Tae

Having started his career in Hong Kong after being scouted by Run Run Shaw himself, Ha Myung-joong became the leading man in many Korean films of the 1970s, including Im Kwon-taek’s JOKBO, also showing in this series, before he turned to directing. Unlike his more well-known DAENGBYEOT (BLAZING SUN, 1985), which was a prize winner in Berlin and elsewhere, TAE has rarely been shown internationally, making this new restoration all the more important. Filmed on location on an isolated island, his third feature uses the barren rocks, the mysterious sea and age-old mysticism for full emotional impact. Sociopolitically, it is hard to miss the film’s critique on how capitalism and religion conspire against humanity’s survival, let alone its happiness. In the colonial 1920s, landowner and loan shark Choi creates a scheme to monopolise the island’s economy. With the help of corrupt shaman Chung-Baek (played by real life shaman Chae Hee-ah), Choi spreads the rumour that it is a water spirit that is responsible for the lack of fish, and not ruthless overfishing by his companions. Soon the island becomes a battleground for survival. (Gerwin Tamsma). 

Ha Myung-joong:  X (1983), THE BLAZING SUN (1985), HONJADONEUN BARAMGAEBI (1991), MOM NEVER DIES (2007), JOOMOONJIN (2010)