<If the Day comes (kenaliohmyeon)> (1987)

Director : Jang Dong-hong
Year of Production : 1987
Genre : Dramatic Film
Format : 16mm/B&W
Running Time : 13 minutes

Crew :
Oh Jeong-wook, Lee Myeong-ja, Lee Eun-hee, Lee Jeong-soon, Lee Jae-gu, Jang Dong-hong

Cast :
Kim Yeong-jung, Park Yong-min, Lee Eun-hee, Lee Jeong-soon, Lee Jae-ho, Lee Hang-jae

Synopsis

It shows the inherent contradiction of society through the recollection of a young man who is forced by a repressive and tyrannical regime to become part of the riot police.

Notes

Through the superb use of cinematic techniques, the movie shows the internal dilemma of university students at that time who were forced to participate in antigovernment demonstrations by their peers, and had to fulfill mandatory military service obligations. (Kim Dong-won)
Director Jang Dong-hong who worked with the cinema group, Jansangonmae, made this short film as a student at Seoul University of the Arts. The movie creates a sense of realism and immediacy through the effective of props and a documentary film style. But because the drama proceeds through the recollections of the main character, it can be marginalized as the subjective experience of a person under the duress of being part of a military group. In any case, the work tries to convey the fact that riot police are not single-minded men who can only think inB&W, but are much more multifaceted human beings.
(Excerpt from the compilation, “True Movies and a True Society,” from the Seoul University of the Arts Alumni Festival)

Purpose of Production

It reveals the paradoxical side of society through riot police who are demanded to be violent through no will of their own.

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).