Pansori is one of the traditional Korean performance forms, but it is hard to define its genre. The reason for this is that, other than the drummer who occasionally plays along with the rhythm or helps the narrative, Pansori is solely led by one single person. In Pansori, singing, soliloquy, acting and narration are blended as one. Further, the content is neither tragedy nor comedy. Pansori is all of these but at the same time, none of these.
Pansori once enjoyed a great popularity and respect in Korea, but became almost obsolete in the process of modernization. The film that revived this almost forgotten tradition was
Seopyeonje (1993) by
IM Kwon-taek. IM, a grandmaster of Korean cinema even 20 something years ago, was born in Jeollanam-do Province which is the home of one of the two great Pansori traditions. Seopyeonje, which is also the title of the film, refers to the form of Pansori developed in Jeollanam-do, full of decorative skills and with a more sorrowful flow, which differs from masculine and tactless Dongpyeonje.
Song-hwa, the heroine, was played by
OH Jung-hae, an official initiator of Pansori with no previous acting experience. The film depicts crazy obsession for art and unapproved love of the three people, namely, Song-hwa the Pansori prodigy; an established Pansori drummer who discovered Song-hwa’s talent and adopted her as a daughter and student; and his son who falls in love with Song-hwa. Their life path is delivered on the screen with well known Pansori pieces. IM made
Beyond The Years in 2007, which could well be a sequel to
Seopyeonje, and delivered one more time the desperate and rhythmic Seopyeonje sound.
THE SOUND OF A FLOWER, released on November 25th, also features Pansori in the center of the film. It was time when women were not permitted to learn Pansori. SHIN Jae-hyo (
RYU Seung-ryong), a Pansori grandmaster, rejects Chae-sun (
BAE Suzy) who was deeply cherishing his voice that she once heard, and therefore finally came to his school. However, she has a great voice that no one can even imitate. At last he takes the risk to accept her as his student, knowing well he might have to pay for it.
Just like Seopyeonje, THE SOUND OF A FLOWER does not reveal its emotions immediately. Much like Pansori itself, where sorrow, joy, rage, sympathy, love and hatred are blended as one, in both films, the sentiment of love is ambiguous, and rather like embers than flame, it burns long and low.
Although Pansori is a complex form of performance, being neither a song nor a play, most films featuring Pansori have focused more on its singing aspect. However, there are two recent films to focus more on other aspects of Pansori.
The Treacherous (2015) by
MIN Kyu-dong shows the sexual empire of a prodigal king. By cutting down the lines short and choosing a Pansori narrration, this film gives some kind of “epic theater” effect.
While the Pansori in
The Trecherous is experimental, that in
Spring Spring, the second episode of an omnibus animation
The Road Called Life, is familiar and friendly.
KIM Yu-jeong, the author of the original novel of
Spring Spring, is well known for his talkative and humorous writing style. Director
AHN Jae-hoon said he took a Pansori narration rather than adapting the original sentences into dialogues, because he wanted to bring out the real flavor of KIM’s writings style.
To be sure, Pansori is still not an easily accessible form of art, since it takes several hours to fully appreciate one Pansori work. IM’s
Chunhyang (2000) took the risk of turning a whole Pansori piece into a film.
Chunhyang is a love story where the couple overcomes class difference. The drama of the film is mostly led by the original Pansori, and even actual Pansori performance scenes are inserted here and there in the film.