Seen in Jeonju

Angels on the Street (1941)

8th October 2009

angel on the streetsOriginally posted October 8, 2007–  The Korean Film Archives have come out with a collection of films from the early 1940s with English subtitles under the name The Past Unearthed.  These rarely seen films are now available for purchase.  These take place in the final years of the Japanese Colonial Era and, in the past, these films have been accused of being pro-Japanese propaganda.  While I can see how that may be the case from the film I watched last night, I for one am glad that they were made as they give us a rare glimpse of some aspects of what life was like in Korea during that time. Of course, the picture in its conclusion seems a little too rosy implying that the image of life depicted is not 100% accurate, but there is still quite a bit to be learned.

The movie I watched yesterday from this four disk set was Angels On The Streets directed by Choi In-gyu and released in February 1941.  Choi began his career in 1939 and made his last known film in 1949. When the Korean War broke out he was reportedly kidnapped and taken to what would become North Korea. (His biography will get its own post soon).  Choi is perhaps most famous for making the first film following the independence of Korea, Hurrah Freedom! in 1945. 

The story follows two orphaned children living on the streets of Seoul, Myeong-ja and her brother Yong-gil.  They have been taken in by Mr. Kwon and his wife and are being forced to sell flowers and other small items to earn money for their keepers who abuse them badly and fail to give them enough to eat. When Yong-gil uses some of the money he earned to buy some penny candy, Mr. Kwon beats the child. To save her brother, Myeong-ja agrees to be sold to a drinking establishment that Kwon’s wife has been pressuring her to go to as the sale of the girl will bring much more money.  Yong-gil runs away in the hopes of saving his sister from her fate.  While living on the streets, Yong-gil meets Mr. Bang who takes the boy in.  Bang is in the process of building a home for orphaned boys on a tract of land in the country owned by his brother-in-law, Dr. Ahn. The movie follows the adventures of several of the boys, some who are more hardened in their steetwise ways than others, while Yong-gil wonders if he will ever see his sister again.

A simple film with some very intersting points.  I found the treatment of the children to be shocking–even by kindly, but condescending, Mr. Bang.  True, Bang does take dozens of boys off the streets and gives them someplace safe to stay but, instead of providing them with an education, he sets about having them make noodles to sell to support the orphanage.  Indeed, Bang seems very cavalier about education in general as he withdrew his two children from school over his wife’s objections. She knows that there are no schools where they are going, but her husband shames her into submission and so little Anna and Johan (called John in the subtitles) are taken to the orphanage to live as well.

That brings me to another interesting point–the number of western names the characters have. This is not a matter of the subtitlers changing the names for western viewers, these were actually the characters names.  Mr. Bang’s wife is named Maria and her deceased sister-in-law was named Katie.  We see from the name on the small boat on the land supplied by Dr. Ahn that she was refered to as Frau Katie showing a connection with Germany.  None of the men in the film are referred to with western names (they were usually refered to by their titles)–it was only the case for upperclass women and children.  The poor in the film were all given Korean names.

The pro-Japanese stance of the film comes into play twice in the film. In one short scene, the boys are in the field when a fighter plane flies overhead. The boys all start cheering and shouting ‘Take Me’ or ‘Let’s go together’ but their words are not subtitled in the film. At the extended conclusion of the movie, after all the problems are resolved one way or another, the Japanse flag is raised and the children all recite in unison a pledge of alligence in Japanese and their life motto which includes undying loyalty to the empire.

The film is surprising good considering its age except for the first five or ten minutes in a night scene which is much too dark to see what is happening clearly, though it is easy enough to understand through what is being said.  The film also has Japanese subtitles burned onto the right side the original print, but these do not interfere with either the movie or the English subtitles on the bottom of the film.

This dvd set has just been released, so keep your eyes open for it and snatch it up as soon as you can. It will be well worth your time.

4 Responses to “Angels on the Street (1941)”

  1. Douglas Roy Says:

    Tom, your review of this box set from Taewon Entertainment prompted me seek out its companion set The Past Unearthed: A Collection of Feature Films in the Japanese Colonial Period=”"> Volume 1. This 2007 set seems to be “out of stock” at mose Korean on-line stores but I did find a nice review of this set as well at DVD Times:http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/66416/the-past-unearthedcollection-of-feature-films-in-the-japanese-colonial-period.html
    Did you review this set as well prior to the server issues?

  2. Douglas Roy Says:

    Tom, your review of this box set from Taewon Entertainment prompted me seek out its companion set The Past Unearthed: A Collection of Feature Films in the Japanese Colonial Period=”"> Volume 1. This 2007 set seems to be “out of stock” at mose Korean on-line stores but I did find a nice review of this set as well at DVD Times :http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/66416/the-past-unearthedcollection-of-feature-films-in-the-japanese-colonial-period.html
    Did you review this set as well prior to the server issues?

  3. Tom Says:

    I reviewed a few of the films in that set individually, but not as a set. I remember having a post announcing the release of The Past Unearthed, but I don’t think it is necessary to search that one out.

    I also had a couple of other reviews from the other volumes of the Past Unearthed–like The Power of Sincerity–the 1930s silent film from Volume 4: Moving Images from Gosfilmofond

  4. Dear Soldier (1944) | Nanoomi.net Says:

    [...] Not too long ago, I had written a short review of Military Train (1938) and three years earlier, Angels on the Street (1941).  Both of these films were made expressly to to promote the policies of the Japan and in [...]