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- Korean War Film Unearthed
- by Pierce Conran / Jun 26, 2013
- THE STREET OF THE SUN Screens for First Time in 60 Years
Though 14 films were produced in Korea during the Korean War (1950-53), up until now all were believe lost to the ravages of time. Recently, the Korean Film Archive (KOFA) announced the acquisition of The Street of the Sun, a 1952 film shot in Daegu. This past Tuesday it had its first screening, marking the 63rd anniversary of the beginning of the war.Only 62 minutes long, the film was the debut of MIN Kyoung-sik, a filmmaker who realized only five features throughout his lifetime. Though The Street of the Sun was found wrapped in newspapers and a plastic bag in a dusty closet by the director’s daughter-in-law some 20 years ago, it took until 2009 for KOFA to become aware of it. A digital restoration was carried out in 2012 but the film was screened without sound, as it audio was not recovered with the print.In a remarkable personal story reflecting the rift on the peninsula following the 1950s conflict, MIN’s brother Byoung-hak, also a filmmaker, wound up making propagandist films above the DMZ for the communist regime in Pyongyang.The film follows a schoolteacher who takes street children under his wing during the war. With its social message and war torn setting, MIN’s work is reminiscent of the great works of Italian Neorealism, such as Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (19848). In turn it also influenced the works of subsequent Korean filmmkars such as SHIN Sang-ok, according to KOFA’s CHUNG Chong-hwa.
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