<Piagol>

Director : Lee Kang-cheon
Starring : Kim Jin-kyu, No Kyeong-hee, Lee Ye-chun, Heo Jang-kang
Location Sites : Hadong-gun Gyeongsangnam Province

Film Information

<Piagol> by director Lee Gangcheon in 1955 shows North Korea's mobile forces, partisans acting as guerillas on Jiri Mountain. With a screenplay by Kim Jongwhan and starring Kim Jingyu, Noh Kyeonghi and Heo Janggang, the film deals with the conflict of ideology and humanity through the partisans' activities and became a representative model of common anti-Communist, humanist movies in Korea through the process of the partisans' self-destruction. However, only partisans appear in this movie. It can be read as an allegory dealing with the abstract theme of the greed and crime of man in general, and not with the concrete story of the remaining partisans. For instead of discriminating between good and evil, between punitive forces realizing the supreme good and the partisans, the sources of evil, the film only describes the partisans. For this reason, it aroused much controversy. Actually, permission to show the movie in public was cancelled on August 24, 1955, for national security reasons by the government, which complained that it was not an anti-communist movie. After deleting controversial scenes and adding a surrender-related context by inserting the Taegeukgi, or national flag, in the background, producer Kim Byeonggi re-submitted this censored version of the movie and finally received permission to release it at Gukdo Theater on September 23 of that year. This movie won the best director award at the Geumnyong Awards, the first movie award ceremony in Korea.

Location of Shooting

<Piagol> was shot in two places around Mt. Jiri - in the vicinity of Hwaeom Temple in Gurye and at Ssanggye Temple in Hadong. According to the shooting diary of the director Lee Gang-cheon, he filmed from the fall of 1954 to February of the following year. During the shooting, the crew stayed mainly at Hwaeom Temple in Gurye and worked in the back yard of Hwaeom Temple and in and around Ssanggye Temple. Bitjeom-gol of Daeseong Valley, where the legendary commander of the North Korean partisans in South Korea was shot to death in the final battle with the Mt. Jiri punitive forces, was established in 1953. The scene of Lee's death in the film was also shot at the actual site. The last scene where No Gyeong-hui goes down from the mountain in search of freedom and is walking on a white sandy beach was shot in Pyeongsa-ri at the lower Seomjin River. The sandy beach remains the same as it was when <Piagol> was filmed. The harmony of the beach's abundant sand and clean water creates an exotic view.

General Information

Hadong is a place where every form of natural beauty co-exists together with the sublime Mt. Jiri stands towering above, the Seomjin River winding along and Hallyeohaesang National Park inviting citizens to enjoy its splendor. You can see signs that read "Hadong Port 80-ri" (one ri corresponds to approximately 4km.) road and "Cherry blossom tree 10-ri" along National Highway No. 19. This is one of the best driving courses in South Korea. The road from Pyeongsa-ri to Ssanggye Temple boasts the beautiful scenery of Seomjin River, and has many teahouses on the foothills of Mt. Jiri and traditional Hwagye Market. Pyeongsa-ri of the last scene has been known for its abundant quantity of white sand and is called "sand-plenty village." in the past, Hadong-gun profited from selling aggregate made of sand, but it is now a protected zone. Hadong recently came to attract more tourists than ever before after the set for the popular TV drama series <Toji (Land)> was constructed in Pyeongsa-ri. The drama is based on the renowned Korean novelist Park Kyong-ni's work of the same title and the story deals with the collapse of the large landowning Choe family in Hadong through four generations.

Directions

Drive along Guma Highway running between Daegu Hyeonpung-myeon and Daegu Bok-gu and take the byway to 'Haman and Jinju' just before Masan. Continue to follow the direction of 'Jinju-Suncheon' and then take the side road to Hadong IC which leads to downtown Hadong. From downtown, take No. 19 National Highway heading for Gurye. After passing through a huge pear orchard, you will reach Pyeongsari Park, the House of the Choe Family, the set of the drama <Toji>, Hwagye Market, and Ssanggye Temple.

Nearby Attractions

Jirisan National Park, Seomjin River, Ssanggye Temple, the House of the Choe Family in Pyeongsa-ri, the drama set of <Toji>