Chunmong

An Empty Dream (Chunmong, 1965) is a Korean remake of a Japanese Pinko film released the previous year. In the hands of master director, Yoo Hyeon Mok, he deviates from the originals soft core titillation and instead presents a dizzying surreal flight of fantasy. A man and a woman who are strangers receiving dental treatment at the same clinic are put under anesthesia at the same time. Hints of strangeness have already been glimpsed on screen but once unconscious, all reality is abandoned and we witness the playing out of a strange love triangle between the strangers and the dentist. The dentist, who is reminiscent of the devil, continually torments the couple and attempts to steal the woman away. A strange film with eschewing the common realist film making Mok was popular for making and which was popular at the time. The film takes a blend of French surrealism, Russian montage and German expressionism and adds a distinctly Korean edge to the proceedings.

This is not a film of narrative excellence but one of blissful, visual stimulation. The film had not been seen for years due to rumours at the time of the lead actress, Park Su Jeong, being filmed naked although none of the supposed footage made it into the final cut.

A bold, sensual, stunning experimental film; extremely unique in South Korean film.