Seopyeonje

Seopyeonje (Hangul: 서편제) is a 1993 South Korean musical drama film directed by Im Kwon-taek. Its story tells of a family of traditional Korean pansori singers trying to make a living in the modern world. The film was originally expected to only draw limited interest, and was released on only one screen in Seoul. At the height of its popularity, it was shown on only three screens at once in the entire city of over 10 million. Nevertheless, it ended up breaking box-office records and became the first Korean film to draw over a million viewers in Seoul alone. When it was released, Sopyonje's success also increased interest in pansori among modern audiences. The film was acclaimed critically, both in South Korea and abroad, getting screened in Cannes Film Festival and winning six Grand Bell Awards and six Korean Film Critics' Awards.

Contents

• Sopyonje trailer im kwon taek
• Plot
• References

Im Kwon-taek also used pansori as a narrative tool in his later films Chunhyang (2000), based on the popular Korean story Chunhyangga, and Beyond the Years (2007), an informal sequel to Sopyonje.

Plot

In a jumak (a tavern) on a small pass called Soritjae of Boseong County, South Jeolla Province, during the early 1960s, Dong-ho who is in his 30s, recalls his past as he is listening to a rendition of "pansori" sung by the jumak owner. Dong-ho and his sister Song-hwa were raised by the pansori singer Yu-bong, who treats them sternly and with a strict training regimen in his attempts to make serious artists of them as Yu-bong feels that a truly great pansori artist must suffer. Eventually Dong-ho runs away but Song-hwa stays behind. Adam Hartzell has argued that Song-hwa symbolizes South Korea, transcending a history of suffering to achieve greatness. However, scholars believe that this movie glorifies the father's patriarchal power as he seeks to limit his daughter's sexuality.