SYNOPSIS
This stylish film starts with the fall of Berlin Wall, unfolding the story of a Korean sister and brother, who were adopted to France. Made in 1991, this film mirrors the division of the Korean peninsula using the Berlin Wall and raises the question: What really obstructs ¡®our¡¯ nation¡¯s unification?
This film can be read as a multi-layered political allegory. Young-hee, a girl sexually abused by her French military stepfather, allegorizes South Korea, while her East-Germanesque socialist brother stands in for North Korea. And the French police, who are chasing Young-hee¡¯s abusive father and her brother, are the allegorical representation of the imperialistic countries that constantly interfere in the unification of Korea, due to foreign policy interests. Berlin Report, a prominent political film in the period, imagines two kinds of nation. One is a nationalism based on blood ties that insists that North and South Korea must be re-unified just as Young-hee and her brother should be; one bloodline must not be separated. The other is a nationalism of victimhoodthat regards North and South Korea as victims in the battlefield of imperialism, forced to live apart, just as Young-hee and her brother are separated after a brief encounter. The steady cam shot that connects different times, spaces and characters together is one of the most breathtaking scenes in the film. (Kim Sun-ah)
PROGRAM NOTE
This stylish film starts with the fall of Berlin Wall, unfolding the story of a Korean sister and brother, who were adopted to France. Made in 1991, this film mirrors the division of the Korean peninsula using the Berlin Wall and raises the question: What really obstructs ¡®our¡¯ nation¡¯s unification?
This film can be read as a multi-layered political allegory. Young-hee, a girl sexually abused by her French military stepfather, allegorizes South Korea, while her East-Germanesque socialist brother stands in for North Korea. And the French police, who are chasing Young-hee¡¯s abusive father and her brother, are the allegorical representation of the imperialistic countries that constantly interfere in the unification of Korea, due to foreign policy interests. Berlin Report, a prominent political film in the period, imagines two kinds of nation. One is a nationalism based on blood ties that insists that North and South Korea must be re-unified just as Young-hee and her brother should be; one bloodline must not be separated. The other is a nationalism of victimhoodthat regards North and South Korea as victims in the battlefield of imperialism, forced to live apart, just as Young-hee and her brother are separated after a brief encounter. The steady cam shot that connects different times, spaces and characters together is one of the most breathtaking scenes in the film. (Kim Sun-ah)