Photo: Choi Min-Sik as Jang "Ohwon" Seung-Ub in Im Kwon-Taek's Chihwaseon
In Chihwaseon, director Im Kwon-Taek (Chunhyang) recounts the life of 19th-century Korean painter Jang "Ohwon" Seung-Ub (Choi Min-Sik) with the workmanlike precision one might expect from someone who's made nearly 100 features in 40 years. While his talents are highly regarded, Ohwon strives to distance himself from the masters he's accused of copying, and as played by Choi, Ohwon is so uncomfortable within his own flesh, tortured by his constant frustration (both creative and sexual), that he spends the duration of the film fumbling his way toward an elusive transcendence. Im's humanism is unmistakable but his recollection of Ohwon's life feels cold at times. The director's nature shots are ravishing (in one scene, the wilderness seemingly loses its color in response to one of Ohwon's violent uproars) though he fails to elucidate the complicated relationship between artist and nature that Ohwon's paintings suggest.
In Chihwaseon, director Im Kwon-Taek (Chunhyang) recounts the life of 19th-century Korean painter Jang "Ohwon" Seung-Ub (Choi Min-Sik) with the workmanlike precision one might expect from someone who's made nearly 100 features in 40 years. While his talents are highly regarded, Ohwon strives to distance himself from the masters he's accused of copying, and as played by Choi, Ohwon is so uncomfortable within his own flesh, tortured by his constant frustration (both creative and sexual), that he spends the duration of the film fumbling his way toward an elusive transcendence. Im's humanism is unmistakable but his recollection of Ohwon's life feels cold at times. The director's nature shots are ravishing (in one scene, the wilderness seemingly loses its color in response to one of Ohwon's violent uproars) though he fails to elucidate the complicated relationship between artist and nature that Ohwon's paintings suggest.
