Cinema
Chilsu and Mansu
칠수와 만수
Park Kwang-su · 1988
Synopsis
In 1988, in a Korea opening up to democracy, Chil-su, a young sign painter who dreams of emigrating to Miami and courts Jina, works with Man-su, an older, disillusioned painter, whose father's past as a communist sympathiser closes doors to him. The two men, penniless, land a huge beer advertisement to be hand-painted at the top of a building. Suspended above Seoul, they discover they are closer than they thought, and their frustrations rise to the surface.
Context
The first feature film by its author, the film adapts a short story by the Taiwanese writer Huang Chunming, who is not credited because his books were then banned in Korea; Choe In-seok, Chi Sang-hak and Yi Sang-woo wrote the screenplay, Park Joong-hoon plays Chil-su and Ahn Sung-ki Man-su. Released on 26 November 1988, it drew only 73,751 viewers. It was shown at Locarno, where it received a mention from the young critics' jury, then in Berlin and Singapore. Censorship then removed all social criticism from screenplays.
Who it is for
A film of one hundred and eight minutes, a bitter comedy about two companions in misfortune, to be seen in a subtitled version.
Prizes and reception
A box-office failure, but regarded as a milestone in the revival of Korean cinema by the Harvard Film Archive and the Fantasia festival.
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