Janggun-ui adeul

By the time Im Kwon-taek directed JANGGUN-UI ADEUL (The General’s Son) in 1990, 18 years—and 40 films—had passed since he had last made an action film. Having developed a more contemplative aesthetic style that brought him increasing international recognition as one of Korea’s foremost directors, Im’s return to genre with his 93rd feature—and his first number one hit—came as a surprise to many. Its subject taps into a form of contemporary Korean folklore surrounding one of the country’s key post-war figures. Kim Du-han became Korea’s most legendary gangster, in part because his colourful “autobiography”, which celebrated his rise through the street gangs in colonial Seoul’s colourful Jongno district, formed the basis for a constant stream of popular comics and movies; the nation seemingly preferred patriotic myth over historical truth. Im Kwon-taek’s dynamic and entertaining contribution to the gangster subgenre takes its title from the (not undisputed) fact that Du-han’s father was an anarchist general fighting the Japanese occupiers in Manchuria before he was murdered—thereby suggesting that the Korean gangsters at home were freedom fighters of a similar kind. (Gerwin Tamsma) 

Im Kwon-taek: FAREWELL DUMAN RIVER (1962), FEMME FATALE, JANG HEE-BIN (1968), THE GENEALOGY (1978), THE HIDDEN HERO (1980), MANDALA (1981), GILSODDEUM (1985), SEOPYEONJE (1993), CHUNHYANG (2000), PAINTED FIRE (2002), BEYOND THE YEARS (2007)