-bum, Park Jong-chul, Park Hong-kyu, Shin Jong-tae, Eom Kyung-hwan, Hwang Tae-un, Lee Duk-sin, Lee Eun-hee, Im Young-ku, Cho Hyeon-mo, Choi Il-soon, Hong Suk-yeon, Hwang Byung-do, Hwang Jin

Synopsis

Dongseong Metal employs over 200 impecunious workers at its production plant. One day, a new worker named Ju Wan-ik joins the Forging Team, and the team members welcome him with drinks and good cheer. Han-su, who is also a member of the Forging Team, longs to shake off the insufferable shackles of poverty. His dream, which he is determined to realize, is to work hard, save, and become rich someday. But to the management, the workers are mere machines that are unfortunately prone to breakage. Director Kim meticulously lays down his plans against the impending unionization of his laborers, and Han-su is recruited by his manager to stand on the side of the company.

Notes

"The greatest impact, achievement (and limitation) of the independent film community, which was born from the reform movement of the 1980s" (Kang So-won); "An extraordinary propaganda film that needs no further explanation"(Kim Dong-won) The Night before the Strike is the only non-commercial film among the 100 movies on this list, and it also appears on the list of 50 independent films. Although it is not a mainstream, commercial movie, it offers the most important clue to discerning how Korea's cinematic movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s and Korean society at large mutually influenced each other. From a formal standpoint, The Night before the Strike adheres to traditional, formulaic conventions. Some might even consider it an old-fashioned movie that adds sentimentalism to a thematic message about reform activism and there was, in fact, such criticism at the time. But it is also an undeniable fact that the film's propagandistic force stems from this very sentimentality. Whatever the case, the film's production, the government's efforts to suppress it, and the impact it had as it was screened at universities around the nation marked an important chapter in the history of the independent film community and, beyond that, of the entire Korean film industry.

Afterword:

The Night before the Strike was screened at universities nationwide. The government authorities dispatched the armed police to the campuses in question in an effort to prevent the film from showing, and the students formed combat teams to defend the screenings. Hundreds of thousands of college students saw the movie in this manner.

Director Bio: Jang Dong-hong

In 1988, he graduated from the Film Department at the Seoul Institute of the Arts and was one of the most active members of the late 80s independent film collective, Jangsangotmae. He directed Yellow Flag (Noran-gitbal) (1987), Oh! The world of Dreams (1988, Collaborative Director), and The Night Before Strike (1990, Collaborative Director). He made his commercial debut in 1998 with If it Snows on Christmas (Christmasue Nuninerimyeon).

Director Bio: Lee Eun (1961 - )

He graduated from the Department of Theater and Film at Chung-ang University. In 1985, he began a workshop at his university, producing The fire light of the factory (Gongjangui-bulbit) and co-founded Jangsangotmae along with Chang Youn-hyun, producing Oh! The world of Dream (1989) and The Night Before Strike (1990). In 1995, He founded MK Pictures and began producing commercial films and The Contact (Jeobsog) (1997), Happy End (Happy end) (1999) and JSA - Joint Security Area (Gongdonggyeongbiguyeok) (2000) are the company's most well known works. He made his commercial directorial debut in 1998 with the film, If the sun rises in the West (Haega seojjog-eseo tteundamyeon).

Director Bio: Chang Youn-hyun (1967 - )

He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 1989 from Hanyang University and in 1992, studied at the Hungarian National Film School. He made For the talent (Injaereurwihayeo) during his university years and co-directed Oh! The world of Dream and The Night Before Strike during his time at Jangsangotmae acquiring directing experience outside the mainstream film industry. He made his debut with The Contact (1997), a film about the internet, which was a success on both critical and commercial levels. With his second film, Tell Me Something(Tell me something), he introduced hard gore movies to Korean cinema. In 2004, he directed the action thriller, Some (Sseom).