meyer-8
This is a beautiful and sad movie, but the pansori singer, who is kind of like a Korean Homer, and who narrates the plot like a voice in the background, sings in this most unreal and grating style. His guttural voice soars high, then low, and ends on what can only be described as shrieks, even screams. It is unnerving. I had to listen with the sound muted! The one place where it is quite touching is where the pansori narrates the 10 blows on Chunhyang as she is beaten in the chair. The audience is weeping and moaning and moving around. It was quite touching. But the scenery, costumes, and actors are all quite beautiful.
Mo Mo
I stumbled into Chunhyang through a teaser on Sundance Channel today. The story is a variation of a timeless theme of forbidden love found and lost. Or is it lost and found?The presentation includes a staged classical Korean theater performance where a singing storyteller and a drummer (Pansori) act as the narrator. His singing punctuates and accompanies the visual story and dialog.I was afraid that the acting would be too stylized and therefore distracting, but it was very believable and engaging.Having recently become interested in Korean history and culture through their pottery, I was familiar with some of the images, values, and traditions, but the beauty of the costumes, architecture, and scenery were strikingly beautiful and compelling.I'm looking forward to seeing this again. It was so visually rich that I'm certain it will continue to be a source of beauty.
albsure_96266
I am a Korean linguist and use Korean movies to keep up on the language and have really fallen in love with them over the last few years. My current favorite is JSA, followed closely by Shiri. I just happened to catch Chunhyang on the Sundance channel and it was just not your typical "everybody dies" Korean dramatic movie. Although, what little I know of Korean culture seems to portray life as always having misfortunes,because thats just how life is, this movie was a pleasant surprise. It was kind of like Romeo and Juliet who forgot they were supposed to die. The "panjori" was excellent as well.
Ms. Lennon
This is a wonderful and beautifully done film.Critics of this film, at least on this website, exaggerate any negative aspects of this picture.A little patience and willingness to accept that which does not involve Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone are a must for this film. Persons too narrow minded to appreciate a non-western culture will not be able to enjoy it.However, if you have patience and are wanting to watch a movie that is actually worth watching, Chunhyang is a must. The picture is beautiful, and the narration is a wonderful way of including ancient Korean poetry into the picture without spoiling it. Soemtimes there are so many subtitles that it distracts from the films, but dubbing would completely ruin it, so that is the biggest negative.The direction is good, acting good, which is to say that you don't think about the quality of acting as you watch it, which is good. Costumes, lighting, and all technical aspects are good.The plot is very folk tale, but for those who do not know it, it is far, far, far better than what Hollywood puts out these days. By far the worst part of the experience was watching the previews.I hope you'll take the time to go see this film and see a beautiful movie with great landscape shots. A cultural treat for those not wanting to see Not Another Teen Movie.
AD
