1971 | 96 MIN | Action

DIRECTOR PARK Nou-sik

CAST PARK Nou-sik, KIM Ji-mee, HEO Jang-gang

RELEASE DATE July 22, 1971

CONTACT Korean Film Archive

Tel +82 2 3153 2001 

Fax +82 2 3153 2080 

Email kofa@koreafilm.or.kr

Until the middle of the last decade, when films such as The Silenced (2015), Assassination (2015) and The Age of Shadows (2016) appeared, cinematic depictions of the Japanese Colonial Occupation of Korea (1910-45) had been considered taboo. However, decades before these period block-busters appeared on screens, the Korean film industry of yesteryear had already been busy tack-ling the pain of the era, and the way they chose to do it foreshadowed another popular subgenre of modern Korean cinema - the revenge drama.

The ills of the past were vicariously soothed through cinematic vendettas that saw Korean strong-men beat impossible odds to wreak terrible vengeances on wartime profiteers, Japanese sympathizers and the like. Among the most stripped down and effective titles in this cycle of films was Quit Your Life (1971), the directorial debut of prolific actor PARK Nou-sik, who would return to the genre again in later filmmaking efforts.

PARK not only directed but starred in this early 70s action classic as Cheol-ho, a man who was enslaved in Manchuria during the Colonial Era with his best friend Jeong-su. Another laborer, Dal-gyu (HEO Jang-gang), hatches a terrible plan to steal gold. Jeong-su is falsely blamed for the crime and hanged for it. Years later, Cheol-ho returns to Korea where he seeks out Jeong-su’s wife (KIM Ji-mee), who has become blind since her husband’s departure. Too wracked with guilt to tell her the truth of her husband’s fate, he poses as Jeong-su and puts in motion his own terrible plan to take down the nefarious Dal-gyu, now the head of a corporation in Seoul.

Quit Your Life (1971) mixes high-stakes action and extreme melodrama in a straightforward yarn of injustice and its consequent retribution. Anchoring the emotional highs and lows and punching his way through the set pieces at the center of it all is PARK, a screen veteran who ultimately appeared in over 900 films. His unmistakable gravelly voice and commanding screen presence make him a convincing action star, while the earnest way he throws himself into histrionics adds an endearing charm to scenes that could easily feel cloying in other hands.

As a filmmaker, PARK puts together a streamlined and appealing package and he never shies away from big set pieces. His action is clear and kinetic, and the drama in between the set pieces raises the emotional stakes before fists, cars, guns and spears reappear on screen.

PARK would revisit similar territory for his later feature Devil! Take the Train to Hell (1977), a work that amps up the camp and cult factor of his work, as he appears yet again as a man with a grudge dating back to the Colonial Era, and even though this time he’s blind, that doesn’t stop him from learning how to catch an arrow in mid-air and how to drive a car.

Quit Your Life (1971) has to date only screened twice overseas, first at the Paris Korean Film Festival and later at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.