Black Republic is the 31st Blu-ray title planned by the Korean Film Archive and produced by Blue Kino. It is considered a masterpiece in the history of Korean cinema and a representative work of the so-called Korean New Wave, which emerged in the late 1980s in the wake of democratization and subsequent openness in subject matter.

Although the June Democratic Struggle of 1987 did not ultimately end the military regime, it was one of the turning points that completely changed the foundation of Korean society. After that, a wave of democratization occurred in Korea, a great struggle for workers’ rights swept through the whole country, and the foundation of the social system changed. Films were no exception to this trend. It became possible for films to deal with subjects that were taboo under the previous regime, and in the process, a number of films were made that critically examined existing contemporary history and Korean society. Starting with Park Kwang-su’s Chilsu and Mansu (1988), films including The Age of Success (1988) and Lovers in Woomuk-Baemi (1990) by Jang Sun-woo, and North Korean Partisan in South Korea (1990) and White Badge (1992) by Chung Ji-young should be mentioned. These films and the auteurs who made them, are referred to as the Korean New Wave. Among them, Black Republic is a representative work of the Korean New Wave in terms of its critical awareness, themes, and achievements in film aesthetics.

Black Republic begins with a scene where Tae-hun (Moon Seong-keun), who is wanted for his involvement in the democratic movement, hides using the alias Kim Gi-yeong in a coal mining town. Coal mining towns are closing down one by one, as the industry has already started declining and the miners are fighting to keep their homes. The film features an activist intellectual, Kim Gi-yeong, as the lead character, who simply observes the situation and lives a passive life under a false identity, as he is a wanted man and unable to actively participate in the movement. Thus, the intellectual in the film becomes a conduit to reveal reality, or a guide to access it. This setting of the intellectual as an observer or guide is a characteristic of Park Kwang-su’s films, and also appears in Berlin Report (1991) and A Single Spark (1995). He acknowledged his own limitations as an intellectual and attempted to explore the relationship between the people and the intellectuals, and the position of the intellectuals through the lives of the people, as seen by the intellectuals, rather than directly reproducing the reality of the people. This is the thematic consciousness that runs through his films.

The commentary was provided by director Park Kwang-su, lead actor Moon Seong-keun, director Kim Sung-soo, who was then assistant director and contributed to the screenplay, and film critic Kim Hyeong-seok. These creators provide a wealth of behind-the-scenes stories and interpretations of the production, the directing, the setting and the characters of the film. This will also be a shortcut to understanding and appreciating the film. In addition, the introduction of the director and a review by film critic Huh Namwoong will help viewers gain an in-depth understanding of the film. The images on the Blu-ray were sourced from the restored version in 2K resolution by the Korean Film Archive in 2015. They Are Also Like Us, a short film with the same title of Black Republic in Korean that Park Kwang-su made in 1982 when he was a member of ‘Yalashang’, is included on the Blu-ray as part of the supplement. It was made on 8mm film and the quality is poor, but it is valuable material that allows us to feel Park Kwang-su’s critical thinking as a young man.