For many of us who live on Bollywood diet, South Korean cinema is about violent men unleashing strange weapons to hammer their way to box office success. It is the world of Oldboy and its versions but beyond The Chaser stereotype there lies the rich cinematic treasure of an old man, who is called the father of Korean cinema. In Im Kwon-taek’s world there is music, there is socio-political upheaval and there is spiritualism. He draws liberally from the country’s colonial past to conceive lessons for tomorrow. In Goa, to receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the just concluded 47th India International Festival of India, Im calls it an “unexpected recognition.” For an auteur, who has made more than 100 films with distinction, it is not just another feather in the illustrious cap. “I see it as an appreciation of my efforts to make films all these years.” With him around, it seems there is no retirement age of filmmaker. “Sometimes, I wonder myself, where this energy comes from. Perhaps, I enjoy the process of making films and that keeps me going,” says the gentle director as he looks towards the roaring Arabian sea from the lobby of Cidade de Goa.
With titles like Escape from Shanghai and Night of Full Moon, till late ‘70s he was known primarily as a commercial filmmaker. “In the early part of my career, I delved into commercial cinema because it was considered trendy back then. As I grew older, I realised I don’t want to waste the rest of my life making commercial films only. I decided to reflect on serious concerns of life, the historical events and the hardships people faced. I went through an inner change and that made me take a different view,” reflects Im.
The change took shape with Mandala. Set in a Buddhist monastery, the much-feted film deals with turbulence in a young man’s life who seeks to achieve enlightenment by overcoming worldly passions. He went on to make Sopyonje , which underlined the value of tradition as a father tries to teach his children Pansori, the traditional Korean music and turned to arousing romantic drama with Chunhyang . He continued his tryst with art with Chi-hwa-seon (Painted Fire), The film about self-taught artist Jang Seung-Up, who changed the course of Korean art won Im the best director award the Cannes Film Festival.In between, he dealt with the wounds of the Korean War, colonial rule and the struggle between the haves and have nots with films like Gaebyeok , Gilsoddeum and The Taebaek Mountains and faced political pressures along the way. Even before Mandala he came up with a well-rounded Japanese character sympathetic towards Korean cause in The Genealogy. Chi-hwa-seon also has socio-political unrest as the backdrop.“The idea has always been to tell stories about circumstances in Korea. Of course, there were political pressures when I tried to make films on Korean War and there have been times when I had to drop projects because of pressures. I reflected only what I experienced growing up in a colony with modest means and I wanted to talk about it,” reflects Im.
On straddling different genres, Im says, “There is a common link – the respect for human beings. They may have different themes and belonged to different genres but they all espouse human values.” He goes on to add that he first reflected on the calamities of war and as he grew older and the country progressed he decided to concentrate on themes which can inspire young Korean to draw from their culture, particularly music.
Talking about his brush with spirituality, Im says, “I believe in Buddhism but I am not particularly religious. There are four major religions in Korea but among those Buddhism is more like a culture. As I grew older, I thought Buddhism is the right way to talk about the process of life.”
Some critics find the portrayal of female characters in his films problematic but Im insists that there is no intention to show female characters as weak or powerless. “All the characters in the film open a true window to how women were treated back then. In Confucian society, women had to obey their husbands. Back then, the dignity of women was quite low.”
Coming to violence in South Korean films, Im surprises us when he says, “I also find Korean films quite violent. Sometimes they are a bit too much, both theme wise as well as technically. Perhaps, it has to do with the market forces. Korean films have to compete with Hollywood films, which in themselves, are very violent. They want to be competitive in the world market.”
But it also reflects on the Korean audience. “To be honest, violent films are more popular in Korea,” admits Im but clarifies that Koreans are not violent people. “They had to go through colonial times which were quite tortuous and then military regimes followed.” Then there is an aggressive neighbour. “We have gone through lot of hardships and perhaps carry lot of aggression inside. Perhaps violent films provides a release, a way to take out deep-seated anger.”
He finds Indian films quite bright and brimming with positive energy. Of late, he has only watched Slumdog Millionaire and 3 Idiots . “I want to watch more Indian films but they are not released in Korea.” Before we take leave, he suggests three films from his oeuvre to Indian audience: Mandala ( 1981), Chunhyang (2000) and Chi-hwa-seon (2002).
(The interview was conducted with the help of a translator.)
