ChangSu’s Employment time (Changsuwi-chiubshidae) (1984)
Year of Production : 1984
Genre : Drama/Fiction
Format : 16mm/Color
Running Time : 14 minutes
Crew :
Production : Korean Academy of Film Arts
Director : Kim Yui-seok
Cast :
Ahn Dong-kyu, Choi Jun-young, Seo Myung-soo
Synopsis
Chang-su, Byeong-gi and Yeong-bae are pickpockets that work as a team. Chang-su is in charge of misleading people who are after them. But he is full of complaint that he has the most difficult job to do and gets the smallest cut.
Notes
It is an elegy for the desperate and hopeless lives of young men of the underclass.
It was one of the rare, well-directed movies of its time. (Kang So-won)
It’s a pleasurable experience to watch movies from one’s past recollections. There are independent films which can be said to be part of that recollection. Director Kim Yui-seok’s ChangSu’s Employment time, a work from the first graduation showing of the Academy of Film Arts, can be called an early magnum opus of short films. The main characters are physically healthy men in their 20s. But they do not have jobs, and make a living pickpocketing on the streets of Seoul. Unlike the young men from the movie, The March of Fools (Babodeul-ui haengjin), who ran from authorities who were trying to crack down on their long hair, the young men in this movie run after they’ve pickpocketed people. Although they are constantly being chased, it seems like they are trying to let something out from within. Because the film was shot in the middle of Seoul with a handheld video camera, it has very dynamic cinematography. The final black and white still gives the viewer a lingering sense of sadness. It’s also interesting to see Ahn Dong-kyu, who went on to become a producer, in his youth. (Cho Young-gak)(Cine 21, Issue Number 393)
Purpose of Production
The movie portrays the struggles and agonies of young men from the underclass who are living in the dark shadows of the city. The character, Chang-su, is an outcast even among his group of pickpockets and is always trying to be accepted. He has the ambition to become a person who can complete the duties that are assigned to him. The movie explores this Ishmael and describes his life to the audience.
Director Bio : Kim Yui-seok (1957- )
Born in 1957, in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do. He graduated from the Department of Film Studies at Chung-ang University and entered the Korean Academy of Film in the year it was founded. He received attention for Daughter of Mobius (Mwebiuse-wi-ddal) as well as Chang-su’s Age of Employment (Changsuwi-chiubshidae), a comic short about Chang-su, a naive pickpocket on his oft-perilous journey through life. After graduation, he acquired on the set experience working as an assistant director to Jang Seon-woo, Kim Hyun-myung, and Im Kwon-taek, making his directorial debut with The Marriage Life (Gyeolhon-i-yagi) in 1992. The Marriage Life (Gyeolhon-i-yagi) is known as one of the first high concept movies. It sold 500,000 tickets at the box office. Afterward, with the following successes of The Woman and The Man (Geu yeoja geu namja) and Gun and Gun (Chongjab-i), Kim Ui-seok was recognized along with Kang Woo-suk as a one of the successful directors at the box office to appear in the 90s. But after his 1997 movie, Holiday Inn Seoul, was criticized for plagiarizing director Kar Wai Wong’s movies, the movie was shunned by critics and audiences alike. Afterward, he released The Great Chef (Buggyoungbanjeom) in 1999, but it didn’t receive much attention. His most recent movie is At The Risk Of Life (Sasaenggyeoldan), made in 2006.
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