Film Facts:Chihwaseon
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| ABOUT THE DIRECTOR, Im Kwon-Taek: The name "won" is a pen name designated to the famous painters Danwon and Hyaewon. JANG Seung-ub, whose pen name is "Oh-won," makes up one of the three famous 'won' painters in Korean art. He is one of the best painters of the Joseon Dynasty, and people consider his works to be divine. Although he lived about 100 years ago, some of his mysticized deeds haven't allowed us to really see his life as it truly was. Also, apart from praise for his artistic achievements, we've never criticized his works properly. This story starts with a simple curiosity about a genius painter who lived a not-so-normal life. But it was a shock for me to realize that this film wasn't solely a dramatization of one artist's life. There are three main elements in the film. First, the end of the 19th century was historically an exceptional time. Second, Joseon, which was a small country in Northeast Asia. And finally, JANG Seung-ub, who became in this time and space a famous painter who was from the lowly class. These three elements are firmly entangled, well understood, and successfully explain each other in this film. JANG Seung-ub is known as a free man who lived by his own ways and cared about nothing, even the king's order. Or he is known by his strange deeds such as painting only when he has wine and women with him. However, I don't feel about him that way. I think they were just a way to express his deep anguish and affliction to sustain his artistic spirit while living in a dark world. I could feel from his life an artist's desperate efforts and strong will for overcoming his own limits. He was proud of his works but at the same time he tortured himself to pursue the highest level that nobody can reach. And this is the most crucial reason I made this film. Another reason is my thoughts on the aesthetics of Korean traditional paintings falling under the category of East Asian paintings. Under the influence of modernization, which mostly comprises of a discontinuance or self-denial of traditions, western aesthetic standards has been with us for a long time. As a result, the aesthetics and spirit of Korean paintings are being forgotten. I think this could be another aspect of the Korean aesthetics and values I've been trying to find through making films. I experimented through Korean traditional opera in my previous film Chunhyang on how the western mechanism of filmmaking can combine with Korean traditional narrative. Continuing this, Chihwaseon this time makes another experiment of this combination through the visual elements of Korean traditional paintings. Chihwaseon will be a painful examination on how I have judged the nature and history in which I was born and have been living in and have shot them with a camera as a director. It will also be a small dedication to an artist's severe efforts to endure his brutal reality in order to find himself. I believe that the "drinking master of painting," JANG Seung-ub, whom I met spiritually while preparing for this film, is another shape of me who keeps struggling for art with a camera instead of the brush he held a hundred years ago. |
PRODUCTION NOTES:
Renowned artists and college professors, who are all experts on paintings from the Joseon Dynasty, were hired to reproduce JANG Seung-ub's authentic works. The government also granted permission to the film's producers to exclusively use authentic paintings of the Joseon Dynasty for the film. In Chihwaseon, you can watch firsthand the most well-known paintings of JANG Seung-ub and become awestruck by paintings of the Joseon Dynasty which so many treasure today. Actor Choi Min-shik also went through intense training to learn the exquisite brush techniques and gestures characteristic of Korea's most cherished painter, JANG Seung-ub.
-Cinema Service
PRODUCTION NOTES:
After working next to Director Im Kwon Taek on a slew of films dating back to Korea's "Golden Age of Cinema," Cinematographer Jung Il-sung has captivated the audience both at home and abroad with his beautiful visuals and sensational cinematography. Winning several awards for his unparallel talent, he once again enchants the audience with visuals never seen before, which truly enhances the painter's world JANG Seung-ub lived in. For several weeks, Jung Il-sung traveled around Korea during spring to capture the most beautiful images that even native Koreans have never seen. Jung Il-sung used as much as 10,000 feet of film to use these shots as inserts for the film.
-Cinema Service
PRODUCTION NOTES:
To bring life back to the streets of Seoul that's reminiscent of the end of the 20th century, Korea's largest open set went into construction at Seoul Cinema Complex. Covering a large mountain landscape with a mammoth budget, the set was built within the span of three months before the movie went into production. Jongro Street, which today lies in the heart of Seoul's bustling metropolitan, was reincarnated into a crowded road filled with old shops, bars, merchants, and civilians from all walks of life during the Joseon Dyansty. There are also homes of aristocrats and middle-class noblemen, gisaeng houses (salons for women to entertain aristocrats), and peasants' homes. Every single prop, costume, and character all identically resemble Korea's last great dynasty, and allows us to experience it so realistically, it's as if we were actually there.
-Cinema Service
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