Orae-doen jeongwon - Im Sang-soo (2006)
Orae-doen jeongwon - Im Sang-soo (2006)
aka: "The Old Garden" - "Le Vieux Jardin"
DVDRIP | 113 min | MKV-x264 720x304 | 25 fps | AAC | 1.52 GB
Languages: Audio 1: Korean - Audio 2: French | Subtitles: English - French in 2 optional srt files
Genre: Drama - History - Romance
aka: "The Old Garden" - "Le Vieux Jardin"
DVDRIP | 113 min | MKV-x264 720x304 | 25 fps | AAC | 1.52 GB
Languages: Audio 1: Korean - Audio 2: French | Subtitles: English - French in 2 optional srt files
Genre: Drama - History - Romance
Director: Im Sang-soo
Writer: Im Sang-soo
South Korea - 2006 - Color
Cast: Yeom Jeong-ah, Ji Jin-hee, Yoon Hee-seok, Kim Yu-ri, Eun-seong, Yoon Yeo-jeong, Park Hye-sook
"The Old Garden" opens with the release of Oh Hyun-Woo, after 17 years of incarceration. Involved in the insurrection and all sorts of guilty socialist activities, he was relieved of his freedom for his political activism. The film proceeds to map out his reconstruction, after this long spell in prison.
Since his arrest at the peak of the repression following the Gwangju massacre, his world has profoundly changed: South Korea has entered a new era, as a democratic post-industrial power. His family has reaped the benefits of the capitalist ideology that he ironically fought against, thanks to his mother, who has become a queen of real estate speculation. Han Yoon-Hee, the woman he loved and whom he sacrificed for his ideological fight died a long time ago. Hypothetical greater good Hyun-Woo has lost much, but must now find his place in society. No matter how narrow the path, he has to forge ahead. He could easily reform and lead a cozy bourgeois life, as comfortable as the designer jacket that his mother gives him upon his release. His comrade in arms have survived prison, torture, or madness… but they are not left unscarred. They seem sour and disillusioned… damaged, offering the sad spectacle of a bitter generation whose ideals were betrayed.
As Hyun-Woo comes back to the village where Yoon-Hee used to hide him, the film moves from secret to secret, following an undulating curve between past and present, without actually privileging one timeline over the other. The love story between the young political dissident and the art teacher is methodically explored and put in perspective through a series of intercutting flashbacks. Each psychological knot, each drama is dissected in sequences that traverse the linear chronological order of historical events like an unseen high voltage wave.
THE GWANGJU MASSACRE: One of the darkest chapters of South Korea’s recent history.
On May 18th 1980 and during the very long days that followed, the unspeakable happened in Gwangju, a city located in South Cholla, a southwestern province.
Originally a mere student demonstration against the closing of Chonnam National University, the protests that took place on that day were met with extreme violence. The brutality of the paratroops mobilized to crush the movement was such that the local population formed a “citizen army” that was able to stand up to the professional soldiers for a short while. But this victory could only last for so long and after a few days of an uncertain peace, the enraged military indulged in a proper carnage and quelled any kind of resistance for good. During those tragic days, military repression claimed a heavy toll on the civilian population, resulting in as many as 200 victims and a 1000 injured according to official figures. Estimates today range from 500 to 2,000.
Orae-doen jeongwon - Im Sang-soo (2006)
Orae-doen jeongwon - Im Sang-soo (2006)
Orae-doen jeongwon - Im Sang-soo (2006)
Orae-doen jeongwon - Im Sang-soo (2006)
Orae-doen jeongwon - Im Sang-soo (2006)
Orae-doen jeongwon - Im Sang-soo (2006)
