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Blu-ray Collection Sopyonje (1993) Director: Im Kwon-taek Year : 2017
The third Blu-ray produced by the Korean Film Archive in 2017 is Sopyonje by Im Kwon-taek, the great director. In this Blu-ray, the digitally restored version that the original negative film is color-restored after scanning in 4K high resolution is used as the source. Director Im Kwon-taek beautifully pictures in this film with the story of Yu-bong, an itinerant pansori master who even makes his adopted daughter blind out of the desperate desire to achieve a better voice, Dong-ho who travels across the country in search of Song-hwa, his blind step-sister. This film has recorded the average audiences of 4,313 people in a day only at DanSungSa during its screening, and 1,035,741 audiences in Seoul for 6 months, reflecting the love by the whole country.
The most Korean film that realizes the deep resentment on screen with Korean aesthetics characteristics Sopyonje, considered as the most Korean film, is not a typical drama. By using a long take, non-linear narrative structure, understated dialogues, and frequent pansori, a type of Korean folk-blues music, this film is beautiful and metaphorical and, at the same time, hard to define the era with the open-ending. Yu-bong, Song-hwa, and Dong-ho, in a family-like relationship with no blood-ties, hurt each other under the shadow of desire to "master the voice," the significant artistic achievement, yet, at the same time, have a yearning for one another in their heart. Yu-bong builds a strong bond with Songhwa by passing on his pansori skills, and Songhwa completes the love by resolving her deepest sorrow while singing pansori at her step-brother Dong-Ho's drum beat. Like one of Yu-bong's line, "Dongpyeonje is heavy and finishes off clearly while Sopyonje is sorrowful and full of affection and resentment. But there is no limit beyond the resentment," the film tells us that our sorrow, affection, and resentment can truly become united only after by resolving the resentment rooted deep in our heart. Supplementary materials supplied including pleasant commentary of Directors Im Kwon-taek and Kim Hong-joon, Kim Myung-kon, actress Oh Jeong-hae, and music director Kim Soo-chul, subtitle in pansori, and many others Gathered after 24 years, directors Im Kwon-taek and Kim Hong-joon (assistant director at that time), Kim Myung-kon, actress Oh Jeong-hae, and music director Kim Soo-chul provide commentary including behind stories of how Sopyonje was created, casting Oh Jeong-hae, Kim Myung-kon's singing, Kim Soo-chul music director's OST becoming a bestseller, and many others. This is a good opportunity to enjoy the production process and recollections of Sopyonje in a friendly and happy atmosphere. Included in the supplementary are the commentary of Im Kwon-taek and Kim Hong-joon recorded in 2006, the opening movie of "Im Kwon-taek's Complete Work Exhibition" held by the Korean Film Archive in August 2010, a trailer of Sopyonje, pictures before and after restoration and many other materials. Option to choose subtitle in pansori version is also available to improve audiences' understanding. Sopyonje Blu-ray is available for purchase from July 6 at online and offline shops. |
Details |
ㅇ Drama | 113min | 12+
ㅇ Subtitles : Korean, English, Japanese ㅇ Video: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen ㅇ Audio: Korean DTS-HD MA 3.0 ㅇ Special Features - Voice commentary 1. Im Kwon-taek (film director), Kim Hong-joon (film director), Kim Myung-kon (actor), Kim Soo-chul (music director) 2. Im Kwon-taek (film director), Kim Hong-joon (film director) (recorded in 2006) - The opening movie of Im Kwon-taek Retrospective Exhibition - Collection of images - Videos before and after restoration - Trailer ㅇ Booklet - "Im Kwon-taek: Beautiful landscape in the deep in the heart of mountains with 102 valleys" by Chung Sung-ill (film critic, film director) - "How to read Sopyonje in the times of K-wave" by Kim Kyung Hyun (professor of East Asian Studies, director of the UCI Center for Critical Korean Studies) - "Digital restoration process of Sopyonje: Tightrope in between the 'realization' and 'improvement' of the film's original color" (KOFA Preservation Center) |
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