Chi-hwa-seon
Directed by Im Kwon Taek
Chi-hwa-seon
Winner of the Cannes Film Festival's Best Director award, CHIHWASEON is a vivid portrait of the turbulent life and times of Korea's greatest artist. As remarkably embodied by Choi Min-sik (Old Boy), the temperamental, passionate brush master Jang Seung-up paints with a martial artist's fervor while indulging a rock star's single-minded lust for life. Amidst the tumult and destruction of nineteenth century Korea, "Ohwon" as he comes to be called, fights to escape both the rigid artistic boundaries and the social fetters that would deny his low-born, unschooled genius.
Saved from a street gang's fists by a wealthy patron, young Ohwon's raw talent, as demonstrated in a sketch thanking his rescuer, opens the door to a world that would otherwise be forbidden to the dirt-poor outsider. As Ohwon's artistic abilities develop to near supernatural perfection, his carnal appetites grow into self-immolation. But whether imprisoned in a gilded cage as a reluctant Court Artist or painting Kama Sutra pillow book porno for booze money, Ohwon's personal dissolution and political innocence yield artworks that one awestruck admirer says "emanate divine strength as if ghosts were dancing around them."
While Ohwon's brush tugs at paper inside the quiet of Seoul's most privileged homes, out on the street the flames of revolution are fanned by the Japanese and Chinese generals who would claim Korea for their own. In CHIHWASEON, director Im Kwon Taek portrays both the near apocalyptic upheaval of turn of the century Korea and the intimate interior battle between Ohwon's creative and libidinous desires with "the very elegance and mastery of the painter himself."(The Washington Post)
Reviews
"A breathtaking period film...a vision of the artist at the height of his (reflective) powers. Im Kwon Taek's most fiercely period film to date." - Paul Malcolm, L. A. Weekly
"Im Kwon Taek is the Korean Grandmaster...with artists like him, films from the East will never lack artistry -- or a worldwide audience." - Richard Corliss, Time Magazine
Winner of the Best Director prize, Cannes Film Festival 2002
"Full of passion and perception...one eminent artist''s biography of another." - A.O. Scott, The New York Times
"A superb film bio." - Michael Wilmington, The Chicago Tribune
Awards
- Best Director Cannes Film Festival
Interested in bringing Chi-hwa-seon to your school or library? If you'd like to have an in-class viewing, on-campus screening, or purchase the DVD for your library's collection, please contact Estelle Grosso at EDU@kinolorber.com or call (212) 629-6880 with your request.
Chi-hwa-seon may also be available with Public Performance Rights (PPR) and Digital Site Licensing (DSL) for colleges and universities. To purchase the DVD with PPR or DSL, please contact Estelle Grosso at EDU@kinolorber.com or call (212) 629-6880. Click here to learn more at Kino Lorber Edu.
To read more about Kino Lorber Edu's terms of use and ordering information, visit Kino Lorber Edu.
RT' @filmcenter': "SYNONYMS is smart, stunning, and requires multiple viewings to peel back all its layers." --' @Chicago_Reader's' Jamie Ludwi…
RT' @TheFilmStage': We talk to director' @kmendoncafilho' about #Bacurau, mainstream cinema, and how the Brazilian government is destroying cul…
RT' @davidehrlich': as always, i annotated the video on IndieWire with a list of my favorite movie moments of the year: ' https://t.co/w5D6RM…'
RT' @davidehrlich': THE 25 BEST FILMS OF 2019 A video countdown: ' https://t.co/szibzkDPRP'' https://t.co/7Q4tP4B1wJ'
@DNauertz' @BigBrother1988' We send to existing customers but you can also request to be added to our list here:' https://t.co/fmQkmZMFL1'
@LC_Perez81 Thanks for flagging, we are working to fix. In the meantime, try this:' https://t.co/NVD48Gr6Of'
RT' @DNauertz': There are many things I love about' @KinoLorber', but the fact that they send me catalogues is pretty high on the list. Who doe…
"[Fashion] helped me to understand... anthropology, theology, religion, and the position of women in the whole worl…' https://t.co/ZpESPJgBbc'
Huge' @KLStudioClassic' End of the Decade sale now through December 19! Over 350 Blu-rays on sale starting at $5.99,…' https://t.co/CDrwJcoLFt'
RT' @Brian_Tallerico': Caught up with Long Day’s Journey Into Night this morning. So my shit. Great stuff even without the 3D. Mesmerizing.
General Inquiries
333 W. 39th St., Ste. 503
New York, NY 10018
Tel. (800) 562-3330
Fax. (212) 714-0871
Press & Media
For publicity assistance and press inquiries please contact us by emailing dninh@kinolorber.com or calling 212-629-6880.
Educational
Please visit our educational site at www.KinoLorberEDU.com
For assistance with educational orders, please contact us at:
Phone:212-629-6880
Fax: 212-714-0871
Email: edu@kinolorber.com