When I first heard about the movie Head and saw the cast, I was really excited to see it. Ryu Deok-hwan! Park Ye-jin! Baek Yoon-shik! Oh Dal-soo! I have been a fan of Ryu’s for a while and really like his recent work–even his television forensic/mystery program, God’s Quiz on OCN. Park Ye-jin’s movie roles may be a little weak, but I fell in love with the image she created during the years she was on ‘real’ television comedy, Family. While BaekYoon-shik’s more recent film choices may be questionable, he has credits in Tazza and The President’s Last Bang under his belt and is still considered an excellent actor. And Oh Dal-soo is a mainstay in Korean films and a great character actor.  Throw in former G.O.D. singer Danny Ahn in a supporting role and what’s not to love?  You would think that this would be a great way to spend a chilly afternoon, just sitting at home and watching the story of Head unfold.  You would be very, very wrong.  It ranks as one of the worst films I have seen in a long time.  It is hard to pinpoint just one place where the movie went wrong, but if I am going to start finger-pointing, it would have to be at director and scriptwriter Jo Woon.  This was his first feature length film after a handful of shorts made around 2005.  I don’t think he knew what he was doing.

With a simple phone call early in the movie, I knew I was not going to be in for an enjoyable experience. It was one of the most awkward moments on camera I have witnessed in a long time. I truly believe that Ryu’s voice was added to the scene in postproduction and that Park Ye-jin had no idea what she was supposed to be responding to nor how she should be reacting. Her deadpan reactions to his panicked screams are at first frustrating and then humerous for all the wrong reasons. In general, her acting is very stiff but in these scenes, it is just terrible and not in line with the seriousness of the situation– even if she thought he was just pulling a prank, she would have reacted more strongly. 

Ryu’s talents are entirely wasted in the movie as he spends much of it tied up either in his underwear or in a dress. I could not tell you if his wardrobe was supposed to be for comedic effect or to add a sense of darker threats in addition to be abducted and threatened with death. In either case, it didn’t work.  Yoon tries his best at playing a villain but he never become fully convincing and I would say he was just phoning in his performance and counting the minutes for the shooting to be finished.  And it was easy to forget that Oh Dal-soo and Danny Ahn were even in this movie (and they probably want you to forget). Their roles could have been played by anyone and it would not have had any effect on this movie.

The script is a big part of this film’s failure.  It was so full of holes and illogical actions. Why didn’t anyone at any point just take the head-in-the-box to the nearest police station. Hong-je (Ryu) claims it was because he had a criminal record, but why would the police blame him?  The story starts with working for a delivery company and being unable to complete the delivery of a package.  The package leaks all over his hand and upon opening it, he discovers a human head.  The head belongs to a famous scientist who was believed to have committed suicide but whose cranium disappeared somewhere between the morgue and the funeral home.

Hong-je calls his sister, Hong-joo (Park), a struggling entertainment reporter, in a fit of terror. First about finding a head, then about his boss being killed at the company’s office and then about being nearly killed himself by a man (Yoon) desperate to get the grisly package back. He hides the head and waits for his sister at home when he is abducted. Hong-joo is informed that she has one hour to find where the head is hidden and get it to the kidnapper before he butchers her brother.  Basically, that is the story. Oh, there is also an illegal organ harvesting ring, a nursing home full of zombified elderly residents following the minister housing them with cult-like devotion and a corrupt cop subplot but it is all just padding and for the most part either makes no sense or is of very little interest. 

There is a too brief moment where the film could have redeemed itself a little when Hong-joo calls a flock of reporters to her assistance rather than the police and, had this been done with a little more satire, it would have been an excellent commentary on the mob-like behavior we often see with Korean reporters. However, it was not done with a tongue-in-cheek intention and proved to be a missed opportunity.  Although I like each actor individually, I cannot recommend this movie at all. And I hope that director Jo does not get his hands on a camera for a while. Even though his second attempt may be better, I need a little time to forget this film before I try to watch anything else he might make.

Director Jeong In-yeob is perhaps most famous for directing what is recognized as Korea’s first porn film, Madam Aema, but that wouldn’t be until 1982.  He started his career in films on the staff of Director Kim Ki-yeong and became a director in his own right by the mid-60s.  He continued directing right up until 1997 with the direct-to-video movie based on musician Kim Geon-mo’s song Speed entitled, appropriately enough, Kim Geon-mo’s Speed.  Jeong directed twenty-two films in the 1970s. Most of these I have already uploaded information on, but the final eight information plates are listed below.  Just click the thumbnail and expand to see a full-sized image.  The rest of the films, and info on plates from other directors from the 70s, can be seen by clicking on the tab marked ‘the 1970s’ at the top of this page.

, ,,, , , ,   Next: Director Jeong Jin-woo

The Independent. vol.1, no. 13 Tuesday, May 5, 1896:  In this issue, the English School goes on a picnic and the editor makes an arguement for getting electric lights

Brief Notes

Tahmage, in a recent sermon, said some good things about newspapers. “There is nothing that despotism so fears and hates as a newspaper.”  “We would have better appreciation of this blessing (newspapers) if we knoew the money, the brain, the losses, the exasperation, the wear and tear of heartstrings ivolved in the production of a good newspaper.” ” Papers do not average more than five years’ existence. Most of them die of cholera infantum.”  “If you feel like starting a newspaper, secular or religious, understand that you are threatened with softening of the brain or lunacy, and throwing your pocket book into your wife’s lap, start for a lunatic asylum before you do something desperate.”  <The comment about papers not lasting more than five years would be prophetic for the Independent–tom>

The regulation in regard to butchers in Seoul has been that there shall be twenty-three slaughterhouses in the city but of late the number has increased to forty-nine.  The butchers laid a complaint before the Governor and took a vote of the butchers on the subject. The result was in favor of the old law. There will be twenty-three slaughterhouses hereafter.

Ex-Home Minister Yu Gil-chun and Ex-Chief of the Law Bureau Cho Jung Eung are now taking refute in Tokyo.

Forty students in the military school commenced their studies on April 1st.  The term of the school is six months and at the end of that time they will be given commissions in the army if they pass successful examinations.

The steamer Genkai Maru is expected to arrive at Chemulpo from Japan via Fusan on Wednesday the 6th.

Mr. Carsten Egeberg Borchrevink, a native of Christiana, organized a scientific expedition to the South Pole. He believes that there is an unknown continent the equal of Europe in size existing in the antartic circle, which can be reached within fourteen days sail from Melbourne.  It will prove invaluable for the whaling industry, for sealing, and guano. Ther is much zoological, botanical, geological, and other scientific work to be done in the new field. Traces of large mammels have been found, giving promise of attraction for the hunter. The party will start from Melbourne and will sail due south for Cape Adain, the northern-most point of Victoria Land.  They expect to come back by January, 1897.  <This article was a bit premature. Borchrevink petioned the Royal Geological Society in London for funding at this time, but was refused. He did eventually get private funds and became the first person to overwinter in Antartica in 1899.  It took forty-three days from Tasmania instead of the expected fourteen days he expected. The Independent misspelled the name of the Cape he planned, and eventually succeeded, to land at. It should be Cape Adare–tom>

Mr. Moffett returned Friday from a trip to Shanghai. He intends to go to Pyeng Yang in a few days.

Mr. and Mrs. Tate intend to return to their home in Chun Ju.

Minister of War Yi Yun Yong visited the baracks of the Royal Guard and the military school last Friday and delivered a lecture. The theme was “Patriotism and Bravery in true Soldiers.”

The total number of letters and papers passed through the Korean Post Office during the month of April was 10,840, an increase of 983 over the previous month.

The students of the public school in Kyo Dong will receive their diplomas today at twelve o’clock.  The Graduation Exerciese will take place in the building. These students have been in the school three years.

We are glad to be able to put in this issue a new type just received from America.

The Korean Embassy to Russia to attend the coronation of the Czar, missed the French mail steamer in Shanghai, and went to Yokohama on the 16th and from thence took the Empress of  China for Vancouver. <The coronation was for Czar Nicholas II. Although festivities in Russia began on May 9th, the official coronation was on May 26th. A detailed account of the party held at the Russian Legation in Seoul will appear in the Independent in the May 28th edition–tom>

On Saturday last, the students of the Government English School at Seoul held their first picnic, to which they invited their teachers Messrs Hutchinson and Halifax and one or two outside friends.  The place chosen was just outside the North-East gate of the city, where the hills open out into a wide flat valley.  Here a very pleasant day was spent. Among other “amusements”  was an hour-long hard drill, under the skillful instruction of Sergeant Boxwell and Private Staples of the English Consulate Guard. This the boys seemed to enjoy most heartily. They went through their squad and company drill and physical exercise with surprising smartness and precision.  The marching, forming four, etc were really well done, and reflected great credit upon their instructors, the more so that they have been under training for not more than seven weeks. This is a branch of school training which has been found of great value in western countries, and is carefully cultivated in every school which claims to be of any importance. The present school buildings in Seoul, good as they are, need a larger drill ground than they at present possess if this branch is to be developed. Great credit is due to the Government for what they have already done for this school, and to Lieut. Meister for his kindness in allowing the instructors to give their services. A hearty tiffin served in the Shin Heung Sha Monastery filled an important fuction in the day’s proceedings, and showed conclusively that Korean boys, like boys all over the world, have a fine appreciation of the good things provided by the cook and butler.  <A tiffin is a light lunch. The world orginated from British India and today is heard mostly in Indian English–tom> 

The baseball game on Saturday between the U.S. Marines and the foreign residents proved a great success. There was good play on both sides and the interest was sustained to the end. The score was 17 to 11 in favor of the Marines. There were several lady spectators and a crowd of Koreans who seemed to get some amusement out of the game. 

Mr. W. D. Townsend has lost a clock, three revolvers and some articles of clothing. He offers a reward of $20 dollars for the apprehension of the thief. The stolen goods will probably be brought ot foreigners for sale and if so there will be the opportunity to trace the thief and secure the culprit. 

Editorial

The subject of municipal improvement in Seoul is a fertile one for there are few places in the East where there is more room for improvement. The first move toward improvement was made in 1891 when the grounds of the Seoul Union were laid out and the building erected. Since then the handsome club building has been erected and the last and best of all, the roads in the foreign quarter have been put in fairly good condition.  The trouble is we want all the good things usually found in a foreign community but we are so few in number that the expense is very heavy on each individual.  It would be a good thing if some way could be devised whereby future residents might be granted the privilege of helping bear the initial expense of some of these improvements.  The first thing in order is an electric light plant.  It is easy to demonstrate that, including the initial expense of the dynamo and steam engine or the interest of the amount they would cost, we could light our houses with electricity cheaper than we do now with oil.  Very few of us use less than three dollars’ worth of oil a month while very many use twice or three times that amount. If the average is five dollars and the cost of lamps and all their furnishings be considered we will find that one hundred sixteen-candle incandescent burners could be put into Chong Dong and vicinity and be cheaper than our present system.

We have figures from New York for such a plant and it could be laid down here, housed in a small brick building, the wires put in position and everything gotten in running order for about $3200 in silver.  So much for plant.  The salaries of electrician (Japanese), engineer and fireman and the cost of coal would come to something like $180 a month.  According to this it would cost $1.30 a month per light or, includng interest at 7% on the plant, it would cost $2.00 a month per light.  But it might be arranged so that for each light when put up an initiationor entrance fee might be charged of say ten dollars and in this way each newcomer would help pay of the original cost of the plant. Changes are occurring all the time in the personnel of the missionary as well as diplomatic community and if each newcomer should pay even five dollars for the priviledge of using the electric light it would not take long to pay off the cost of the plant.  It would take a good degree of public spirit to put the thing on its feet but there is little doubt that it would prove a success.  We propose that anyone who feels so inclined should make inquiries and get figures on a plant capable of running three hundred lights of sixteen candle power each, and we will keep the community informed of progress made and it may be that it will be found worth while to call a mass meeting and form a syndicate among ourselves for the purpose of supplying this need.  <King Gojong had electricity in Kyongbok Palace since 1887 and in Changdok Palace when it was complete in 1897.  He then formed a partnership with two American businessmen, Henry Collbran and Harry Bostwick, in 1898 to build a public electric lighting system and electric streetcar routes. This company was called Hansung Electric Company and King Gojong himself was 50 percent owner. The plant was operational in 1899.–tom>

This Thursday, we have two new Korean movies opening. First up is a gangster film starring two of Korea’s best actors, Choi Min-shik (Oldboy) and Ha Jeong-woo (Yellow Sea). It is directed by Yoon Jong-bin who gave us The Unforgiven. I think sometime in the past I mentioned that I was tired of gangster movies, but I have to admit that they have become much less frequent in Korean cinema than they used to be. That fact, plus the casting, means I will be seeing this film. Here is the trailer for Nameless Gangster: Rules of Time–

The other movie is a drama called Papa. It looks as if it has elements of comedy as well. It stars Park Yong-woo (Children…) as a talent manager whose client has signed with another agency and gone to America to star in a reality series. He follows her but, in order to stay past his visa, he must marry. The woman who marries him dies suddenly leaving him with a large, multi-cultural family to raise. Besides Park Yong-woo, this movie features Ko Ah-ra and Michael MacMillan.

The other new movies that are opening are The Bang Bang Club (ca), Welcome to the Rileys (uk/us), I Don’t Know How She Does It (us), and Happy Feet 2 (au).

Dancing Queen and Unbowed continue to jockey for position but this time there was a reversal and Unbowed wound up on top. Another Korean film came in a distant third. On its opening weekend, the animated Tarbosaurus had just over 360 thousand viewers and earns the distinction of being the only newly opened film appearing on the charts this week.

Initially, I was not going to do a post about my favorite films of last year. I had returned from travelling after the new year had already begun and felt it was too late.  ‘Best of’ posts are more usually seen immediately before or after January 1, not three weeks into the month. However, a friend suggested that I write my opinion on the films I liked from last year, so here it is. Actually, I liked many more films than are on this list.. These are just what I thought were the best. 

10.  White—I am starting the list with a choice that I need to defend.  White is a horror film that as horror probably does not succeed.  The ghost in the movie is painfully predictable even if there is a nice twist in the mystery surrounding her.  There were very few, if any scares. However, I liked it as a commentary on the state of Korean pop-music and what singers have to do in order to succeed in that very competitive field. I also liked the way it depicted the public face of a singing group which we are often shown as being close friends and unified in all the bands decisions and the private, behind-the-scenes reality where there are rivalries and in-fighting.

9. Leafie: A Hen Into the Wild—When I first started writing this list, I left Leafie off and instead had War of the Arrows in this slot.  But that latter film is maybe a little too slick for its own good and I remember there was some reliance on special effects that annoyed me while I watched it. I selected Leafie instead, one of two animated movies on this list.  Leafie is the story of a hen who has escaped from a life of producing eggs on an assembly line to attempt survival in the wild. She comes to care for a duck hatchling and their tale, may remind some viewers of the classic movie/book Watership Downs.  It has some childish aspects to keep children interested, but the story is strong and moving enough that adults will also enjoy it.

8. Late Blossoms—I am a little surprised that this film has not gotten more attention. I hope it is not because the cast is made up of actors and actresses in their senior years. If someone has been avoiding watching this movie because of that, they are missing out on one of the best films of 2011.  It is the story of older two couple; one who are just beginning a new love relationship with each other and the other who have been in love with each other their whole lives. It is a very emotional film. The first couple struggles with economic hardships, the woman collects recyclables from the street and the man delivers milk but it is the second couple that won’t leave a dry eye in the house. Kim Soo-mi’s character is suffering from Alzheimer’s and is cared for by her hard-working and devoted husband. 

7. Frontline—If you compare this film with Taegukgi, then it is going to come up a little short. But if you take Frontline for what it is, a tense, well-crafted war story, then you won’t be disappointed. In the movie, a ceasefire is fast approaching toward the end of the Korean War and the North and South armies jockey for position to determine where the new border will be drawn between the new nations.  Shin Ha-gyun’s character is sent to the frontline to investigate one of the unit’s there whose commanding officer has been killed by ‘friendly fire.’  What he finds terrifies him—not simply because of the expected brutality of the war, but because of what the soldiers have become in order to cope with their daily horrors. Shin is always a joy to watch onscreen and his co-stars do an excellent job in this movie as well.

6. Dooman River— The Dooman River is a wide body of water separating North Korea from China. In the dead of winter, the river freezes solid and this enables the citizens of each country to walk back and forth between them.  In the movie, we focus on a run-down little community that had sprung up on the banks of the river. During the winter, death surrounds them through starvation and freezing temperatures.  As the winter progresses, more and more North Koreans cross the river. Some are trying to escape and start a new life in China or South Korea, but some are making raids for food to bring back to their families.  The little village begins to suffer heavily through these actions as livestock disappears and food stores are raided. When these raids take a more personal note, one young boy in the village, powerless to stop what is happening to his family and neighbors, decides to take matters into his hands the only way he can.

5. Silenced—Never mind the minor indignation of the men’s groups when they protested the film You’re My Pet this year, Silenced is hand down the most controversial movie on 2011.  It will leave you feeling frustrated and angry, which is exactly what it set out to do.  The film is based on a novel which itself is based on actual events. (But as we were reminded each night on the news for about two weeks while this movie was screening, “based on a true story’ is not the same as ‘is a true story.’)  The story is about a new teacher coming to work in a school for the hearing impaired and the abuse and corruption he finds there.  The tension is high whether the scenes are taking place within the horrible conditions of the school or in the courthouse which takes up the latter half of the movie.  This film led to a much wider understanding and awareness of what physically challenged members of society have had to endure and gave them a voice. Many demonstrations in support of people with physical and mental challenges sprung up in the wake of this movie.

4. Punch—There could have been a danger of this film being horribly gloomy or unbearably preachy given the subject matter, however it is neither. Instead, Punch is a lighthearted tale of a boy named Wan-deuk, his unusual family, and the teacher who takes an interest in his success. Wan-deuk’s father and ‘uncle’ are disabled. His mother, who had abandoned the family years ago but who has once again appeared, is a Filipina. His family is quite poor and his scores in school are not good at all and he is considered a troublemaker. The new teacher, who at first appears antagonistic to Wan-deuk and, as his neighbor, never leaves the boy alone even after school, understands Wan-deuk’s hardships completely as the two are quite similar. The teacher takes on the role of mentor for the boy and attempts to save him from the role society already seems to have picked out for him.

3. King of Pigs— A year or two ago, I had seen one of director Yoon Sang-ho’s short animations and, to this day, I cannot tell you if I liked it or not. It was violent and it was cruel but most of all, it was memorable. King of Pigs strikes me in the same way. I do not care for the themes of merciless bullying and the quest for revenge taken to extremes, but the film is extremely well done and is really unforgettable.  The story is of two adults, one of whom has just brutally murdered his wife, trying to sort out where their lives went wrong. Their memories take us to their childhood and the middle school they attended which was divided into the ‘dogs’, popular, well-to-do boys who ruled the school and the ‘pigs’ who were the rest of the students, not financially well off and maybe a little quieter or more timid. Among the pigs, a hero eventually rises to put an end to the bullying in a violent manner that frankly removes all sympathy I had for them.  This is a disturbing animated movie that will make you think and is as far removed from the other animated film on this list, Leafie, as you can get.

2.  Journal of Musan— We often think that when someone from North Korea defects to the South, that they will have a better life. In fact, that is rarely the case. National identification numbers immediately show a defector’s status even if speech patterns do not and this negatively affects the chances of getting good employment.  In fact, it may be easier to be an illegal immigrant in South Korea than it is to live as a North Korean refugee.  The movie follows a man from the northern town of Musan, Seung-cheol, as he tries to create a new life for himself based on honesty and hard work only to be thwarted at every turn by the cruelty of others.  He is considered a second-class citizen and stereotyped as lazy or a thief.  The horrible treatment he endures is softened for his growing love of a woman who goes to his church and the companionship of his dog, but even these are uncomfortably unstable and could vanish from his life at any minute.  The movie is based on the life of a friend of the director, a North Korean immigrant who passed away of stomach cancer at the age of 30. It is a wonderfully crafted film with a story that may leave the viewer feeling a little angry at the treatment the characters receive.

1. Sunny—Despite the fact that most of the films I really enjoyed have rather a heavy theme to them, the light, happy film of Sunny was my favorite film of 2011. Oh, it is not without its emotional ups and downs, but the film never becomes mired in sadness or even in the nostalgia which it depicts so well.  When I first walked into the film I did not really have much in the way of expectations.  The story was about a group of middle-aged women reflecting on the events in their childhood that cemented their friendship. I did not know if the movie was going to hold my interest.  I should not have worried. As soon as you are transported into Sunny’s 1980s Korea, you will be captivated as I was. Her cheerful nature is contagious and her quirky friends are people whom you want to know.  The film even touches on some of the historical events of the time such as rioting, but they do not take precedence in the movie which is told from a schoolgirl’s perspective. The battles and triumphs of herself and her friends are what is important to her and by extension, us.  If you can only see one film from 2011, I think this should be it.

So there is my list of my favorite films from last year.  How about my least favorite? Well, if I think something will be bad I won’t watch it. I suspect Super Monkey Returns would have been the worst film, but as I have not seen it, I cannot say for sure. Among the movies I saw last year, there was only one I really hated, Sector 7.  I was tricked into seeing it by the cast, flashy trailers and the lure of it being a monster movie.  I know eventually I will wind up with the DVD just because I wind up buying everything, but if I watch it again, it will be with the sound off….

In this post, I will finish listing the 1970s creations of three more directors, starting with Jeon Woo-yeol.  1974 would be the last of Jeon’s films. He started his career as an assistant director in 1962 and moved on to become a full director in 1968.  He made 16 movies in the 1970s –eight of them were in the first year of that decade. I had previously uploaded the information on fifteen of these, the remaining film is below.  Jeon stopped directing in the mid-70s and went to live in the USA under the name William W Jun. There he founded an organization for Korean-American movie-makers.

The next director completed here is Jeong Chang-hwa–not an easy man to work on. That is because his films were all Korean/Hong Kong coproductions and that makes sorting out his movies quite difficult. I opted to list only the Korean staff and cast on most of the films. That is because I am generally changing names from Korean to English. Writing names that were in Chinese then Korean in English results in some very strange spellings and only serves to complicate sorting out the names.

Finally we have Jeong Hwe-cheol who started directing films in the late 1970s and continued through the 80s .  His real name was Jeong Hwe-yeong. Of his nine movies, three are in the decade we are covering here.  Like always, click the image below and expand to see a full-sized image. Or you can view all the plates created to date by clicking the tab at the top of the page marked ‘the 1970s’

, , , , , ,    Up next will be the eight remaining films of Jeong In-yeob.

The story:  Choon-ho (in the photo) is depressed about his limited future. In his own words, “The son of a peasant becomes a peasant.” His short-term ‘career’ goal is to be able to cultivate the land on the hill next to the land he farms. He does not own the land, it belongs to Mr. Park who lives very comfortably with his younger sister, Soo-ae in Seoul.  As his father before him, Choon-ho is the land supervisor for Mr. Park, but Park and most of the tenant farmers (rightly) do not believe Choon-ho should inherit that position, but believe it should go to the person with the most experience, Deok-sam.  At the same time that he is informed of Park’s decision, Choon-ho has his sole dream crushed as the landlord does not want the land on the hill cultivated. 

Well, maybe calling cultivating the hill his sole dream is a little bit of an exaggeration. Choon-ho is engaged to the beautiful country girl Boon-ok..but that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. They have been engaged for two years but no closer to getting married. Boon-ok justifies this by blaming herself. “I am useless,” she states right after we are introduced to us referencing her elementary school-level education. And to say she lacks confidence would be an understatement. When Choon-ho announces he must go to Seoul after receiving a telegram, Boon-ok droops and moans, “You just want to get away from me.” 

The trip to Seoul leaves Choon-ho depressed not just because of losing the supervisor position. While walking through Seoul, he sees many signs and banners recruiting soldiers for the Japanese army.  Choon-ho believes joining the army and serving the emperor would give his life purpose. It gets worse for him as his long-standing relationship with Boon-ok hits a bump.  She sees him with Soo-ae, a girl who grew up with them but now lives in Seoul and has modernized. She wears western style clothes and has permed her hair (”Like a sheep” says one of the farmers)

Fortunately for Choon-ho, he learns from his friendly Japanese neighbor that, since the annexation of Korea is now complete, Koreans are eligable to volunteer to join the armed forces. Choon-ho drops everything and signes up, leaving the farm, his elderly mother and (ex?) girlfriend behind.

Say what you will about propaganda films, they do know how to get their message across using symbols.  The use of the train tracks in this movie clearly are meant to show progress and moving away from the past.  The scenes of marching Choon-ho and the cadets at the training camp also indicate positive motion and contrast with most images of Choon-ho on the farm where he is sitting or standing in one place. He represents the youth of Korea, then subjects of Japan, and we are meant to believe that he is better off because of that fact. His life will have meaning in the battlefields and he will serve his country as a protector.

What then of Boon-ok?  Well, she is the face of the past. She is weak and unconfident in her own abilities. We learn in the course of the movie that she was promised to be married to Deok-sam’s son when the two were children..and ancient tradition that mires her deeper in the past. She must be left behind if Choon-ho is to succeed. The fact that she does have a marriage option that will also prove her obedience to her father’s will, helps alievate what worry the audience might feel for her. But if she does go through with the marriage (which I believe she would) she would be marrying a farmer, implied to lack education, and neither will progress any further.

There are many other images and subplots in the film that are worth exploring, but I don’t want to spoil the entire movie.  Volunteer is part of The Past Unearthed DVD collection.  All four of the films comprising the collection were made during the colonial period and provide a unique look at life in Korea at that time in history.

Editorial: The claim made by the Japanese Government for the indemnity of $5000 for each Japanese life taken by Korean insurgents or others in the country is still before the Korean Government pending settlement.  For the last twenty years, more or less, Japan has recognized the independence of Korea and constantly asserted the sovereign rights of the King of Korea.  Japan has no other or larger rights in Korea than has England, America, France or any other power, and her citizens have no rights in Korea that do not pertain to the citizens of any other power in treaty with Korea.  The first proposition seems beyond dispute.  The second is that the present disturbed condition of affairs in Korea is an outcome of the intervention of the Japanese in the politics of Korea.  However good may have been Japan’s motives in thus intervening it is eveident that the present state of affairs is due to that intervention.  In the third place, this disturbed condition of affairs was very greatly increased by the events of October 8th, 1895 when, at Japanese instigation, the Queen was murdered.  It enraged the people against Japanese and made it extremely unsafe for any of that nationality to go into the interior; but not only did they go into the interior but we have it on the authority of the Foreign Office that very few of the Japanese who have cone into the country during the last year have been provided with passports. When was it that Japanese subjects were accorded the privilege of travelling at will about the country without passport, to be protected by the Korean Government at a risk of $5000 a head?  With the known combativeness of Japanese merchants in Korea and the rude way they treat Koreans, it would have been folly to hae granted them passports excepting on the clear condition that they went at their own risk.  Did the Japanese Consul know these men who were wandering about the interior and could have vouched for their good behavior?  The claim for indemnity wholly breaks down at this point, that the Japanese who were killed in the country without passports were where they had no legal right to be and the Korean government would be wholly absolved from responsibility in the matter even if there were not evidence that the Japanese were the main cause of the troubles.

But how stands the other side of the account?  The Korean Repository strkies the nail on the head when it says “Kill a coolie in an alley–$5000; murder a Queen in her chamber–gomen nasai.”  <‘Gomen nasai’ is Japanese for ‘I’m sorry’– tom>  Mr. A says on the street he is going to kill Mr. B.  He enters B’s house and comes out and immediately after B is founddead at the hand of an assassin.  There is the 8th of October case in a nutshell, and it would hang a man in any country.  The apathy of the people of the East is astonishing.  Much has been said about European apathy over the Armenian massacres, but here is a praallel– a power demanding an indemnity for the death of its subjects when they were where themost of them had no right to be and where their own government should have kept them from being , when but a few months ago that government’s representative had been implicated in the murder of the Queen of the country to which he had been accredited.  

We believe that Korea and Japan ought to be of great mutual benefit to each other commercially and industrially but it is evident that Japan needs Korea more than Korea needs Japan and so long as Japan goes on intensifying the hatred which Koreans feel toward her just so much farther will she be from attaining an end devoutly to be wished — repriprocity between the two countries and the supplementing of the material needs of each by the resources of the other. The first step toward such an end would be the withdrawal of such an absurd claim for indemnity. If it is not withdrawn we trust the Korean Government will refuse point blank to pay the claims of those who went into the country without permission form the Korean Government.

Brief Notice

We have made a visit to the two blocks of brick business buildings, erected by a company, at the Eastern end of Legation street and find them a credit to the city.  We inspected the completed part each block being divided into four apartments spearated from each other by a fire wall.  On the ground floor the whole space is given up to one large storage room with cement floor, well plastered walls and varnished wood ceilings.  A neat and compact staircase leads from this store room to a commodious hall on the upper floor, which hall is lighted by a window opening upon the street. Off this hall are two neat rooms finished in the best foreign style and quite well fitted for occupation by foreigners.  Owing to the low level of the surrounding houses, the view is excellent. The eight upstairs rooms and four halls of one of these blocks if joined by a verandah with a door from each opening upon it, would make a very neat and convenient little hotel–an institution even now greatly needed in Seoul and one that will be a necessity when the railroad opens.  A hotel might open in one of these blocks in a small way and grow to greater pretensions as the trade increases. 

We need a drug store here and hope some foreigner may start one in one of these apartments.  He could very comfortably live over his store.  Each apartment has a kitchen at the rear.  Even before completion these apartments are in demand, Messrs Tsuji & Co. having occupied one of them as a dry good store for some months.  Now that the whole is about  completed we understand an agent will be appointed to attend to the renting of them.  Meanwhile, letters addressed to the Seoul Improvement Company in care of the Independent will find the officers of the company.

At the law school forty-seven students were graduated lst winter and last Monday thirty-eight more finished the course and are ready to receive appointments.

The Magistrate of Po Chun reports that the insurgents in Ka Pyung have been dispersed by the Government troops and the Yong Pyung insurgents, hearing of it, also dispersed.

We learn that the Japanese were authorized by the War Office to cut down the old tree on Namsan and the wood is being used in making instruments for the use by soldiers in drilling.

Col. Nienstead has been transferred from the Royal Household Dept to the Pay Corps of the army. He is now the Chief Paymaster.

Mr. H. J. Muhlensteth, who hadcharge of the Chinese telegraph line here before the war is in Seoul after three years residence in China and Japan.

Mr. and Miss Tate came back to Seoul a few days ago from Chulla Province.

There was an auction at the French Legation yesterday and the room was crowded with articles of all descriptions and the able Auctioneer Mr. Morsel of Chemulpo hammered them off in fine style.

Im Chang Su, a Chong Dong house-broker, sold a house to a froeigner last June but did not dleiver the deed.  He afterwards pawned it to a Japanese and when the time expired it was found that he could not take the house as it had been sold.  The government therefore collected the maoney from Im and reimbursed the Japanese.

An agent of the 58th national Bank of Japan has arrived in Seoul fo the purpose of making a contract with the Korean Government to build a railroad between Seoul and Fusan. We are told that negotiations are now pending.

We have received from a reliable source the infromation that the French capitalists desire to obtain concessions to build a railroad between Seoul and Wi Ju.

Don’t forget the base ball game this afternoon at two o’clock at the Hun Yun An inside the East gate.

Chief Engineer C. J. McConnell and Asst. Engineer J. C. Leonard of the U.S.S.S.  Charleston have returned to Chemulpo.

H.B.M. Counul-General W.C. Hillier Esq. has gone to Chemulpo for a few days. During his absence W.H. Wilkinson Esq. has charge of the British Consulate General here.

The day before yesterday a man named Yi Keun Yang coming from Yang Chun met a boy bullock driver outside the South gate and made a bargain for the load of wood.  The boy followed him as far as Yang Wha Chin where the man suddenly turned on him and cut him twice in the neck with a sword.  The boy fell to the ground and feigned death.  The thief led the bullock toward Yang Chin.  The wounded boy got up and screamed for help.  Some passing bullock drivers heard him and came and learned his trouble.  They gave chase and caught the thief a few miles away and restored the bullock to the boy and turned the thief over to the police.

The Kobe Chronicle of Apr. 16th says of the Independent, “It is a small beginning but from our school days upwards we have been told that small beginnings often have great endings. Under judicious management the Independent should have a fine future before it.”

The Box of Curios says, “It is gotten up in good shape and is free from clippings, its local items making a better showing than some of our dailies. It shows an enterprise in a God-forsaken country that is most commendable and which deserves success.”– <The Box of Curios was an English-language magazine published in Japan– tom>

Disclaimer:  None of the opinions expressed in the Independent reflect my own and belong solely to the reporters and editors of the newspaper.

This week there are quite a few movies opening however, only one is a Korean film. The movie is Tarbosaurus. It is a 3D animation about a young carnivorous dinosaur who’s entire family is killed by a lost Tyranosaurus Rex named ‘One-Eye.’ Spotty, the young tarbosaur, grows up with the desire to avenge his family and free the area from the interloper. Tarbosaurus is directed by Han Sang-ho and voiced by Lee Hyeong-seok, Shin Yong-woo and Ku Ja-hyeong.

Other movies opening are: Flypaper (us), Oppai Volleyball (jp), Eleanor’s Secret (fr), The Prey (fr), Personal Effects (us), One Piece (jp), Dancing Chaplin (jp), Eternity (th), Carjacked (us)