Im Kwon-taek
Cloud, Encore is a kind of "making-of film" about the filming of Im Kwon-taek’s 102nd film Revivre.
Gravity of the Tea is an Im Kwon-taek masterpiece (embracing the long time it took between his birth and the filming of the 102nd movie Revivre).
Young is a nameless actor who dreams of becoming a big movie star. Then one day, he makes a breakthrough with a film and becomes a star overnight. He discovers a new hidden world of fame, power, and pleasure, but inevitably along with all the dark sides to them which puts everyone around him in danger. Rough Play displays the life of Oh Young (Lee Joon), an young cocky actor who plays a lead part on a small play. He constantly goes off script and improvises in which results in destroying the play because the lead actress can't handle it. Oh Young knows he is a good actor and is noticed by manager Kim Jang-Ho (Seo Bum-Suk), who has hit rock bottom and is looking for a comeback. Jang-Ho knows the young actor's potential and puts all he has on the line to make Oh Young the next big thing.
After the film screening, five people hold a meeting. Director Jeong asserts that a film should move the heart. Actress Soo-yeon emphasizes on the message of the film, Film critic Tony just discusses about the current trend of Korean cinema. Tomiyama cannot fully express her thoughts because of the language barrier. And, the head of jury, Sung-ki can’t control the situation. Will this jury reach an agreement against all odds? A satire for those who make, watch, and criticize films is about to begin.
Director Chung Ji-Young criticizes the thought that older directors have difficulties in making certain movies. Actress Yoon Jin-Seo agonizes over her identity as an actress. In 2009, before the movie "Unbowed" was made, they met and planned a documentary about Korean movies, including the processes a Korean movie goes through and difficulites. "Ari Ari the Korean Cinema" is a documentary with interviews of Korean directors, actors and actresses.
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.
Discover the roots of Korean cinema. A cinema who surprised by the success recorded in the major international festivals. Interviews to five famous Korean directors, to get to know closely the evolution of Korean cinema. Through their words, their pictures and their stories. The Korean cinema has tendency to describe both the society, the past and the modern. The world of west cinema knows these directors through the journey of some of their movies. What do we know about their thoughts, their life, their culture and their way of working? The documentary focus on it.
A drama centered on brother-and-sister musicians trained to perform the epic Korean poems known as pansori.
South Korean cinema is in the throes of a creative explosion where mavericks are encouraged and masters are venerated. But from where has this phenomenon emerged? What is the culture that has yielded this range of filmmakers? With The Nine Lives of Korean Cinema, French critic, writer and documentarian Hubert Niogret provides a broad overview but, nevertheless, an excellent entry point into this unique type of national cinema that still remains a mystery for many people. The product of a troubled social and political history, Korean cinema sports an identity that is unique in much modern film. Niogret's documentary tells of the country's cinematic history - the ups along with the downs - and gives further voice to the artists striving to express their concerns, fears and aspirations.
The struggles of an artist. Jang Seung-up (1843-1897), also called Owon, focusing on the years 1882 to 1897, when Korea was in political upheaval, caught between China and Japan, the conservative dynasty dying, and peasant revolt at hand. Jang, born poor, has genius; a merchant, Kim, becomes his patron, finding him a teacher. Jang must convince others that a commoner can have talent, then move beyond his ability to copy old masters and find his own style. He's bedeviled by a temper and alcohol, arguments with patrons as he seeks commissions, and relationships with kisaeng, particularly Mae-hyang, that start and stop. It's the life of a restless spirit producing great art.
Mongryong marries the beautiful Chunhyang without telling his father, the Governor of Namwon. When his father is transferred to Seoul, Mongryong has to leave Chunhyang and finish his exams. Chunhyang, being the daughter of a courtesan, is also legally a courtesan. She is beaten and imprisoned when she refuses to obey the new Governor Byun, as she wishes to be faithful to her husband. After three years, Mongryong passes his exam and becomes an emissary to the King. He returns to Namwon, disguised as a beggar, just before Chunhyang is to be flogged to death at the governor's birthday celebration.
The story revolves around an orphan girl who became a prostitute to survive and finds love with one of her clients. A young woman is tricked into prostitution, thinking she's going to sell beverages at a village store. She soon learns about the dark world of Korea's red-light districts, where a prostitute is exploited by johns, their pimps and society. She befriends one of her johns, a country bumpkin, who keeps in touch with her over the years. The film is a look at Korea's prostitution from the 1970s to the 1990s told through her story.
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.
The film originates from the great river story Taebaegsanmaek consisting of 10 volumes and is written by Cho Jeongrae. The story tries to describe and reveal a few generations-lasting conflicts between the haves (proprietors) and have-nots (peasants), which develop into right wings and left wings respectively. While revealing why and how the conflicts come about, the story depicts every corner of real life -- romantic, shamanic, and Confucian aspects of the contemporaries.
The General's Son is set during the Japanese occupation of Korea, when the oppression of the imperial rulers is escalating in the streets of Seoul. Starring Park Sang Min (Tube) and Shin Hyun Jun (Face), The General's Son is a winning mixture of fast-paced action and colonial Korean realism, which helped the film become one of the biggest domestic hits of the 1990s.
In mid-19th Century Korea, the people of Joseon Dynasty embrace the new religion Donghak. After the founder is executed, Choi Si-hyeong becomes Donghak’s second-generation leader and successfully propagates the religion, but in doing so becomes the object of oppression by the royal court.
The General's Son is set during the Japanese occupation of Korea, when the oppression of the imperial rulers is escalating in the streets of Seoul. Starring Park Sang Min (Tube) and Shin Hyun Jun (Face), The General's Son is a winning mixture of fast-paced action and colonial Korean realism, which helped the film become one of the biggest domestic hits of the 1990s.
Kim Doo-han lost his mom at the age of eight and he survives on the streets as a singing beggar. His natural born fighting skills places him on the mean streets of Jongro with the kisaeng house Woomigwan at the center. He is soon recognized for his incredible strength and ability. He finds out through Shin Ma-jeok, the head of a student gang, that he is the son of General Kim Jwa-jin who fought against the Japanese army. Meanwhile, the Yakuzas expand their sphere of influence and try to take over the Jongro streets but Doo-han protects the Korean vendors of Jongro and wins their respect. When the head of Woomigwan, Kim Gi-hwan is arrested, Doo-han becomes the leader of the Jongro gang.
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.
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.
Min Ji-suk runs a "ticket bar"where customers can purchase tickets for certain "services"in the town of Sokcho in Gangwon-do. She hires Miss Yang, Miss Hong, and Se-young through the employment agency. Miss Yang and Miss Hong, who are well experienced in this type of business, are used to accepting propositions from customers. But Se-young, who is dating a college student named Min-su, rejects all requests for sexual favors.
Su-ok, a young teacher, moves into an isolated mountain village whose inhabitants are all related except for a mysterious dimwitted vagabond.
A man married to a Christian, but from a shamanistic upbringing, attempts to come to terms with the spirit of his mother who visits him in dreams.
Kwon Dal-ho is a teacher who wants to make his 3rd grade class the best. Yu-dae becomes the class representative and Ki-pyo, the leader of the ten troublesome students who’ve been held back, transfers to his class to the chagrin of the other kids…
Abengo Corps is under the direct control of headquarters of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. In order to conceal the Inchon Landing Operation, Abengo is assigned to the Wonsan Landing Operation as a decoy mission. With the operation soon at hand, the members of this operation go on a special vacation to Busan. Among them is Il-gyu. He meets with Bae Su-na, a refugee, and they spend a passionate, touching night of love together. The members perform their duties as ordered. Lieutenant Colonel Koh receives a coded message from the headquarters. Koh realizes that his men are a diversion for the Inchon Landing Operation. Lieutenant Koh is angered and resentful. And Lieutenant Sung is chosen to enter the battle instead of Lieutenant Colonel Koh. During the January 4 Retreat, Lieutenant Sung meets Su-na, who has had Il-gyu's son. Lieutenant Sung helps her out.
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.
Mrs. Han who argues with her husband about living expenses. She unexpectedly earns 5 million won over an apartment she sold and becomes a speculator. She teams up with some slanderers and makes big money then soon dissolved into pleasure with men around her. Finally, slanderers trick her and she is broke and nearly mad. The police catches the speculators and they show no regrets. When the verdict is announced, they finally see their wrong doings.
After the war, a journalist investigates a Communist leader in South Korea.
During the era of Japanese occupation, Sol Jin-young, a Korean patriarch refuses to obey the law to change the family's name to a Japanese name. Tani, a member of the Japanese occupation forces, is sent to persuade Sol to comply with the order. Tani is conflicted between his duty, his respect for Korean culture and his attraction to Sol's daughter.
In an effort to erase his disgrace, the mischievous Kim Hwan starts a movement to build birdnests but the old park keeper gets injured in his efforts. In order to get money for the park keeper's hospital fees, Hwan gets on his friend Chil-sung's boat to catch some fish. However, Hwan gets caught up in the tide and drifts off to sea where he is rescued by a Chinese ship. The Chinese ship tries to take Hwan to North Korea but Hwan resists with an anti-Communist will so strong he's willing to die. Hwan is safely returned to his home country. At the airport, Hwan's friends bring the old park keeper who is in a cast. They receive Hwan with beautiful music and performances.
Gyu-hwa and Jin-wu are old friends with very different personalities. Their friend Mi-yeon used to be close to Jin-wu but when she grows up, she becomes a prisoner of Gyu-hwa's aggressive behavior. Gyu-hwa takes Ga-hi away from Jin-wu when he discovers that she comes from a wealthy family. But Gyu-hwa begins to have an affair with an older widow and begins to abuse Mi-yeon, the mother of his daughter.
In-chul in his fifth year gets lost due to a ship wreck on his way back from a remote island and drifts to the border between the South and North Korea. In-chul meets North Korean boy Dong-man who collects used metals for living. Although difference of their background limits their conversation, Dong-man is moved by In-chul's innocence and cross the border with him. Unfortunately, they get shot by the army of North Korea and die.
Two Korean college graduates arouse the suspicions of Japanese authorities after modernizing a rural community with a school and a youth hall.
Hye-seon grew up in an orphanage with Myeong-gu. They marry when they get older but strain on there relationship tears them apart. Pregnant and alone, Hye-aeon wonders where to turn.
Inspection of the plot Ministry of Public Security Inspector Gangmun-gil is enjoying a picnic with his family on holidays. He wakes up in a nearby neighborhood where he picks up rusty shells from nearby Kangdongsan and witnesses a devastating explosion. The family members of the Kang test who have not escaped from Seoul are caught by the Communist army. Even at the end of all torture, his wife, Shinhee, does not cover the area where the river exam is hidden. However, the spy Choi Choi, who was sentenced to death, does everything he can to find out the location of the river exam. The Kang test finds the importance of security with the people of all walks of life who have imagined the last moment when his family is put to death.
June 25, 1950. When second lieutenant Jang has a date with his girl friend during weekend, numerous North Korean jet fighters make sudden air raids to the skies of Seoul. It is the beginning of Korean War. In spite of Korean Army's brave defense, North Korean army reddens South Korea with their state-of-the-art weapons. This movie describes the progress of war from the invasion in June 25, 1950 to the reclamation of territory on the basis of Sun-A's personal experience. Also this film reminds hard lessons from tragic history.
A newlywed wife, Ji-sun moves to her husband's village in a rural area called Sambatgol where it is customary to have glossy charades, incompetence is prolific, and thus poverty is endemic. She starts to endeavor to break down all these vices. Her family and neighbors point accusing fingers at her first, but soon they are influenced by her to combine forces with her. In the meantime, longtime absent father of Gang-du returns to hids wife, who is Ji-sun's strong supporter and the chairperson of the village women's association. Gang-du's father, however, turns out to be an espionage agent sent from North Korea. He makes his mind up to denounce himself by persuasion of his wife, but he and his wife get killed by other espionage agents. At the funeral of these two, Ji-sun and the village people march in resolution of succeeding her will to make more endeavors in the developmental plan of the village.
A patriot Park No-Hun is dispatched by Shanghai Provisional Government for Independence to assassinate members of the House of Council. In this situation Young-Kuk, brother of Hyeon-Ju who is a kisaeng of Myeong Wol Kwan, is jailed and Choi Chil-Yong, an inspector of Japanese Higher Police Department, is in agony of difficulties between Korea and Japan. Shin Yun-Il, a member of the council falls in love with a kisaeng whose name is Jeong-Mi. All of these are going their way under the influence of phases of the times such as carrying out colonial policies and each of them is linked complicatedly and causes troubles. After all their efforts concentrated on Independence of Korea, and Park No-Hun carried out his mission with help of 5 kisaengs of Myeong Wol Kwan. Finally he leaves for Shanghai with them.
Nam-Ok who has Yun-Ho and Yun-Suk remarries widowed Heung-Yeol who has Hyeong-Tae and Hyeong-Ja. Nam-Ok are concerned about frequent quarrels between half brothers and sisters, but manages to deal with them wisely. As Yun-Ho who went to fishing with him falls into the water, Heung-Yeol tries to save him only to drown himself to death. Fifteen years later, Hyeong-Tae goes abroad to study while Hyeong-Ja lives in extravagance in Seoul. Yun-Suk gets to know Dong-Oh on the train, and Dong-Ho gets to like her, but later misunderstands her due to Hyeong-Ja's scheme, which causes Yun-Suk to commit suicide.
An omnibus of three stories all taking place in the Myeongdong district of Seoul.
Best friends Dae-gyu and Dal-su fight over Ok-hi. When Ok-hui marries and goes to Seoul the fight ends. After many years, Ok-hi is widowed and brings her daughter Ji-hyang to her home village, and the fight between Dae-gyu and Dal-su begins again. Ok-hui borrows some money from Dal-su when she is short of money while building a reservoir for the village. Dal-su lends money on the condition that she marry him if she cannot pay him back until the ground-breaking ceremony. And Dal-su's wife leaves. As Ok-hui fails to return the money, she tries to run away with Dae-gyu, but they run into Min, Dal-su's son, who demands them to pay back his father's money. Finally Dae-gyu and Dal-su meet and have a fight, but at last Dal-su sends him to Ok-hi, and he is happy to do so.
At the death of her father, A-mi returns to Korea and realises he was implicated in the theft of a chest full of gold bars. She then becomes the target of a criminal organisation.
Suk-jin, a naive Young woman lives on her own in Seoul. When her brother dies following a car accident, she finds out he had been having an affair with the wife of a businessman.
King Sukjong assigns Jang Ok-nan, a court lady, as a concubine overnight. Jang plots to drive the current Queen into exile.
During the Joseon dynasty, the adviser Choi manages to place his natural son on the throne. His ambitions are upset by the appearance of Young-mun, a man whose parents he had killed.
Trainer Meng Doo-ho spots Young-chul in a bar fight and decides to turn him into a boxing champion.
After her father, failed at stock investment and was shocked to death, a girl enters a textile factory and supports her family. But living on her small salary and repaying her father's debt is too difficult for her. In the end, she tries to kill herself together with her young brother. But only her brother dies, and she, who survives, stands at the bar guilty of patricide. She deserves the death penalty, but the court takes into consideration her circumstances and is generous enough to open up a new road for her to start again. A real-life story.
During the reign of King Yeongjo in the Joseon Dynasty (1302-1910), the villainous retainer party led by Jang Ji-hang gains power after cutting the head off a royalist Hong seong-won. His son Hong Guk-yeong passes a state exam and tries to assist the king in ruling well, but he is also put to death by Jang's false incrimination. But he is called a faithful politician in history.
At the close of the reign of Sin the Great in Goguryeo (B.C.37-A.D.668), royalist Uso is executed by a false incrimination made by a treacherous retainer Yangsin and his sister Jangssi. His daughter becomes a royal concubine of King Nammu, and called Her Majesty Yeonghwa. She revenges herself on the party of Yangsin. After the king passes away, she makes his brother Yeonu accede to the throne and has the whole country under her thumb. But she has no child. When the king begets a son from another woman, she dies of jealousy at last.
His own father had hated Crown Prince Sado. The king finally orders to kill him by locking him up in a rice-chest. After his death, his wife Hong goes with her son to her parents' house to live there. Some high officials in the court constantly try to harm Sado's son because they don't want him to become king. But Hong's wisdom saved her son, who grows up to become the 22nd king of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).
Patriotic university student Youngwoo and his friends, led by their teacher Lee Sung, along with a British friend bid farewell to their families and become freedom fighters in Manchuria fighting against the Japanese occupation around the Tumen River.
A platoon of South Korean soldiers find themselves cut off from their squad without communication. They are aided by an old man in a nearby village who did not evacuate his home.
