27 Korean Classics Screening in The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo

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27 Korean Classics Screening in The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo

Nov 26, 2015

Writer by HA Jung-min
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50th Anniversary of Normalization of Korea-Japan Ties, MADAME FREEDOM and THE FLOWER IN HELL

The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo (MOMAT) National Film Center is featuring ‘Korean Cinema 1934–1959: Its Foundation and Burgeoning’ to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty on Basic Relations Between the Republic of Korea and Japan. This special screening is showing 27 Korean classical films from November 21st to December 26th, 2015 due to mutual understanding through cinematic exchange between two countries. It is a rare opportunity to watch Korean modern films at a time, which are difficult to encounter even in Korea.

The opening film is HAN Hyeong-mo’s Madame Freedom (1956) about crack of a middle class family. The film is a classic of Korean romantic movies to know its hedonistic culture in those days through deviation of a college professor’s wife. Also, A Sea Gull (1948) which was found in Kobe Planet Film Archive (KPFA) last July will be shown. The film is the first local literary picture after liberation from Japanese Occupation. It is a story about heroine Jeong-ae working as an instructor in a youth detention center after college.

SHIN Sang-ok’s The Flower In Hell (1958) is his early masterpiece which depicts Korean society after the war with a background of a military camp town. CHOI Eun-hee played the role of foreigners’ whore and gave an impressive performance of femme fatale. Another masterpiece of SHIN, A College Woman's Confess (1958) will be shown in this special screening as well. It was a top grossing film at that time with good reputations from both of audiences and critics.

Besides, movies like YANG Joo-nam’s Sweet Dream (1936) which suggested a new image of women and The Widow (1955) directed by the first Korean female director PARK Nam-ok will meet Japanese spectators. The oldest existing Korean movie, Crossroads of Youth (1934) will be played with a silent-film narrator’s explanation.

In addition, there will be various events for screening. Kyoto University professor MIZUNO Naoki will help visitors understand Korean modern cinema. ‘Korean Cinema 1934–1959: Its Foundation and Burgeoning’ is jointly run by Korean Film Archive, MOMAT National Film Center, Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, Korean Cultural Center in Japan and Fukuoka City Library. After special screening in Tokyo, the films will feature at Fukuoka City Library from February 3rd to March 6th, 2016.

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