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Martyr

4th(1999) Special Programs in Focus

 

  • CountryKorea
  • Production Year1965
  • Running Time124min
  • Format 35mm
Program Note
Martyr is a screen adaptation of Korean-American Kim Eun-Kuk (Richard Kim)′s novel on the Korean War and religion. As the war was winding down, most civilians felt perplexed, especially for weak individuals who were constantly subjected to the occupation force′s demands to accept their ideology. When this gets linked with questions of a religious nature, the pains of the clergymen spreading the Lord′s prayers multiplies. The Korean War was such an incident and Martyr captures the surrounding circumstances as its major plot focus. Out of fourteen ministers taken away by the communist troops, only two are found alive. Told through one of the survivors′ testimony, Martyr is a simple depiction of incidents with episodic enumeration that delivers a true spirit of martyrdom. (Yi Hyoin)
Director
Director
YU Hyun-Mok
Yu Hyun-Mok is a film pioneer responsible for cultivating the aesthetics of Korean cinema who also had immense influence on other filmmakers. He directed 43 features including the classic An Aimless Bullet which many consider as the single greatest Korean film ever made. Born in 1925, Yu Hyun-Mok began his film career in 1955 with The Crossroad. Since then, he has pursued auteurism in the midst of a turbulent modern history and the barren nature of Korean cinema. His films represent a mirror which reflect Korea’s social reality in a critical manner, questioning society in the following manner: reality vs. existence in [An Aimless Bullet] (1961), religion vs. ideology in [Martyr] (1965) and [Rainy Days] (1979), and tradition vs. modern times in [Daughters of the Pharmacist Kim] (1963) and [Three Henpeck Generation] (1967). Yu Hyun-Mok has journeyed in search of human life. He also presents a unified aesthetic exploration of reality and ample experimentation in cinematic images. His latest project is 1995’s [Mommy, Star and Sea Anemone].
Photo
Credit
  • Director YU Hyun-Mok 유현목
  • Cast Kim Jin-Kyu, Nam Gung-Won, Chang Dong-Hui
  • Cinematography Shim Jae-Heung
  • Production Company Hap Dong Films Co. Ltd.
    C/O Korean Film Archive
    kfa@cinematheque.or.kr