Chunhyang (Im, 2000)

Director

What sort of director is Im Kwon-Taek?

Directors negotiate their vision of the world with what an audience is ready to view and might be able to understand. A film, in terms of "core romantic values" will almost certain have a blend of an individual vision and the director's understanding of the limits of his particular situation.

"Since we cannot make films that are as entertaining as American films, for Korean cinema to survive, we have to make films based on our stories, the ones that no one else can tell. Their subject matter must be something that couldn't have been conceived unless you're a Korean." (Im Kwon-Taek: The Making of a Korean National Cinema, by David E. James and Kyung Hyun Kim, Wayne State UP, Detroit, 2002, p250)

... in other words, he is consciously trying to represent Korean cultural values in one way or another.

"...Working prolifically ever since, Im has cemented that reputation by creating films with distinctly Korean settings and concerns. His 1993 Sopyonje, which tells the story of a traditional pansori singer trying to make a living in the modern world, was the first domestically made film to draw over a million viewers in Seoul. Having won every major Korean film award, and garnered accolades from Cannes and the Berlin Film Festival, Im continues to immerse himself in Korea's story. His 2000 film Chunhyang expanded on Sopyonje's exploration of the pansori, further developing its unique sounds as a narrative tool. His 2002 Chihwaseon captured the life of a nineteenth century painter who changed the direction of Korean art. Local but never provincial, proud yet never nationalistic, Im's films ask vital questions: What traditions should a culture preserve in the face of modernity? And how can it preserve them? By insisting on the relevance of the traditional, Im's films have provided at least one possible answer. (From a blurb accompanying a New York City, MoMA, 2010 retrospective festival of his films at: http://www.koreanfilmfestival.org/content/blogcategory/36/74/)