Seopyeonje

Sopyonje (서편제) is a South Korean film directed by Im Kwon-taek in 1993. Its story tells of a family of traditional Korean pansori singers trying to make a living in the modern world. The film was originally expected to only draw limited interest, and was released on only one screen in Seoul. At the height of its popularity, it was shown on only three screens at once in the entire city of over 10 million.^[1] Nevertheless it ended up breaking box-office records and became the first Korean film to draw over a million viewers in Seoul alone. When it was released, Sopyonje's success also increased interest in pansori among modern audiences. The film was acclaimed critically, both in South Korea and abroad, getting screened in Cannes Film Festival and winning six Grand Bell Awards and six Korean Film Critics' Awards.

Im Kwon-taek also used pansori as a narrative tool in his later films Chunhyang (2000), based on the popular Korean story Chunhyangga, and Beyond the Years (2007), an informal sequel to Sopyonje.

Plot

In a jumak (a tavern) on a small pass called Soritjae of Boseong County, South Jeolla Province^[2], the early 1960s, Dong-ho in his 30s recalls his past as listening to a measure of pansori sung by the jumak's owner.^[3] He and his sister were raised by the pansori singer Yu-bong, who deals with them harshly in his attempts to make serious artists of them (Yu-bong feels that a truly great pansori artist must suffer). Eventually the boy runs away but the girl stays on.^[4] Some critics have stated that this movie glorifies the father's patriarchial power as he seeks to limit his daughter's sexuality.^[5] But most believe that the girl symbolizes South Korea, transcending a history of suffering to achieve greatness.^[6]

Notes

Bibliography

• Cho, Hae Joang (2002). "Sopyonje: Its Cultural and Historical Meaning". In James, David E. & Kim Kyung-hyun. Im Kwon-Taek: The Making of a Korean National Cinema. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. pp. 134–156. ISBN 0-8143-2869-5. 
• Kim, Kyung-hyun (2004). "2. Nowhere to Run: Disenfranchised Men on the Road in The Man with Three Coffins, Sopyonje, and Out to the World" (in English). The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema. Durham and London: Duke University Press. pp. 60–66. ISBN 0-8223-3267-1. 
• Stringer, Julian (2002). "Sopyonje and the Inner Domain of National Culture". In James, David E. & Kim Kyung-hyun. Im Kwon-Taek: The Making of a Korean National Cinema. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. pp. 157–181. ISBN 0-8143-2869-5. 
• Adam Hartzell's review at koreanfilm.org
• "Im Kwon-taek's Retrospective" (in English). 5th Festival of Korean Cinema in Italy. 2007. http://www.koreafilmfest.com/index.php?p=retrospettiva&l=eng. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
• Sopyonje at the Internet Movie Database