Chunhyang

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		List Price: $29.95		From: New Yorker Video From: New Yorker Video Salesrank: 73783 Released: 2001-10-09 Running Time: 120 Minutes
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A chore
Too bad the blurb on the DVD cover doesn't warn you that there will be a wailing "pansori" narrator (a traditional singer of stories accompanied by a single drummer) taking the place of much of the dialog. And, when it ends, the story seems so flimsy that it didn't seem to me worth 2 hours (which, incredibly, is pared down from the 8-hour traditional pansori performance).

Even with its gorgeous visuals and smooth editing, even cinéastes might find this film a chore to sit thru.

Definitely -- rent this one first. Or try seeing SOPYONJE first -- a film about some itinerant pansori singers which might get you used to that performance style.

one true love
The husband who passes the test is the one.
This movie may be a Korean bard song romance,
but it talks about the time when service to the country
was determined by by a royal test.
Governors have come and gone by appointment
but the classes and marriage remain the same.
The young lovers win out despite their different classes,
and this story became a classic saga of love
in the face of unreasonable governmental oppression.
The music/song is harsh and many times off key,
but sincere.

Chunhyang
I saw this movie and had to have it! I love this movie. It is one I could watch over and over again!

Missing scene?
I rented this movie and later bought the dvd (region 1, New Yorker Video). The movie is really good, but I think the dvd is missing an important scene of the 2 main characters after they get together. This scene occurs right before the main actor leaves to finish his education in Seoul. There is a picture of this scene on the back of the dvd case, where Chunhyang, the staring actress, is playing a traditional Korean instrument. If anyone else has experienced this problem of not being able to find this scene while watching the dvd, please post a comment.

Beyond brilliant!
Chunhyang This is simply the most unusual and most beautiful film ever. The morally uplifting romance is a nice enough story-and you find yourself rooting for Chunhyang and Mongryong-but the story is secondary to the way it is told. Using the device of a modern traditional Korean storyteller to narrate the poem behind the story was a stroke of genius. The cinematography takes it one step further. I am not one to buy films to watch over and over, normally I rent them and that's that, but I had to have this one. It is unforgettable!

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