Sanbul

Prolific (although completely new to me, which is not a surprise given the single hand count of 'early' Korean films I've managed to view) director, Soo-yong Kim, has created a film very much of its time with Sanbul (1967). Channeling the best of the French nouvelle vague and Nippon noir his film is truly something unique, telling the story of a small, impoverished mountain village that has been decimated by the war, leaving only the widowed women behind to fend for themselves as they are beset by communist guerrillas in the surrounding mountains and the fast approaching army from the South. When a deserter from the North is discovered hiding in their bamboo forest pent up desires rise to the surface disrupting the already precarious status quo.

Ambitiously photographed in wide screen, the film is surprisingly confined with Kim successfully presenting the limited world the women have been relegated to. Used without thought by both sides they are pawns in larger storylines they have no control over and this is effectively portrayed without going over the top stylistically. Actors are all in good form despite the general unpleasantness of some of the villagers. Sanbul doesn't overstay its welcome and provides some solid food for thought and is, all in all, well worth making the effort to see.