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ARCHIVE

5th(2003)



Flame in the Valley / Sanbul

Kim Soo-yong

  • Korea
  • 1967
  • 77min
  • 35mm
  • black and white

SYNOPSIS

Do Kum-bong has played dynamic and outgoing characters in contrast to passive and submissive characters played by Choi Eun-hee in some films such as Sung Choon-hyang (Shin Sang-ok, 1961) and Mother and a Guest in the Master¡¯s Room (Shin Sang-ok, 1961). In Flame in the Valley, she again plays a role as Sa-wol who actively pursues her own desire and thus confronts brutal punishment in contrast to the character of Jeom-rye who gets uncontrollably involved in a forbidden relationship with a stranger but, in the end, chooses self-sacrifice.
 The film is set during the Korean War in an isolated mountain village which is occupied by frustrated women who get tired of waiting for their husbands to come back from the War not even sure if they are still alive. One day, Jeom-rye runs into an escaped POW hiding in a bamboo forest in the back of the village. She secretly helps him and ends up in a forbidden romance with him. However, Sa-wol becomes aware of their relationship and threatens the two lovers. The two women agree to share the man sexually, and the twisted desires lead them to a tragic end partly caused by the insanity of the war.
 While the whole village is haunted by the neurotic conflicts of ideologies, Do Kum-bong¡¯s long-suppressed sexual tension and desire is irresistibly fascinating and threatening.
 (Joo You-shin)
 

PROGRAM NOTE

Do Kum-bong has played dynamic and outgoing characters in contrast to passive and submissive characters played by Choi Eun-hee in some films such as Sung Choon-hyang (Shin Sang-ok, 1961) and Mother and a Guest in the Master¡¯s Room (Shin Sang-ok, 1961). In Flame in the Valley, she again plays a role as Sa-wol who actively pursues her own desire and thus confronts brutal punishment in contrast to the character of Jeom-rye who gets uncontrollably involved in a forbidden relationship with a stranger but, in the end, chooses self-sacrifice.
 The film is set during the Korean War in an isolated mountain village which is occupied by frustrated women who get tired of waiting for their husbands to come back from the War not even sure if they are still alive. One day, Jeom-rye runs into an escaped POW hiding in a bamboo forest in the back of the village. She secretly helps him and ends up in a forbidden romance with him. However, Sa-wol becomes aware of their relationship and threatens the two lovers. The two women agree to share the man sexually, and the twisted desires lead them to a tragic end partly caused by the insanity of the war.
 While the whole village is haunted by the neurotic conflicts of ideologies, Do Kum-bong¡¯s long-suppressed sexual tension and desire is irresistibly fascinating and threatening.
 (Joo You-shin)
 

Director

  • Kim Soo-yongKim Soo-yong

    Born in 1929 in Ansung, Kim Soo-yong studied pedagogy at Seoul National University. He has directed more than 100 films including A Seashore Village (1964), Flame in the Valley (1967), Chun-hyang (1968), Splendid Outing (1977), and Jung-Kwang¡¯s Nonsense (1986) since his feature debut film A Henpecked Husband in 1958. He won numerous awards such as the ¡°Best Director Award¡± at the 6th and 13th Daejong Film Festival, for Mist (1967) and The Earth (1974), respectively, and the Best Director Award at the 15th Baiksang Art Award for The Terms of Love (1979). One of the leading contributors to the Korean cinema boom in the sixties, Kim Soo-yong has also taught at Chongju University and has been the president of Korea Media Rating Board.

Credit

  • ProducerKim Tae-su
  • Cast Do Kum-bong, Joo Jeung-nyeo, Shin Young-kyun
  • Screenwriter Shin Bong-seung
  • Cinematography Hong Dong-hyeok
  • Editor Yoo Jae-won
  • Music Jeong Yun-ju
  • Sound Lee Kyeong-sun