Chilsu wa Mansu (1988)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Kwang-su Park

Writers:

Sang-hak Chi (writer)
In-seok Choi (writer)

Release Date:

16 November 1988 (South Korea)

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Sung-kee Ahn	...	Mansu
Chong-ok Bae	...	Jina
Joong-Hoon Park	...	Chilsu

Also Known As:

Chil-su oa Man-su (South Korea) (alternative transliteration)
Chilsu and Mansu (USA)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

South Korea:15

Company:

Dong-a Exports Co. Ltd.

Trivia:

The source story by Chunming Huang was uncredited, as Huang's works were banned in South Korea at the time.

Striking movie reflecting on class struggle

This is a movie with a message. It highlights the struggle of two men, Chilsu and Mansu. Both are painters without a stable job. The movie follows the daily pointless lives of these two men, joined by desperation and lack of employment. The film sends many messages to the viewer. The most poignant is the daily struggle of the common man in Korea (in th 80's) with no education. It reflects the hopelessness of the poor, as well as the outsider. This is shown by the younger man's dream of going to Miami as an escape from his world, even though he has never been there. It is also shown by the older man's inability to obtain stable work, due to his father's history of being a communist. The second message (to me) is that of cultural imperialism by the West in Korea. In the movie, one sees many influences of Western ideas. The girl that the younger man likes works at Burger King; The older guy dresses up as a painter from France in order to impress the women; the younger man sees America (miami) as a solution to his life; he wears a shirt resembling the American flag; and the billboard the 2 men paint is that of an advertisement for American whiskey.