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发表于 2004-5-16 21:45
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English reviews
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; ]8 G& x6 W3 E% Q, K0 a7 {" q, R"The Road Taken"
# O7 o ^3 q% J- x( F, Z# {/ Nby TomG
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- ^/ f- U# g' L# a9 k) c. m/ b I was lucky enough to catch the screening of THE ROAD TAKEN at the Pusan International Film Festival. It is an amazing movie and now rivals MEMORY OF MURDER as my favorite Korean film of 2003. It may lack action, romance and comedy but it is never boring. The film-makers instead took a hard and honest look at the uncomfortable topic of political prisoners.7 [3 d* [9 g4 L- r* C
Although I really want to talk about it, I won't go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil the film for others. Basically, though. it is the life of Kim Sun-myeong who was charged with spying for North Korea and eventually became the longest held political prisoner in the world. He and the dozens of others like him in the South Korean jail are subjected to torture and enticements to get them to renounce communism. The prison policies of dealing with these inmates changes with the turbulent politics of 60's, 70's and 80's.0 h. t q% @7 v1 S. Y7 N e
What this movie reminded me most of was a mirror image of ALBATROSS in which Lee Jeong-jae's North Korean character tries to break the spirit of South Korean Cha In-pyo in a POW camp. ALBATROSS, made in 1996, is an anti-communist propaganda film. THE ROAD TAKEN is also, in a way, a propaganda film--one that promotes freedom of choice and celebrates the strength of one man's convictions.
# n) J8 c' Q% L( gTHE ROAD TAKEN (the Korean name is SEONTAEK--meaning 'choice') is directed by Hong Ki-seon whose only other work is the awkwardly titled SORROW, LIKE A WITHDRAWN DAGGER, LEFT MY HEART (1992). The lead actor is Kim Jung-gi who also appeared in YELLOW FLOWER and JUNGLE JUICE.
" R l# K: @9 t$ \7 n9 {; ZI think that you'll be hearing a lot more about THE ROAD TAKEN in the near future and I strongly recommend that you watch it when you get the chance--whether it be in the theater, at a film festival or later, on DVD. : H: Q% o9 R7 ~, n$ m+ I; E
This film is scheduled to be released in general theaters in Korea on October 24.
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# W! t9 X6 C* D8 p( n; J'The Road Taken' is a Journey to Reflect Changes in Political World+ s& O" ?( G# P: K9 D% b! i4 ]9 Q' Q
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' K$ ]! Z( H" {( J! g* h9 `" V) Yreview by Joon Soh p8 A1 W4 b7 [" X! p) |
November 02, 2003. j! d) O u% M' Y: d; G0 m5 f8 a B
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Some 11 years have passed since Hong Gi-seon’s feature film debut in 1992 and his next film ``Sontaek (The Road Taken).’’ The film, about the life of a communist who holds the world record for the longest time spent in prison, was first conceived in 1996, but due to the potentially sensitive nature of the subject, had a difficult time finding backers.
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``Companies were reluctant because of its political content,’’ Hong said. Hoping to find an international investor, Hong even took his script to the market at the Pusan International Film Festival in 1997, but ``I was told it would be difficult to make such a film.’’
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, s6 Y7 u, b b, f. y iHong was finally able to gather enough funding, which included a partial support from the Korea Film Commission, and made the film last year. Presented at the Pusan festival’s New Currents section earlier this month, ``The Road Taken’’ will be released in theaters this Friday.
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$ m" ?( A \) F- z- f* jThe film is based on the experiences of Kim Son-myong, who was captured by United Nations troops in 1951 at the age of 25. Spending the next 45 years in a South Korean prison, much of it in solitary, Kim was released in 1995 after receiving a special presidential pardon and now resides in North Korea. 1 \6 [7 f( r3 O3 b
3 h$ t: r+ }' W1 K- m* e: kBut the film shows how in some ways Kim and many of his peers chose the life they led. In the 1970s, which the film focuses on, the South Korean government promised pardon or leniency to such political prisoners if they would publicly disavow communism and embrace democracy and capitalism.
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Ironically, the keepers of the prison used torture and other brutal methods in their attempt to ``convince’’ the political prisoners, called ``changkisu (prisoners with long sentence),’’ to accept democracy. While many broke under the mistreatment, Kim remained firm, refusing to sign a piece of paper that could have given him freedom, and ultimately walks out of the prison at the age of 70 with his ideological beliefs intact. ' ]6 M: q4 Y- F$ W8 Q/ ~
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Since then, South and North Korea have gradually developed a more cooperative relationship _ a reason that ``The Road Taken’’ was finally able to be made, Hong says _ and much of the irrational Cold War fear of everything communist have begun to disappear. But while things have gotten better, the ongoing debate over the National Security Law shows that the South still has a ways to go. 8 D J8 i" N0 c6 U }/ L1 C
+ E# R N; E& ~``A democratic society is made up of such things as the freedom of expression,’’ Hong, who has been making films with political content since the mid-1980s, said. ``The National Security Law goes directly against that by restricting freedom of thought.’’
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Yet at the same time, despite its inherent criticism of South Korean society, Hong says ``The Road Taken’’ isn’t a film that would be accepted by the North either. ' b% y1 x9 i9 e+ B& A; m
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``The film is closer to humanism, a story about individuals,’’ Hong said. ``The North has their own system and their own logic when it comes to films. I’d think that this kind of movie would be almost impossible to be screened for the masses there.’’
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! I; E$ l/ F" P: b. Q* C7 c(courtesy of KoreaTimes)
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9 |- Z/ Q+ }# k O" c[ Last edited by 阿韩 on 2004-5-16 at 09:50 PM ] |
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发表于 2004-5-16 21:44
