<The Avatamska Sutra>

Director : Jang Seon-woo
Starring : Won Mi-kyeong, Oh Tae-kyeong, Kim Hye-seon, Lee Hye-young
Location Sites : Udo Island, North Jeju, Jeju Island

Film Information

Director Jang Seonwoo's 1993 production <The Avatamska Sutra> is based on the Buddhist scripture and Ko Eun's original novel. However, <The Avatamska Sutra> is an example in which the novel and movie exist separately. Ko Eun's novel provides Jang Seonwoo's movie with the title and subject but the thoughts and view of the director appear throughout the movie. The difficult theme of Buddhist dogma and the complicated approach were reasons for the movie's failure at the time of its release.

Jang Seonwoo once revealed his wish to deliver the spiritual growth of Seonjae, adopting the entire world as a school of learning. <The Avatamska Sutra> says there is a dialectic, then there is no dialectic, then integrates the two. In Avatamska, the two co-exist. The Avatamska ideology caught the director's attention as an alternative superior to the dialectic dichotomy.

This movie was honored with the Alfred Bauer Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, and is considered to be one of the director's major accomplishments. Given that directors Jang Seonwoo and Park Gwangsu represent the Korean New Wave in the 1980s, the significance of <The Avatamska Sutra> becomes even greater in the context of the history of Korean movies. From a theorist advocating realism, this movie is the artistic adventure for Jang Seonwoo, who represents the Korean movie history in the 1980s.

Synopsis

Abandoned as an infant, Seonjae is found and raised by Munsu, an ex-convict with a long criminal record. When Munsu dies, Seonjae sets off in search of his mother. On his journey, Seonjae experiences love, sorrow, justice, wealth and sexual desire through the people he meets: Beopun who gives him a flute, the playboy Jiho, Haeun, a doctor at a fishing village, Ina the blind singer, Mani the witch, and the long-term inmate Haegyeong. He reunites with Iryeon who confesses her long time love for him. They share a night together during a rain storm and Iryeon becomes pregnant. But Seon-jae sets of for another journey in search of truth, together with a lost boy he finds by the wharf.

Location of Shooting

As Jang Seunwoo says, <The Avatamska Sutra> (Hwaeomgyeong) is a 'movie on the road.' The main plot of the movie is the journey of 13-year old Seonjae looking for his mother. In the process, Seonjae meets numerous people including a monk, a playboy, a doctor, a blind singer and inmate. All the people that Seonjae meet help him realize that his journey in search of his mother is ultimately a search for truth. In the movie, Udo Island is an important location during Seonjae's journey. The primitive, mysterious lighthouse on the solitary beach and the beautiful grasslands of Udobong Hill are the main settings of the movie.

General Information

Udo Island is a small island with a circumference of 17 km, just 15 minutes by boat from Jeju Island's Seongsan Harbor. It is called Udo because its shape resembles a cow sticking out its head. During the Joseon Dynasty, King Sukjong established a national horse ranch, which first brought pedestrian traffic to the island. Currently there are 605 households and about 1,800 residents. Famous sights include the white corral sand beach and the vast, grassy area of Udobong Hill, the place to go for the best view of the island.

The island is often used as a filming location thanks to its natural habitat. In addition to <The Avatamska Sutra>, <Il Mare> was also recently filmed here. The cruise boats from Seongsan Harbor transport cars as well and bicycle rentals are also available for a biking tour of the island.

Directions

Cruise boats available from Seongsan Harbor, Jeju Island. Boats leave frequently throughout the day whenever they are full.