Pursuit of Death
Two old adversaries meet by chance in a rehab center and realize that the conflict which has dominated their lives since the Korean War has run out of road. Both men are in ruins. One is a former cop, the other a former communist guerrilla; the flashbacks to their sad backstories show Im's skill in anchoring the currents of modern Korean history in wrenching emotional drama.
Im Kwon-taek
Director
Song Gil-han
Writer
Casts & Crew
Also Directed by Im Kwon-taek
A famous writer, Lee Joon-seop, returns to his hometown to attend his mother's funeral. Lee's illegitimate niece, who has been ostracized from the family, has also returned home for the funeral. While the funeral ceremonies take place, various old family conflicts reassert themselves. During the action of the story, a parallel children's story written by Lee is read by the illegitimate niece. The story describes a grandmother who gives her life force to her growing granddaughter, resulting in the grandmother becoming gradually younger until she reverts into an infant and finally leaves for the next world.
Low-ranking civil servant Pil Yong (Park Joong Hoon) has things hard looking after his disabled wife(Ye Ji Won). He takes charge of a hanji project in hopes it will bring him a promotion. His wife comes from a family of hanji masters. One of his tasks include working with quarrelsome filmmaker Ji Won (Kang Su Yeon), who is shooting a documentary about hanji. Though he knows little about the subject to begin with, the more he learns about hanji, the more it takes on a new significance for him and the world around him.
A drama centered on brother-and-sister musicians trained to perform the epic Korean poems known as pansori.
This story of two Buddhist nuns is an exploration of the Korean experience of the relationship between hardship and religious salvation. Trainee Soon-nyeo is forced to confront her True Path by walking among the people, while venerable Jinseong must pursue enlightenment through her inner practice.
A barren noblewoman encourages her husband to take a young peasant as a surrogate to secure the male line.
A depiction of the life and fate of a physically weak woman who has strong maternal love.
In 1983 KBS launched a campaign to reunite families torn apart in the Korean War three decades earlier. In an expert dissection of the social and familial rifts in modern Korea, director Im Kwon-taek integrates footage from the campaign into the story of Hwa-yeong, who leaves her middle-class life in Busan to search for the son she lost in Gilsotteum during the war.
