Le chant de la fidèle Chunhyang

Cahiers Du Cinema called this epic an "experimental film", and indeed, it is as experimental as Lars von Triers DANCER IN THE DARK by heavily relying on music and songs. On the other hand, the differences are quite obvious. Here the songs come from the off most of the time (until the camera surprisingly moves to the classic singer on a stage) and do something that usually reduces the quality of a movie: they tell you what's going on in the pictures. But those pictures are of such an elegic beauty (with the typical yellow "Im-tone") that you feel a story is told to you by your grandfather and it unfolds perfectly in front of your eyes. I saw the screening during the MIFED 2000 together with only one (!) other guest and am quite astonished that film fans and buyers might overlook this masterpiece about an exclusive one-on-one love that touches our hearts.

Kwon-Taek-I'm, the talented Korean director, gives us a gorgeous film in "Chunhyang". Korean cinema rely heavily in presenting well crafted movies that rely heavily in their rich folklore. As witnessed here, this film will delight fans of Mr. I'm, as well as give the viewer an appetite to discover other films from that country that are not only beautiful to watch, but also gives us films that are original, not following well established patterns, as it's the case with most of the commercial cinema these days.

"Chunhyang" offers us a folk story in the traditional Korean style in which a singer is accompanied by a an instrument similar to our guitar and we learn about it as it enfolds mesmerized by the images one witnesses on the screen.

We saw "Chungyang" in its original release and caught with it again with it in DVD format recently. This movie is highly recommended to those looking for a different kind of story told magnificently by Kwon-Taek-I'm.

Before video, before film, before printing, before writing -- people told and sang stories.

"Chunhyang" is a wonderful way to experience this oral tradition, listening to the music of language as chanted by a Pansori telling a Korean folk tale. For those of us without facility in the Korean language, the film paints for us the images conjured by the singer. These are beautiful images of a colorful, far-away land in ancient times -- images locked into the race memory of the Korean people familiar with the story, but now on the screen for our benefit as well.

This collision of old and new art forms generates a synergy evident, for example, in the scene in which Chunhyang is beaten for refusing to take to the evil lord's bed. Most of this takes place off-screen -- instead we see shots of the Pansori and of his audience, sitting on the edge of their seats and weeping as he tells of the heroine's defiance. It was one of the most gut-wrenching scenes I've experienced in many years.

This is a Korean film telling the story of two lovers torn apart by class. The son of a governor and the daughter of a courtesan. It has the air of a fairytale and is a very good film.

It may be difficult for some people to get into the film in the beginning if you are not familiar with pansori. Pansori is a centuries old Korean form of storytelling in which a storyteller sings the story while a drummer drums and makes short vocal sounds or words of encouragement. It is initially jarring for those of us who mostly watch American and European film, but stick with it. I first saw this in a film class and it was among two films that I wrote about for class and liked so much that I purchased on my own once the class ended.

As the film begins the viewer is placed in the position of someone watching a pansori performance. From here the film transitions from the world of Chunhyang to the pansori audience. Part of the enjoyment of the film comes from watching the reactions of the pansori audience to the story. It is akin to being in a movie theater and sharing the same experiences with everyone else watching the film.

Aside from the format, the story itself is enchanting, full of love, loyalty, and courage. The acting is very good and the actors are not bad looking themselves. The pansori performance is a song of the story so it has some poetic qualities that don't necessarily push the story forward, but are enjoyable if you are patient. All in all it is a look into Korean culture and storytelling that not many films from America, Europe, or the rest of the world do for their own cultures. Most films today just stick to the basic narrative design or are pretentious and abstract. This one creates a new experience for anyone who is willing to give it a chance.

This Korean film is told through both pansori and live-action. Pansori is a style of Korean singing/drama that consists of a singer and a drummer and very, very long epic stories are sung dramatically. Seeing the robe-clad singer gesticulate and dance about with his fan was pretty interesting and a nice lesson in Korean culture. Plus, once I got used to the style, it was interesting as he narrated large portions of the live-action story and it reminded me quite a bit of Chinese opera. However, and I know this will make me sound rather shallow to some, but after a while the singing wore me down and I really don't look forward to seeing many more films in this style. Maybe this is the Asian equivalent of sitting through one of Wagner's operas (another endurance test for the audience). In both cases, the performances may be four or more hours long!

The story itself is an 18 century legend about two young lovers, the tragedy that befalls one of them and the very uplifting and satisfying conclusion. The son of a governor falls in love with a concubine's daughter. Despite being from totally different social classes, they secretly marry. The young man wants to tell his parents, but needs to wait until he takes his civil service test, as he wants to make a name for himself before publicly acknowledging the marriage. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes when a new governor is appointed. He's exceptionally cruel and unyielding. Exactly what happens next is something you'll have to see for yourself, but I can assure you it is very exciting to watch and worth the wait--as the film improves the further along it goes.

Beautiful cinematography, this is a lovely little legend come to the screen. It's well worth a look, but I strongly doubt that many Westerners out there will quickly embraced this very unusual film. It takes a bit to get used to the style, but it's well worth it.