Chihwaseon (2002)

Director:

Kwon-taek Im

Writers:

Kwon-taek Im
Yong-ok Kim
(more)

Release Date:

10 May 2002 (South Korea)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

The Life of Painter Jang Seung-up

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

19th Century | Painter | Korea | Alcoholic | Escape

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

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

Directed by
Kwon-taek Im

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kwon-taek Im
Yong-ok Kim
Byung-sam Min

Produced by
Woo-Suk Kang	....	executive producer
Michael Kim	....	executive producer
Tae-won Lee	....	producer

Original Music by
Young-dong Kim

Cinematography by
Il-sung Jung

Film Editing by
Sun-duk Park		(as Seon-deok Park)

Art Direction by
Byung-do Joo

Costume Design by
Ki-chul Kim
Hye-ran Lee

Sound Department
Choong-Hwan Lee	....	sound

Production Companies

• Taehung Pictures

Distributors

• Kino International (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Espace Sarou (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• BIM Distribuzione (????) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Pathé (????) (France) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

"Drunk on Women and Poetry" - UK
"Owon Jang seung-eop Chihwaseon" - South Korea (recut version)
"Painted Fire" - USA
"Strokes of Fire" - International (English title)
"Ebbro di donne e di pittura" - Italy
"Embriagado de Mulheres e de Pintura" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Ivre de femmes et de peinture" - France
"Methysmenos, me gynaikes kia zografiki" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Pinceladas de Fogo" - Brazil (festival title)
"Pinceladas de fuego" - Mexico (original subtitled version)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA (TV rating) | Singapore:R(A) | Mexico:B15 | France:U | Hong Kong:III | South Korea:12 (cut) | South Korea:18 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:Unrated | UK:15 | Japan:R-18

Company:

Taehung Pictures

Trivia:

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

A unique, gorgeous work of art

The fire gives all...

This is one of film's most masterful meditations on artistry. Set in 19th century Korea it tells the story of the famous painter Ohwon, but rather than stick to saucy anecdote, melodrama, or psychological egg hunting, it portrays a series of episodes throughout his life, all of which are beautiful works of art in themselves. It gives no interpretation of these episodes, but leaves them for the viewer to ponder along with the paintings of Ohwon himself. In this way, the viewer enters into the same sort of contemplation as Ohwon, and minus his talent can "feel" their way into the inspiration of his paintings.

Part of why this is so effective is the utterly masterful evocation of 19th century Korea and the musical/artistic world that Ohwon moved in. There are so many gorgeous shots of the world outside the paintings that we get a mirror effect where we see the beautiful world inspiring Ohwon, Ohwon living and looking in that world, and the works of art he creates, all mirroring off one another.

The story is told with extreme economy. A feeling evoked is hardly ever lingered with or explained, it just appears quickly then is gone for the next one to appear. As an analogy it is a sort of Mozartian work of art (endless and quick succession of great ideas) rather than Beethovinian (Obsessive lingering on one great idea). It has a classical restraint, much like Ohwon's paintings. There is really no music hinting how to feel except a few classical Korean pieces used with great effectiveness in several scenes (and mostly played by characters in the movie). One haunting image, if I remember correctly, is of a flock of birds soaring away over the blue mountains while a female singer croons

"This life is like a dream, and only death will awaken us"

One telling line of advice in the film, from one of Ohwon's teachers, is that "the painting lies between the strokes." The film follows that attitude as there is so much matter *between* what is spoken and described in the film. I have seen it twice and it was very rewarding on the second viewing. A very terse film, with little in the way of obvert explanation, one could see how it is Im's 96th film. It is an artistic masterwork. Like Ohwon's great friend and mentor tells him in describing one of his paintings, "Not a single stroke is wasted."

I compare it to Andrei Rubylev in quality, though in style it is very different. It is much easier and more directly entertaining to watch, but classical in form where Andrei is gothic.

All in all highly recommended to almost anyone except appetite junkies. Both times I left the film I felt a wonderful spiritual renewal.

One point of Ohwon's life that intruiged me was that his mad drinking and raving began suddenly after visiting the noble who told him that "Good art can come only from great knowledge and learning." The next brief scene Ohwon was very angry, and the next blasted drunk as he often remained for the remainder of the film. I am curious why the nobles words effected him so much and drove him to the drinking that dominated the rest of his life. Or was it just a coincidence?