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Break the Chain!

Korean Cinema Retrospective: Lee Man-hee, the Poet of Night

Crime/Violence · Colonialism · History

CountryKorea
Production Year1971
Running Time95min
Format35mm
ColorCOLOR

Program Note

A breathtaking pursuit breaks out to get the Tibetan Buddhist statue inscribed with the list of names of the Resistance Army. After 2 years of seclusion, Lee made a graceful return with this film set in the Manchurian landscape where Korean resistances fight against Japanese a my tor getting back the statue. His choice of making this kind, which was bit of out-dated at that time. introduces a playful side of him bringing all sorts of props regardless of time and space including a horse carriage from Western cowboy flicks, a neat black sedan, and a coolest motorbike. As said many times by the characters in this film, "we all are the actors who play the roles in their own terms," Lee gave a firm statement that he himself was a fateful director who was not afraid of fulfilling his cinematic wills at any cost. (Cho Young-jung)

Director

LEE Man-hee

Born in 1931, director Lee Man-hee graduated from Kyungshin High School and served as a communications soldier during the Korean War. He worked as assistant to director Ahn Jong-hwa in 1956 and entered the film industry. At the recommendation of actor Kim Seung-ho, he debuted as a director with The Guiding Light in 1961 and began to receive recognition with Dial 112, a noire style thriller, in 1962. He achieved both artistic and commercial success with war films or thrillers such as The Marines Who Didn′t Come Home, Soldiers Without a Serial Number, and The Devil′s Stairway, and dramas like Late Autumn and A Road to Return. The filmmaking conditions worsened after the 70s, but Lee Man-hee was obsessed with making films, which gradually wore down his health. On April 3, 1975, he lost consciousness in the editing room while working on The Way to Sampo and fought for his life for ten days before passing away on April 13 at the age of 45.

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