Forgot password

 

The masterpiece The Aimless Bullet (1961) by YU Hyun-mok is going to be digitally restored. The Korean Film Archive (KOFA) revealed its plan to begin a digital restoration of the Korean classic realist film, which depicts a story about a frustrated character in the chaos of post-war Korea.

The original negative of The Aimless Bullet (1961) is currently lost and only a 35mm print exists which was submitted to the San Francisco International Film Festival in the early 1980s. However, the team is having difficulties restoring it because there are English subtitles all over the screen as well as scratches. KOFA explained that “The removal of English subtitles is not an easy task as it takes a long time and requires the use of a lot of equipment and significant human resources, even with current VFX technology. It costs KRW 500 million (USD 471,000) just for the digital restoration and to remove the subtitles.” While the digital restoration had been postponed for these reasons, the restoration of The Aimless Bullet is set to begin, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of KOFA this year. The organization said “We will first promote the digital restoration and the removal of the subtitles with the help with a secured subsidy of KRW 150 million (USD 141,000) and cover the remaining costs from sponsors of related corporations.”

KOFA is also releasing Blu-Ray editions of KIM Ki-young’s The Housemaid (1960) and HA Gil-jong’s The March of Fools (1975) as part of the Classic Korean Movie DVD Production Project. The Housemaid, a story of a woman who moves into an ordinary middle-class family’s home, became a sensation again when IM Sang-soo remade it in 2010. The March of Fools is a film that portrayed the Korean sentiment of the 1970s by showing young people in conflict with conservative society.

KOFA stated “With the recent downtrend of the DVD market and consumers’ preference for Blu-Ray, we’re releasing The Housemaid and The March of Fools first.” KOFA has been releasing eight to ten Korean classics on DVD every year since 2004, and has announced its plan to produce and release a total of 73 DVDs. KOFA is planning to reduce the number of DVD releases considering the production cost of Blu-Ray discs and, following responses, will convert its entire collection to Blu-Ray.