IM KWON-TAEK, DIRECTOR

Biography

Arguably the most internationally-renowned South Korean filmmaker, IM Kwon-taek has dedicated his artistic life to representing the complexities of the history and politics of his native country. IM Kwon-taek was born in Jangsung, Cholla Province, South Korea, in 1936. Compromised by his father's involvement with the Communist Party, his family's economic stability began to falter, forcing the young artist to work during the Korean War (1950-1953).

After moving to Seoul and meeting director CHUNG Chang-Wha, IM started working for the legendary Hanyang Film Company. He went on to direct his first feature film, DUMANGANG-A JAL IKKORA, five years after arriving in Korea's capital, but it wasn't until the mid-1970s that IM Kwon-taek moved from shooting Korean B-movies to using film as an artistic medium.

While Korean Cinema experienced a sharp decline during the 1970s (having just undergone two decades of rapid growth), IM Kwon-taek's career blossomed with the success of his first dramatic feature films. And as Korean cinema was saved by the creation of the Motion Picture Promotion Corporation, IM Kwon-taek turned to the humanistic and poignant social dramas that later on became the source of his international fame.

IM Kwon-taek has won numerous international awards, including the Best Director Award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, for CHIHWASEON (PAINTED FIRE).


Director's Statement

The name "won" is a pen name designated to the famous painters Danwon and Hyaewon. JANG Seung-up, whose pen name is "Oh-won," makes up one of the three famous 'won' painters in Korean art. He is one of the best painters of the Joseon Dynasty, and people consider his works to be divine.

Although he lived about 100 years ago, some of his mysticized deeds haven't allowed us to really see his life as it truly was. Also, apart from praise for his artistic achievements, we've never criticized his works properly. This story starts with a simple curiosity about a genius painter who lived a not-so-normal life. But it was a shock for me to realize that this film wasn't solely a dramatization of one artist's life.

There are three main elements in the film. First, the end of the 19th century was, historically, an exceptional time. Second, Joseon, which was a small country in Northeast Asia. And finally, JANG Seung-up, who became in this time and space a famous painter from the lower class. These three elements are firmly entangled, well understood, and successfully explain each other in this film.

JANG Seung-up is known as a free man who lived by his own ways and cared about nothing, even the king's order. Or he is known by his strange deeds such as painting only when he had wine and women with him. However, I don't think the same about him.

I think that his relationship to women and sex was an expression of his deep anguish and affliction, a way to sustain his artistic spirit while living in a dark world. I could feel from his life, an artist's desperate efforts and strong will for overcoming his own limits. He was proud of his works but at the same time he tortured himself to pursue the highest level - one that nobody else could reach. And this is the most crucial reason I made this film.

Another reason for making this film centers around my thoughts about the aesthetics of Korean traditional paintings falling under the category of East Asian paintings. Under the influence of modernization, which mostly comprises of a discontinuance or self-denial of traditions, western aesthetic standards have been with us for a long time. As a result, the aesthetics and spirit of Korean paintings are being forgotten. I think this could be another aspect of the Korean aesthetics and values I've been trying to find through making films. I experimented through Korean traditional opera in my previous film, Chunhyang, and on how the western mechanism of filmmaking can combine with Korean traditional narrative. Continuing this, Chihwaseon makes another experiment of this combination through the visual elements of Korean traditional paintings.

Chihwaseon will be a painful examination on how I have judged the nature and history in which I was born and raised. It will also be a small dedication to an artist's severe efforts to endure his brutal reality in order to find himself. I believe that the "drinking master of painting," JANG Seung-up, whom I met spiritually while preparing for this film, is another shape of me, a man who keeps struggling for art with a camera instead of the brush.

Im Kwon-Taek, 2002


Filmography (1968 - 2002)

Chihwaseon - Painted Fire (2002)
Chunhyang (2000)
Ch'ukje (1996)
Taebak Mountains (1994)
Seo-Pyon-Jae (1993)
Son of a General III (1992)
Fly High Run Far - Kae Byok (1992)
Son of a General II (1991)
Son of the General (1990)
Come Come Come Upward (1989)
Adada (1988)
Diary of King Yonsan (1987)
Surrogate Woman, The (1986)
Ticket (1986)
Gilsodom (1985)
Eternal Flow, The (1984)
Daughter of the Flames (1983)
Abenko gongsu gundan (1982)
Village in the Mist (1982) (UK)
In the Bosom of a Butterfly (1982)
Polluted One, The (1982)
Mandala (1981)
Wealthy Woman, The (1980)
Pursuit of Death (1980)
High School Tears (1980)
Hidden Hero, The (1979)
Again Tomorrow (1979)
Divine Bow, The (1979)
Little Adventurer, The (1978)
Genealogy (1978)
Near Yet Far Away (1978)
Evergreen Tree, The (1978)
Madame Kye in the Imjin War (1977)
Virtuous Woman, The (1977)
Industrious Wife, The (1976)
Overcome by Misfortunes (1976)
Commando on the Nakdong River (1976)
Byegone Romance, A (1976)
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1975)
Who and Why? (1975)
Wives on Parade (1974)
Hidden Princess, Part 2, The (1974) I'll Never Cry Again (1974)
Hidden Princess, The (1974)
Pursuit of the Bandits (1973)
Five Hostesses for the Resistance (1973)
Jabcho (1973) (aka Deserted Widow, The)
Testimony, The (1973) (USA)
Arrivals and Departures (1972)
Seize the Precious Sword (1972)
Cruelty on the Streets of Myongdong (1972)
30-Year Showdown, The (1971)
Gangsters of Myongdong (1971)
In Search of the Secret Agent (1971)
Stepmother's Heartache, A (1971)
Snowing on Grudge Street (1971)
Revenge of Two Sons (1971)
Swordswoman (1971)
One-Eyed Mr. Park (1970)
Hidden Investigator (1970)
Flying Sword, The (1970)
Vagabond's Story, A (1970)
Unmarried Mother (1970)
Woman Pursued, A (1970)
Snapshot and a Murder, A (1970)
Swords Under the Moon (1970)
Best Friends and Their Wives (1969)
Eagle of the Wilderness (1969)
Thunder Sword (1969)
Three Generations of Men (1969)
Escape from Shanghai (1969)
Would You Help Me? (1969)
Full Moon Night (1969)
Man Called the Wind, A (1968)
Waking Woman, The (1968)
Return From the Sea (1968)
Concubine Jang Hui-bin (1968)