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50 years of Korean cinema at a glance

A large-scale retrospective will give cinephiles a rare chance to see the best of Korean cinema over the past 50 years. "Panorama: 50 Years of Korean Cinema" will present 54 films for 15 days at Hollywood Cinema in Seoul. The program will kick off the New Year today and continue through Jan. 15.
Highlights of the program include box office hits that defined a decade such as Han Hyeong-mo's "Madame Freedom" (1956) and Kim Kee-duk's "Barefooted Youth" (1964).

"Madame Freedom" deals with a professor's wife who decides to change her lifestyle by joining a dance class and following fashions. "Barefooted Youth" tells the story of a gangster who falls in love with a diplomat's daughter despite objections from her mother.

Other blasts from the past on the popularity front include "Love Me Once Again" (1968), "Winter Woman" (1977) and "Seopyeonje" (1993).

Works regarded as great aesthetic achievements in Korean cinema history are also on the program. Yu Hyun-mok's "The Aimless Bullet" (1961), Kim Soo-yong's "Mist" (1967), Lee Man-hee-I's "The Road to Sampo" (1975) and Lee Kwang-mo's "Spring in My Hometown" (1999) will be on show. Moreover, three masterpieces by Kim Ki-young, known as the father of Korean cult films, will be screened. The trio of "The Housemaid - 1960" (1960), "Promises" (1975) and "Ieodo" (1977) continue to be re-appreciated and re-illuminated by devoted fans today.

Recent favorites such as "Failan" (2001), "Waikiki Brothers" (2001), "Bad Guy" (2001) and "On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate" (2002) are also on the program, enabling audiences to recapture the feeling of seeing them on the big screen.

A distinctive feature of "Panorama: 50 Years of Korean Cinema" is that the festival is intended for not only Koreans but also foreigners residing in Korea. All films on the program are subtitled in English, and discussions and interviews with directors and actors will take place with the help of Korean-English interpreters.

All-night screenings are scheduled for the two Saturdays during the festival for cinephiles who forget to sleep. Hollywood Cinema is located near Jongno 3-ga Subway Station on Line No. 1, 3 or 5. For more information or to buy tickets, call (02) 745-0519 (Korean) or (02) 745-0520 (English).

By Kim Jin

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