Answer: < Sweet Dream (Mimong) > (1936, Yang Ju-nam)
Until very recently, the oldest Korean film that had been preserved was < Story of Sim-chung (Sim Cheongjeon)>, a 1937 film produced by Ahn Seok-yeong. This film was donated by the national film archive of Russia, Gosfilmofond, to Korean film archive in 1998 and even this resource is just 10 minutes long.
But thanks to the efforts of Korean film archive to collect rare overseas resources, we were able to receive a donation of the 1936 film < Sweet Dream (Mimong)> (Yang Ju-nam) from the China Film Archive in 2005, and this is now the oldest Korean film to be preserve to this day. Unlike < Story of Sim-chung (Sim Cheongjeon)>, of which we only have a 10 minute length film left, almost the entire reel of film has been preserved and serves as an important resource of Korean sound films of the mid-1930s.
Directed and edited by Yang Ju-nam, script by Choi Dok-bong, camerawork by Hwang Heong-jo, sound and development by Lee Pil-woo, the film was sponsored by the department of security in the Gyeonggi police division. The amusing thing is that the film is partially instructive regarding traffic safety. Mun Ye-bong, who was a top actress during the Japanese rule in Korea and later went on to become a star in North Korea, starred in this film as the heroine along with Lee Geum-ryong and Yoo Seon-ok. The synopsis of the film is as follows.
Ae-sun (played by Mun Ye-bong) is the vain wife of a commoner and neglects her family. Fed up with his wife, the husband (played by Lee Geum-ryong) chases his wife out and Ae-sun abandons her husband and daughter (Yoo Seon-ok) to stay at a hotel with her lover. One day, Ae-sun finds out that her lover is a criminal who lives in a boarding house, not the rich man she thought he was. She reports him to the police before he actually robs the house he plans to. Shortly after, Ae-sun urges the taxi driver to go fast as he can to get to the train station and the cab driver hits a girl. It is her daughter Jeong-hee. Ae-sun takes Jeong-hee to the hospital, repents all her wrongdoings and commits suicide.
Another interesting
detail to note while watching this movie is that you can see the developed scenes of Seoul in the mid 1930s. Since it was sponsored by the Gyeonggi province police department, the film probably included the modern scenes of Joseon intentionally, but nevertheless, the bustling scenes of Seoul’s department stores, streets, and hotels are very entertaining.
In addition, the films produced during the Japanese rule of Korea and preserved in Korean film archive are as follows.
Collected by the Korean film archive in 2005.
Films in Japanese. |
