Feature film · A way to begin
The Flower Girl
꽃 파는 처녀
Choe Ik-kyu and Pak Hak · 1972
Synopsis
In 1930s Korea, under Japanese occupation, the young Kkot-bun sells flowers at the market to care for her sick mother, who has been reduced to serving a cruel landlord to whom the family owes money. Her father is dead, her little sister Sun-hui is blind and her brother Chol-yong has been imprisoned. The landlord's wife torments the family, and misfortunes pile up on the girl.
Context
The film, of one hundred and twenty-seven minutes, was produced by the Paekdu-san creative group under the supervision of the leader's son and officially presented on 30 November 1972. The opera from which it is drawn is said to have been written in the Jilin prison in the thirties. Hong Yong-hui, who plays Kkot-bun, became an icon of it, to the point that her image appears on banknotes. Wild Side Vidéo released it on DVD in France.
Who it is for
A propaganda melodrama of over two hours, in Korean; French critics see in it an accumulation of sufferings.
Prizes and reception
The first North Korean film to win a prize abroad, it received a special prize at Karlovy Vary and was a triumph in China.
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