The unsettling close of Kim Ki-young’s delightfully unhinged 1960 film, a key work from the golden age of South Korean filmmaking, offers a subversive riposte to Hollywood norms.
The concept of forbidden love has always been one that inspired filmmakers and captivated audiences throughout the world. It is thus rather interesting to see how it worked in 1969 Korea, and "A Young Zelkova", based on the homonymous novel by Kang Shin-jae, provides a perfect opportunity, A Young Zelkova, Ahn Sung-ki, Ju Jeung-ryu, Kang-Shin Sung-il, Lee Seong-gu, Moon Hee, Park Am, Yoon Yang-ha
Just like "Mist", "Night Journey" is adapted from a work by acclaimed 20th-century novelist Kim Seungok. Shot in 1973, the movie was rejected by the censorship committee, and only found its way into the theatres four years later, in a cut version. According to the director, the edition available now on the YouTube Channel of the Korean Film Archive is also censored, although not as much as the one that screened in 1977. The fact could justify the narrative issues of the movie, although not completely, Night Journey, Choe Hui-yeong, Choi Kil-ho, Ju Jeung-ryu, Kang-Shin Sung-il, Kim Seungok, Kim Soo-yong, Lee Il-woong, Yoon Jung-hee
2021/07/02
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Kim Ki-young did not only direct psychosexual horror movies in the style of The Housemaid but also dealt in other kind of styles, as the present one follows a melodramatic approach regarding the student soldiers that were conscripted by the Japanese Occupation Forces close to the end of WW2. This approach, however, is somewhat peculiar, while the ending seems completely disconnected with the rest of the aesthetics. Let us take things from the beginning though. (I should also note here that the film quality is not exactly the best, while the sound is missing completely from a number of parts.
Considered the worst tyrant of the Joseon era due to his brutal ways, Yeonsangun of Joseon has been the focus of a number of movies and TV series, with the present one, however, being the most successful, winning a number of local awards, including the one for Best Film at the first Grand Bell Awards, Prince Yeonsan, Choi Nam-hyun, Han Eun-jin, Heo Jang-kang, Jeon Ok, Ju Jeung-ryu, Kang-Shin Sung-il, Kim Dong-won-III, Shin Sang-ok, Shin Young-kyun