Painted Fire (2002)
"Chihwaseon" (original title)

In a time of political and social unrest in 19th century Korea, an uncouth, self-taught painter explores his natural talent amidst the repressive world around him.

Director:

Kwon-taek Im

Writers:

Kwon-taek Im, Yong-ok Kim,

Stars:

Min-sik Choi, Sung-kee Ahn, Ho-jeong Yu

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Min-sik Choi	...	Jang Seung-up
Sung-kee Ahn	...	Kim Byung-Moon
Ho-jeong Yu	...	Mae-hyang
Yeo-jin Kim	...	Jin-jong
Ye-jin Son	...	So-woon
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jin-seo Yun

Storyline

The struggles of an artist. Jang Seung-up (1843-1897), also called Owon, focusing on the years 1882 to 1897, when Korea was in political upheaval, caught between China and Japan, the conservative dynasty dying, and peasant revolt at hand. Jang, born poor, has genius; a merchant, Kim, becomes his patron, finding him a teacher. Jang must convince others that a commoner can have talent, then move beyond his ability to copy old masters and find his own style. He's bedeviled by a temper and alcohol, arguments with patrons as he seeks commissions, and relationships with kisaeng, particularly Mae-hyang, that start and stop. It's the life of a restless spirit producing great art.

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Plot Keywords:

korea | artist | dying | kisaeng | japan | 

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Taglines:

The Life of Painter Jang Seung-up

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site (Korean, some English)

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

10 May 2002 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Painted Fire

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$9,302 (USA) (14 February 2003)

Gross:

$59,413 (USA) (20 June 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Taehung Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chosen by "Telerama" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2002 (#10)

User Reviews

well made film - a movie like a drawing

This movie could be a bit boring for some people, but I find this film

very interesting in terms of an attempt to reveal a tradition.

The director, Lim, has made two films about traditional music in Korea before this film. The film before this one was showing the music throughout the film, and this film is trying to achieve similar things by having backgrounds in the movie just like a painting.

Another thing is that, the story is written by both director and a philosopher, Kim who is well known scholar in Korea (holding a lot of degrees - including doctor at Havard) I'm not saying that educated people make better films but that philosopher is an expert in traditional culture in Korea, so it gives more credit on this film.