<South of the River (Kangui-namjjok)> (1980)

Director : Chang Gil-soo
Year of Production : 1980
Genre : Dramatic
Film Format : 16mm/B&W
Running Time : 14 minutes

Crew :
Producer, Cinematography, Screenplay : Chang Gil-soo
Lighting : Shin Seung-soo
Coordination : Lee Se-min

Cast :
Kim Hyeon-sook, Kim Chang-hwa

Synopsis

It’s 1980 and there is a construction in progress south of the Han River with people and machines busily working together. On screen, the image of a sign saying New Seoul Church briefly flashes by. The people here are working in order to create a “New Seoul.”
There is a dingy, rundown bar made of planks and the camera slowly approaches its window.
A woman runs out of the bar and a man runs out after her, holding a knife. It’s a couple who are fighting, who are tired of their ravaged lives. Whether the woman lives or dies will depend on her husband’s past memories.

Notes

It realistically portrays the lives of the poor in the ghettos of a city that is endlessly striving for development. (Kang So-won)
It shows the darker reality of the poor behind the development of Gangnam at that time through the use of well-crafted drama. (Kim Dong-won)
South of the River shows the life of the poor behind the development of Gangnam in the 70s and 80s through the use of symbolic realism. It realistically portrays the life of the poor who were ignored during the development of a city, through the use of well-crafted drama.

Director Bio : Chang Gil-soo (1955- )

Born in 1955, in Paju, Gyeonggi-do. He studied architecture at the Seoul National University of Technology. In 1979, while he was a member of the Young People’s Visual Concert, he was awarded the grand prize at a short film festival held by Center Culturel Francais for his movie, South of the River. He made his debut in commercial movies in 1985 with Into the Heat of the Night (Bam-ui yeolgisog-eulo), going on to make America, America (America, America) (1988), The Silver Stallion Will Never Come (Eunma-neun oji anhneunda) (1991), and I wish for what is forbidden to me (Naneun somanghanda naege geumjidoen geos-eul)