| Oseam | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 오세암 |
| RR | Oseam |
| MR | Oseam |
| Directed by | Sung Baek-yeop |
| Produced by | Mago21 |
| Written by | Novel: Jeong Chae-bong Screenplay: Choi Min-yong Lee Seo-kyeong Sung Baek-yeop |
| Music by | Kang Ho-jeong |
| Cinematography | Mun Seong-cheol |
| Distributed by | Sinabro Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | April 25, 2003 September 22, 2004 |
| Running time | 77 min. |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
Oseam (Hangul: 오세암) is a 2003 South Korean drama/religious animation directed by Sung Baek-yeop. It is based on a novel by Korean author Jeong Chae-bong, who has described it as being a fairy tale for adults. The title means “Five year old temple.”
Contents |
Oseam follows two orphans, Ga-mi (감이) and her younger brother Gil-son (길손). Ga-mi is a gentle and reserved blind girl, while Gil-son is hyperactive and often gets into mischief. The two seek refuge at a Mahayana Buddhist temple, helping with the chores, as they cope with the loss of their mother and home several years ago due to a fire accident, which is also where Ga-mi lost her sight. Gil-son, too young to understand, still believes they will find their mother someday as Ga-mi has never told him she died in the fire. Soon later Gil-Son accompanies a monk to go meditate in the mountains and find a cure for his sister's blindness, but ends up sacrificing his life for Ga-mi's sight.
The movie is very slowly paced, often quite slice-of-life in its approach, though dotted with moments of flashback and briefly intense scenes. A lot of emphasis is placed on the characters, particularly the orphans.
Due to its release limited to South Korea and France, this movie is little known to English speakers. However, DVDs with English language subtitles do exist but are only available as region 3 DVD's.[1]
Oseam is generally regarded as having impressive visuals and character drama, drawing comparisons to other animated films such as Grave of the Fireflies,[2] yet "shows signs of some truly amateur filmmaking."[3]
It has received a number of awards at film festivals around the world, such as the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival. It won "Best Animated Film" at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival and the Annecy International Animated Film Festival for 2004.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||