<Sopyonje (Seopyeonje)> (1993)

Director Im Kwon-Taek
Production Company Tae Heung Films Co., Ltd
Date of Rate 1993-04-06
Date of Theatrical Release 1993-04-10
Running Time 112 min.
Opening Theater Dan Seong Sa, Cine House, Korea, Han Il Cinema
Genre Literary Art

Staff :
Writer Lee Cheong-Jun
Screenplay(Adaptation) (Kim Myeong-Gon)
Producer Lee Tae-Won
Executive Producer Lee Tae-Won
Director of PhotoGraphy Jeong Il-Seong
Gaffer Cha Jeong-Nam
Music Kim Su-Cheol
Art Director Kim Yu-Jun
Editor Park Sun-Deok

Cast(Actor/Actress) :
Oh Jeong-Hae, Kim Myeong-Kon, Kim Kyu-Cheol, Ahn Byeong-Kyeong, Choi Dong-Jun

Synopsis

One day during the early 1960s, a man in his thirties arrives at an inn in the mountains. The innkeeper's singing stirs up his childhood memories, which begin with the arrival of a famous pansori singer named Yubong (Kim Myeong-kon) in his village. Yubong falls in love with a local woman, andtakes her with him when he leaves the village. The woman, her son Dongho (Kim Kyu-cheol), Yubong, and Yubong's daughter Songhwa (Oh Jeong-hae) all live together, until Dongho's mother dies in childbirth. Yubong trains Songhwa to cultivate the "voice" for pansori, and teaches Dongho to accompany her on the drum. When war breaks out, their lives become even more difficult. Unable to understand Yubong's single-minded devotion to pansori, Dongho runs away from home after a heated altercation. Songhwa neither eats nor drinks as she waits for Dongho to return, and Yubong, believing that a true "voice" for pansori cannot be achieved without profound grief, blinds his own daughter. Dongho hears about Songhwa from a monk named Naksan (Ahn Byeong-kyeong) and searches far and wide for her. The two of them finally reunite at a tavern. Through the long night, Songhwa sings and Dongho plays the drum, unraveling their sorrow without exchanging a single word in conversation. In the morning, they part again in equal silence and Songhwa sets off with a little girl leading the way.

Notes

"The film that drew an audience of over a million and became a national phenomenon, amid newly-emerging debates on Korea's globalization" Based in part on Lee Cheong-jun's novel of the same title, Sopyonje was the first of director Im Kwon-taek's works to reflect his interest in traditional Korean art forms. It rapidly attained the status of "national film," to the extent that it would not be an exaggeration to use the phrase "Sopyonje syndrome" in describing the movie's influence and popularity. In particular, the long take of Songhwa singing the "Jindo Arirang" as she follows an earthen path was widely applauded for elevating traditional art into a uniquely Korean aesthetic and realizing a poignant visual image of han, the Korean word for deep and long-suppressed grief. However, not everyone agreed with such an assessment. Coexisting with the resounding acclaim was the view that the movie's success was simply the result of a fortuitous convergence of nationalism and the Kim Young-sam administration's slogan for globalization, "That which is most Korean is also the most cosmopolitan." Nonetheless, it is impossible to discount the performances of professionally-trained pansori artists Kim Myeong-kon and Oh Jeonghae, or Im Kwon-taek's skill in directing the film and composing the plot in ways that convincingly convey the affective force of pansori and the scene in which Yubong blinds his own daughter without boring the audience. Most of all, the great impact the movie had throughout the country cannot be underestimated.

Afterword

- The lead actors Kim Myeong-kon and Oh Jeong-hae had both been professionally trained as pansori singers. Kim, who played Yubong, also took part in the adaptation process, drawing on his experiences in playwriting and stage acting.
- During its opening week, Sopyonje suffered at the box office, often playing to half-empty halls. But as word of mouth began to spread, audiences of all ages and sexes flocked to see the film, and even prominent politicians lined up outside the theatres. During its six-month run in Seoul, Sopyonje drew an audience of exactly 1,035,741. A daily average of 4,318 people, and a cumulative total of 846,427, saw the movie at Dansungsa theatre alone. The popularity of Sopyonje triggered a kind of "syndrome" that spread beyond the film itself to pansori lessons and Korean classical music performances, thus stimulating a renewed interest in Korea's traditional arts.

Director Bio: Im Kwon-taek (1936- )

He began his filmmaking career as prop assistant to the lighting assistant, going through the traditional apprenticeship system of Chungmuro to become a film director. And in 1962, he made his directorial debut with Farewell Tumen River(Dumangang-a Jal Itgeora), an action film that deals with the plight of the Independence Army of Manchuria. He made Weeds(Jabcho), Mismatched Nose (Jjagko), and The Family Pedigree (Jogbo) during the 1970s and with his movies of the 1980s, Kilsodeum(Gilsotteum), Ticket (Tiket), Surrogate Mother (Ssibat-i) and Mandara (Mandala), gradually became recognized for his artistry and craftsmanship. He met Lee Tae-won and began working with Taeheung Film Studios starting with his 1989 film Aje Aje Bara Aje (Aje Aje Bara Aje) and continued to work consistently with the studio from then on. He achieved box office success with his The General's Son (Janggun-ui adeul) series and became a nationally recognized figure with the then unparalleled box office success of Sopyonje(Seopyeonje). He won many national and international awards for his works that dealt with traditional Korean themes and motives and many retrospectives of his works were held abroad. In 2002, he won the prize for best director at the Cannes Film Festival with his work, Chihwaseon(Chihwaseon) and in 2005, won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Berlin Film Festival for his lifetime effort in film