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The scene when the father and the daughter in the room, the light on the actors is so strong that the shadow and the bodies look separated just like Pansori and the reciter are separted. The bodies are only an instrument; the reciters eat and live just to make Pansori but for nothing else. On the other hand, Simchungjun plays a big theme in this film. Dongho looks for Songhwa like Simchung looks for her father, and Dongho releases all the grief of Songhwa, like Simchung makes her father to see. Another parallel is the scene between the last scene, a child leading Songhwa with a rope, and a scene when the father did the same to Sonhwa, and it applies that the children of the father became like the father who sacrifices everything for Pansory. The father made the poverty and broken family, but he also united Songhwa and Dongho through Pansory and provided souls for them.
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ReplyDeleteThe movie Sopyonje focuses on the time period after the Japanese colonization. Unfortunately the traditional folk song of Korea has lost its way from modernization and entrance of Jazz. Pansori is a type of entertainment or a form of oral story telling that most people enjoyed back in the days. The movie hence illustrates the fading away of Korean traditions. The most successful achievement about this movie; however, is the use of camera. Pansori is a very emotional song that is not only spoken through words, but also facial gestures. To pint point that, the director used “zoom in” technique on to the character’s face, and by that the audiences are more influenced by the song. Also it is interesting to see how the camera always shows large setting of the landscape when Youbong and his family movies around from village to village. That is to show the Korean tradition, and show what Korea looked like. Also color of the clothing play a major role in this movie. By looking at Youbong and his early ages, he is always wearing white “Han-bok” which represents novelty and liveliness. As he movie proceeds towards the death of Youbong, the color of his Han-bok gradually changes to gray. Songhwa also wears a very colorful Han-bok at one of her first pansori recitals. She wears orange colored Han-bok which flourishes her music, and later after Youbongs death, white Han-bok was worn to represent the innocence or her lack of grief that her father always wanted. The passion for pansori was a great asset for Youbong and his family. Although the dream of Yobong to see Songhwa become a soloist was not fulfilled, pansori made a new link between Songhwa and Dongho (her brother), and the new child that was only introduced at the end of the movie.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the fact that there are not many main characters helps the viewers see that the story goes back and forth in time, and almost right away the viewers can relate the little boy with the grown man.
ReplyDeleteWhat was most impressive and at the same disappointing was the last scene. It was quite amazing to see Dongho actually put much passion and sincerity into his drumming. Moreover, the fact that Songhwa and Dongho recognized each other right away was moving. However, this unspoken recognition was destroyed by Songhwa's husband(?) who actually explains this situation at the end. Still, the ending showed how Songhwa and Dongho successfully fulfilled their father's dream, of the singer and the drummer depending on each other and becoming one to produce a single performance.
This special bond between Songhwa and Dongho represent the talent that their father had passed on to them. It shows how pansori is a gift passed down, through years of training and teaching. Thus, the girl shown at the end of the movie represents another generation that would continue on the culture of pansori.
-JiHyea Hwang
At the beginning, the boy is leashed to a pole on the ground to keep him in place. He cannot decide where to go because it has already been decided for him. This is the same for the girl when she becomes blind and is led by her father when she follows him by holding onto a rope. He determines the road and the path that she takes and where she goes regardless of where she wants to go. This is true also for her life. He decided early on that she would learn pansori even though she would live in poverty. Towards the end, she has reached the potential that her father wanted her to reach, which is pointed out by the owner of the residence when he said that her singing was different that night. She and her brother sang and played with so much emotion that they began to cry. In this scene there is a camera angle from above to signify their father looking over them and approving since they have finally played and sang with passion. Since she has fulfilled her father’s wishes, she is able to let go of the bind, the rope, that he has on her. And so she is able to make and follow her own path on the fresh layer of snow, led by a young girl representing her younger self and her own desires (the girl is wearing a red coat, red signifying desire). Thus, she embarks on her new journey, on a new clean slate, trekking through the pure white snow.
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ReplyDeleteThe last scene of the movie shows Dongho, the brother who ran away many years ago, and Songwha s reunion in a worn out JooMak where they perform Pansori at their best abilities without exchanging a single word. It is shown in both of the sister and brothers face that all the sorrows and sadnesses of the past is slowly clearing away as the Pansori progresses to its climax.
ReplyDeleteThe movie "Sopyunje" pictures a unique Korean culture of "Han" beautifully and perfectly through the combination of Pansori, the korean traditional music, and also by capturing the traditional Korean landscape. "Han" is a unique Korean word which indicates a deep sorrow and sadness that silently grows within one's heart through out his or her lifetime. From the very beginning of the movie, you can easily detect and feel the weight of sorrow in the Pansori singer's voice. And the dry winter Korean landscape shot in a distance is vast and barren, adding to the heaviness of the movie. It is a very artistic movie because the combination of the sound and the picture is very impressive and shows the Korean traditional culture in a new light. Through out the movie there are many juxtaposition between the Korean traditional music and the Newly imported Western music. Moreover, the conflict between high class singers who adopted Western way of life and the main character YooBong is important to notice. Through out this juxtaposition the movie, the directer, is expressing the sorrow and admiration for the slowly dying traditional Korean cultures. And all the movie "Sopyunje" threw a new light and rescued the traditional concept of Han as the source of inspiration and artistic life from being a Korea's shameful depressing mental legacy .
Towards the end of the film where Songhwa and Dong-ho perform p’ansori together, Songhwa sings of a famous Korean folktale: the story of Shim Chung. In the folktale, Shim Chung sacrifices herself in order to restore her blind father’s eyesight. Similarly Songhwa “sacrifices” herself for her father’s sake, giving up everything (including her sight) in order to become a successful p’ansori singer. However, the difference between Shim Chung and Songhwa would be their attitudes towards their self-sacrifice. Shim Chung willingly and selflessly sacrificed herself out of love for her father because she desperately wanted for him to be able to see again. As for Songhwa, she never willingly sacrificed herself for her father’s sake but was forced to learn the art of p’ansori. Eventually Songhwa was ultimately forced to sacrifice her all to become one with p’ansori.
ReplyDeletethe final pasnori sequence in the film is quite breath-taking in an emotional regard. I understand that for many viewers the removal of the actual pansori during the last performance shared by Songhwa and Dongho might ruin the film, but personally it shows the audience a glimpse at "han". the idea is that it is collective, but the "han" shared by Songhwa and Dongho can only be understood and truly experienced by those two characters. Sound in the film was the key component in driving the story and during the pansori performances natural sound (other than the voice) is removed from the soundtrack. After the final scene, nondiegetic pansori is heard as Songhwa walks off into the distance with her daughter. I read that throughout the film multiple pansori artists san as Songhwa's voice to represent the changes in her pansori which helps to convince the audience that she has mastered her art. The drum is a recursive item in the film and so are the sounds that emanate from it. in terms of composition, establishing shots were used to emphasize the beauty of the countryside and stationary cameras where used while the main characters traveled (representing the passage of time).
ReplyDelete-James Seiling
To me, the film “Sopyonje” left a sorrowful impression which constantly echoed in my mind; specifically, the scene displaying the reunion of Dong-ho and Song-hwa kept returning with combination of despair and passion. Such sadness occurred in me, not because of Song-hwa’s pitiful status nor because they have finally met but because of their decision- the decision to leave the poignant past behind and express their long-awaited words through “pansori.” Song-hwa, by the memories of sound and the scent of voice, seem to know that her brother had finally found her. The siblings start their conversation through pansori and share their emotions. The long still shots of such reunion did not convey tediousness but rather offered proper speed for the audience to empathize with them. The night followed as the pansori repeated itself with the story known as “Shim Chung Jeon.” This allusion reflected the life of Song-hwa in which she, like “Shim Bong-Sa”, inwardly gets her vision back with the returning of her brother Dong-ho with the remembrance of their father. The slow movement of the camera towards Dong-ho’s face was difficult to bear as I tried to understand the emotions he faced seeing his sister blind as the consequence of his departure. The ending scene of Song-hwa being led by a child with string attached to Song-hwa’s hand depicted a symbolic image; the girl seemed to be Song-hwa as a child. Song-hwa loses her sorrowful memories and gives control to the younger years of innocence.
ReplyDeletethe characters songhwa and dong-ho can be understood as representative of korea's development, while pansori represents traditional korean culture, roots, values, etc. dong-ho is the modernizing aspect of korea's development, rejecting traditional "koreanness" in favor of economic standing. songhwa, however, represents the current of korean history and the concept of "han", a deep undercurrent of sorrow, that continues to flow within korea's indentity. while dong-ho abandons pansori to pursue a more lucrative job and freer lifestyle, leaving his sister with their father. believing that the best pansori is not possible without experience of deep sorrow, songhwa's father blinds her, and she spends her life moving from place to place, never setting down or accepting happiness as her lot. though dong-ho finds success in life (a good job, a wife and family) he is still drawn to the art of pansori, a part of himself that he abandoned. striking was the long take where the three of them are walking through the fields as they take up singing the arirang song, which slowly becomes more and more upbeat until they leave the screen and the music dies out, leaving only the desolate landscape and the sound of the wind--a poignant portrait of the pansori singer's, and korea's, sorrow.
ReplyDeleteThe overall camera work of “Sopyonje” can be represented by the long shot of one frame without any camera movement, showing the motions of the characters in the scene. For example, the full scene of Yubong, Songhwa, and Dongho singing Arirang from the beginning to the end as walking down the hill filled with barley, only has a single angle and single shot. This kind of camera working does not directly lead the audience to feel a certain sentiment but rather make the audience themselves to watch the scene as an observer and then gradually grab the emotion.
ReplyDeleteKorean traditional aesthetic is the pursuit of static beauty. Not something that is noisy or loud, not something that spoon-feeds the sentiment, but something that quietly talks the essence to catch the feeling. Sopyonje is generally quiet and calm not only in camera working but also in sound effect. In this movie, the director thoroughly limits sound tracks other than the music played by Pansori singers, which magnifies the calm atmosphere of the movie.
Sopyonje was a great movie with a slow, sorrowful sound of Pansori, the lyrical sentiment, and beautiful scenery.
The movie ‘서편제’, originally based on Korean literature, ‘빛의 소리’ is really meaningful in that it contributed to Korean movie history with the international fame. In this movie, 판소리 is appeared as a theme. Not only the fact that ‘판소리’ is one of the genres of Korean traditional music, but also the theme has another several meanings. First of all, father decided to make his daughter, 송화, lose her sight. Even though it is so cruel, I thought that it could be a part of artisan spirit. Also, at the last part, 판소리 had significant role in solving 한 of the siblings, having lasted for a long time. They detected the fact that they were siblings without any saying. Like 송화 said, when sister’s 판소리 meets the brother’s ‘북’ sound, the ‘소리’ becomes perfect and the best. Anyway, with the means, 판소리, the siblings could confirm their brotherly affection again. In terms of the camera technique, I found that the director, Mr.임, might try to express the internal feelings of each person by showing people’s facial expressions with closing-up. This movie is kind of representative of Korean traditional emotion, 한. Also, in that the 한 did not just remain in her mind but it was expressed to the art, it made me think a lot about Korean tradition and spirit. .
ReplyDeletePansori was the key to this film. Their love for pansori was passionate and sensual. The father, Yubong gives up everything for pansori and even blinds his non-blood related daughter so she doesn't run away like her brother and stays to learn. During the course of the film there are several scenes where the 3 of them walk through nature and its very symbolic. After the 3 leave the scence from singing the camera stays still and you can hear the wind blow for couple seconds. Thats when the turning point starts when Dongho runs away from the father. Also when Songwha starts to lose her vision they are in the dark woods in autumn. This film used great camera angles and background capturing. The end was very sad when the Dongho and Songwha meet and they sing and play the drum as one throughout the night. They pretended not to know each other because they wanted to keep the grief as it was. Also during the credits you can see Songwha walking in the snow with her daughter heading towards the sun. This was one of the most artistic movies I have ever seen.
ReplyDeleteI thought the meaning of the name "Songhwa" was somewhat interesting. NakSan, the caligrapher, kindly explains the meaning of the name "SongHwa" to the audience. The chinese character of "Song" means a pine tree that represents unbreakable and upright nature of SongHwa. Physically, she is vulnerable, but her persistancy is distinguished as shown when she refused to practice Pansori because DongHo left her and her father. The chinese character of "hwa" means a flower that represents the beauty and compassionate nature. Even as a girl, SongHwa takes care of her younger brother, DongHo. and guides him to the right direction. Also, she understands the hardship that her father, YuBong, must have gone through.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the compostion of the film, the story flows as DongHo travels in search of SongHwa. As he traces his sister, audience learns about how SongHwa cumulates Han (griefs) and how she tries to overcome Han to master Pansori as her father wished before he dies. Up to the point where DongHo finds SongHwa and plays drum along with SongHwa's Pansori, audience build up tension. Then their Pansori release the tension as well as SongHwa's Han.
Sopyonje reflected the succession of generations and gender roles. Children are constantly being directed by parents. Dongho and Songhwa watch their parents going through acts such as copulation and childbirth. The act of physically leading the children reveals the role adults have in teaching succeeding generations’ gender roles. This is necessary in order to keep society going. It also helps maintain culture and tradition. For example, the film focuses on pansori and han. Future generations are brought up to carry on these traditions. Pansori and han are symbolic of the unique Korean history and identity that Koreans have.
ReplyDeleteThe film Sopyonje highlights the rigorous training involved in mastering the art of pansori, a traditional genre of Korean music. In the opening scene, one already gets a feel of how unique this talent is as very few people have the ability to perform it. Interesting enough, a sense of suffering seems to be associated by the very distinct sounds and facial expressions emitted while performing pansori-this seems to hold true for Yubong and Songhwa. When Yubong's love dies from the physical strain of childbirth, he deals with the pain through pansori and uses it somehow as a cathartic experience. Yubong's passion for pansori is evident in his intent to keep pansori alive even though a more modern type of music was gaining popularity. Songhwa's suffering on the other hand seems to more evident (training every day since she was a little girl, having been mistreated by Yubong, living in poverty, always migrating from one place to another, having beens separated from her brother, and ultimately being blinded by her own father) which ultimately makes her one of the more renowned pansori singers. Evidently, the best pansori singers seems to be the ones who has gone through the most suffering. This film does a terrific job of illustrating the very personal relationship a musicians have with their music and the power of releasing emotion through their songs(especially in the last scene when songhwa and Donghu are finally reunited).
ReplyDeleteTraveling from village to village, the Pansori singer and his family seem to embark on journeys to and from imaginary places-- disconnected islands of memory and experience not restrained by real time or place. The camera captures the vastness of the rural landscape and the Pansori family are degraded to small shadows walking along a horizon that sets in front of ominous mountains and mystical fog. In using the already mystic elements of the rural landscape, the story becomes abstracted into a tale about human beings seeking a life of ecstasy and metaphysical experiences within the art of Pansori. When the son of the family runs away, he seems to run into nothingness or of a place that does not exist in the reality of this film. When the daughter and father walk to another village, the landscape looks like they are walking in the heavens. And when the blind daughter is being led by her father by a leash in the midst of heavy fog, it portrays grief and suffering that is heavily spiritual.
ReplyDeleteSopyonje is different from the rest of the movies we’ve viewed thus far, as the narrative and its progression through the film play a more important role. Time lapses from present to past consistently, but in a manner that is easily distinguishable by the viewer this time lapse effectively portrays two stories that are somehow linked. The presence of a cathartic release at the end resolves the central conflict as the two siblings are reunited. These elements make this film enjoyable to watch as the director doesn’t employ extreme means to make the film unique. The level of realism depicted in the film makes it easy to relate to emotions the characters might be feeling, allowing the viewer to come to the conclusion that the film was good.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to see that Sopyonje has two flows that follow each other. Those are the content of Pansori singers' lives and the Chunhyang story. Ubong keeps Songhwa sing to have a sound of han and immerse herself in the character by making her sing the Chunhyangga, especially the prison song. After her brother left, Ubong makes her blind to have a better sound of han and not to leave him like her brother. A long time pasted when her brother Dongho found Songhwa. Eventhough she was blind, she noticed her brother by the sound of the drum that was same as her father's play. Not only her voice went beyond the grief, but the story of Chunhyangga built steadily toward the climax. Meeting her missing brother comes with the story of Chunhyang meeting her missing blind father. The reunion made the grief go beyond.
ReplyDeleteThe movie, Sopyonje, used many different techniques that provoked emotion. The first, which was also probably the most apparent, was the music that played alongside the movie. Many times the music began within the story and then was used as the background music for the rest of the scene. The second technique I noticed was the far away camera shots that show the characters advancing toward the screen. For example, when we see the family happily dancing down the road singing pansori, they started far away but then as they got closer, the dancing, singing, and happiness increased. Lastly, just to comment, I really enjoyed how the timing of the scenes played out such as when we see the older boy and then switch back to his younger self. This allowed for an in-depth story of the main characters and how their past has affected them.
ReplyDeleteThis film is like a clip of modern Korean history through music in the form of pansori. Much of Korean is history is characterized by suffering and displacement. Although the movie was filled with heaviness and sorrow, the music in harmony with facial expressions captured by the camera provided a very cathartic experience for the audience. I see a lot of parallels in the characteristics in Korean history/culture and this movie. The daughter's suffering was not in vain, and eventually she was a masterful pansori singer. It almost rings the motto no pain no gain to a divided, displaced, but growing and developing country.
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ReplyDeleteThis movie was interesting as an exploration of a small part of Korean culture, but the movie itself (the particulars of the story aside) was a very interesting exercise in the use and exploration of the time element. The largest way this is done is with the way the single time line of events is told starting at 2 different points. One being when the father is meeting with his lover and the other when the younger brother is searching for his sister after the fathers death. These stories are told back and forth until they finally catch up to each other towards the end of the movie. Other ways the element of time is shown is how we see the characters aging dramatically and the continued use of the seasons to show the progression of time and also to symbolize the constant change that is happening throughout.
ReplyDelete"I'm a wanderer who follows the Pansori. Forget about the sorrow accumulated in your heart" (Lyrics sung around the middle of the film). I felt that these lyrics captured the essence of what the film was aiming to portray. By the end, those who held any contempt or disdain in their hearts--the son towards his father, and the daughter towards her father for making her blind--forgave and instead continued to follow Pansori with a more peaceful mindset than did in their earlier years. This scene where the son, daughter, and father are walking down a road in what seems near a vast farmland with trees and grassy land, Song-hwa sings those words. This particular scene reminded me of "The Wizard of Oz." Just as Dorothy and her friends are on a mission to find their own hearts' desires, the three family members are on a mission to find there own sense of "home" and freedom.
ReplyDeleteThis film directed by Im Kwon-Taek, a world-wide known producer, focuses on the traditional Korean singing, Pansori and provides the audience a chance to think about the correlation between music and human beings. The part where Yubong tells Songwha to overcome the han(grief) was quite impressive to me in a way that got me thinking what that could actually mean. Does that mean to laugh off the current distressing problems or even pleasant thoughts? I think that overcoming the han is the spiritual awakening, in other words, acknowledging the nonverbal state. And this should not be narrated because the moment it does, it becomes bound to the “han”. As mentioned above, this film draws the human life dealing with music. The appearance of Western music leads to the decline of Pansori and gets treated contemptuously, while Yubong tries to defend this unstable state of it which gets the audience to feel pity for. Yubong and his family are performing Pansori at private parties or at random places with 약장수, and not on a fancy stage in front of a big crowd. But they don’t give up on Pansori and travel to undesignated places to practice the traditional singing. The part where Yubong blinds Songwha is another scene where the Western people or the Koreans today may not understand. Whatever the situation is, Yubong blinded her in order to achieve his goal and to prevent her from leaving him behind and to go find her brother which makes him an egoist. However, Songwha forgives him and this is also another part where the Korean sentiment or the han of Sopyonje arises, that it is impossible to narrate linguistically. Also, being blind could be explained in a different view meaning the creation of one’s own world. That is, forgetting about the Western modernization and the changing of our society but solely concentrating on oneself, and to sing Pansori from the bottom of one’s heart as what Songwha says in the movie. The last scene with the small girl holding onto Songwha’s stick is probably the director’s intention to show the audience, Songwha’s pertinacious will that if she doesn’t overcome the han in that present age, then she would pass it over to the next generation in order to achieve her goal.
ReplyDeleteYoubong promises himself and the world that ‘One day Pansori will dominate.” The Pansori and the Korean traditional drum symbolize not only everlasting Korean traditions, values, and culture that were once independent from foreign influence, but also resistance. “You don’t do Pansori for food” precisely because Pansori is sacred. It is a medium that embraces han but also a medium that helps overcome han; for the whole of Korea. Youbong is a tireless and stubborn crusader against Western cultural imperialism that swept Korea after “liberation” from Japan. Pansori’s power is one of duality; han and overcoming han, grief and understanding. To truly gain mastery over pansori and channel its beauty and strength a father must blind his daughter, a son runs away from home, and a family is broken. Sacrifice is necessary but may be too demanding. To be able to continue to live by pansori Youbong’s family must commercialize their sacred ways and accept money from rich guests and traders who have been westernized; the very people Youbong strives to speak out against through his pansori. Numerous scenes depict Youbong’s family walking, traveling along the beautiful and serene countryside – a reminder of Korea’s nature; Korea’s natural state. Youbong’s refusal to live in Seoul is also a refusal to live in the heart of Westernization and continuing cultural colonization. The troupe of Western instruments that drown out Songhwa’s pansori, and threats using Western ideas such as “I will replace you with a violinist” are unfortunately not empty threats. Even so, “Sopyonje” ends optimistically, for it is the pansori and drum which bring Songhwa and Dong-ho together again, and Songhwa continues her father’s dream of mastering and sharing pansori. There is little non-diegetic sound; to preserve the natural sound of pansori throughout.
ReplyDeleteThe scenes that really stuck out for me were the ones where Songhwa and her family were performing pansori in order to gain attention from a crowd to sell various products. With the performance of a traditional Korean art, we see a wide array of spectators. We find farmers in traditional clothing, people in the attire of yangban, and people in Western suits. In one of these scenes we find that one of the Western dressed individuals is smiling and gesturing to his friend as if amused by something novel. These scenes depict a major theme of the movie which is a transition to a "modern" Korea in the countryside. We find that while the different social classes have been removed, there are still prejudices that are held, especially towards to pansori singers, who are considered low class. Despite a majority of the country side appearing to be traditionally Korean, we do see the presence of people dressed in Western clothing as well as the presence of newer technology (telephone, buses, etc) suggesting that the modernization is reaching out into the smaller villages.
ReplyDeleteYim, in his film, "Sopyonjae", carries out a theme of grief through pansori. This film is full of grief as Yubong loses his wife twice and lives a life where he is constantly drunk and is constantly forced to move to different places. Sohwa loses her parents and her eyesight. Just the fact that nobody listens to pansori anymore carries some amount of grief. This grief settles in Sohwa and Dongho as they are separated. This theme of grief reaches its pinnacle in the last scene where Sohwa and Dongho are performing pansori together. They instantly make connection in pansori, a channel for their grief, and their grief is released through their tears. Even though Sohwa is blind, when she is gazing at Dongho, it seems like she is making direct eye contact with Dongho. They are making a connection that is not visible but felt with their hearts, just the way Sohwa sees the picture of his uncle Naksan.
ReplyDeleteThere were a couple of point-of-view shots in the movie, where Songwha is either facing an audience or the vastness of the forest while she practices her Pansori techniques. The significance of these shots is that anyone within earshot can listen to Songwha, but they may miss the grief in her voice, and the grief that is imbedded and suggested in her narratives. In one scene a couple of men and women were in a dining room in which Songwha and her family performed. They kept complimenting her on how good she was, but they only appreciate the aestheics of her performance. They concentrated on the trees and missed the forest, missing the big picture she tries to depict through Pansori. They probably could not recall what her recital was about. Even her father overlooks the pain in the stories she tells and the pain she carries herself because he is too wrapped up in perfecting her vocal techniques. Only through Pansori recitals can Songwha express her grief and allow herself to be "happy," and although people listen to her, very few actually hear her.
ReplyDeleteSomething that I initially noticed during the film was the strange gap between the sound and the images of the film. The first few scenes of the movie has very little to no dialogue. Instead, our ears are filled with the sound of Pansori.
ReplyDeleteBy the halfpoint of the film (or thereabout), I realized that not only were there very few extended dialogues, the few that existed usually involved a dispute, show of temper, or fight. This contrasts directly with the impressive long shot of the family, Yu Bong, Songhwa, and the little brother, finding harmony and enjoyment by singing, dancing, and beating the drum to Pansori. Pansori, the film seems to tell us, has the powerful potential to heal broken bonds and to create harmony.
Later, as we see the little brother walk down many streets in search of his sister, we are struck by the silence; the film very rarely uses background music other than Pansori (the only example I can think of is the scene where the little brother and Songhwa sing/play together at the end), and when the Pansori is missing, the audience feels a fraction of the emptiness that the little brother must feel as he searches for his singing sister.
This film is fraught with subtle reminders of the Westernization that was happening in Korea at the time. Yu Bong, for example, wears a suit at one point, and near the end, Songhwa, too, is wearing a sweater and scarf, rather than the traditional Hanbok. Songhwa's skills are used for selling products -- for advertising purposes -- rather than for giving performances, and most revealingly, a didactic metaphor that Yu Bong uses at one point mentions a 'road that must be paved for a car to run across it smoothly.' The Westernization of Korean culture that is destroying the presence of Pansori has managed to seep itself into the mind of Yu Bong himself. Furthermore, although this may be a stretch, the film itself could be arguably called one example of one of Hollywood's favorite, the story of a starving artist(s).
Overall, I found the movie to be extremely moving, both from its Pansori soundtrack and its storyline/characters.
In the movie Sopyonje, Yubong tells his daughter Songhwa that in order to become a genuinely good pansori singer, she needs to have experienced hardships and also needs to be able to express her grief in her singing. Throughout the movie, the audience is shown the different hardships that the singers went through: Yubong's lover dies during childbirth, and apparently he was banned from Seoul by his teacher. He also lives in poverty and is fired from several jobs, which in turn affects his children. Songhwa is trained harshly by Yubong daily, and she is also blinded by Yubong so that her grief is deepened and her singing will improve. Near the end of the movie, Yubong tells Songhwa that she should overcome her grief (her "han") with her pansori, and this is shown at the ending scene, where she sings along with her long-lost brother, Dongho. They are both able to let go of their "han" and overcome it, Songhwa with her singing and Dongho with his drumming, and therefore Songhwa's singing reaches its peak. Sopyonje clearly illustrates how musicians, especially pansori singers, have to devote their entire lives in order to be the best. Yubong and Songhwa both endure very difficult painful experiences throughout their lives so that they build up their han and sing beautifully by expressing and overcoming it.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the movie I thought two ideas I kept returning to. One, however beautiful pansori is in the eyes of a Korean native, it is an aquired taste. The apparent sweeping consensus on the quality of the film throughout film festivals confuses me. It is akin to someone who loves comedy films, but hates action films to give raving reviews to The Matrix. The emotion of the film is awe inspiring, but it is a pansori film, just as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is an action film. Second, even though the melodrama of early film making in Korea is based on realism and is highly pronounced, I never really understood why current Korean cinema is so over the top dramatic. After listening to the different Pansori songs, it must just be in our genes.
ReplyDeleteIn the film Sopyonje, Pansori is utilized to witness the power of Korean history through music. Yubong understands the power of pansori and tries to prolong the history and sound of it through Songhwa and Dongho. When Yubong blinds Songwha, I didnt understand why.
ReplyDeleteInitially, I believed that Yubong blinds Songwha because he wanted her to stay near and never leave. On the other hand, I think there was far deeper reasons as to why he blinded her. He knew in order to perfect the beauty of pansori, one must experience grief and pain (i.e. loss of family and sight). Therefore when Songwha overcomes her grief, she also perfects her pansori. This is why the last scene was so powerful and became the essence of her existence: to master pansori. She was able to do that when she was able to overcome the grief of her life. Yubong, intentionally stole her vision in order to know not only what it means to fully depend on her father, but also for Songwha to feel utter grief and pain so that she could master pansori, just as Yubong wished.
This movie was representative of not only Pansori, but much of the Korean culture in general. Korea, like every other developing
ReplyDeletenation, loses certain aspects of its lifestyle and culture. It's the cost that the country has to pay in order to progress into future. Pansori in this movie demonstrated just that. Once a popular form of entertainment, it only fetched enough food to buy meager amounts of food, and it certainly did not provide any means of permanent shelter. The progression from old to new was also shown in the scene where the family is performin Pansori, and a street band marches by. They completely drown out the singing and drumming, and the crowd shifts their attention to the loud intruders, cheering and laughing with them. A certain thing that the director did with the camera several times was having a several minute long scene be in one shot. I found this to be interesting because the characters moved closer and closer to the camera and ended up right in front of it. It kind of gave the image of them being right infront of us, as an audience. The one particular scene that demonstrates this well is the scene where the family is walking down the dirt road and start singing, dancing, and drumming together as a happy group. But as soon as the family walks off, the landscape is empty, and you hear a solemn wind blow; the foreshadowing of bad things to come.
In the film "Sopyonjae" the scenes that stood out most were the scenes when the father, daughter, and son travelled across the country. The travelling scenes almost alays are of extremely long shots. The characters are seen from a very far distance and move towards the camera. In one scene, there is a gap seen between the father and daughter and the son. This scene occured right after the son expressed his anger with his father to his sister. The distance between the father showed his emotions, which was something that this film really focused on. The long shots give the viewer a real sense of travel with such a wide open space and also physically and emotionally show the relationship of the father and his children. Another scene where the father and children sing as they travel was memorable. The windy path in a way complimented the emotions and rhythm of the pansori song. They again employed the long shot to capture there whole travel along the path. The use of long shots thus were an important aspect of the cinematography.
ReplyDeleteSopyonje was different from the other films that we've previously seen in class, not only because it involved a lot of demonstrations of pansori, but also because of the different techniques that were used in the film. For example, panned, angled shots and interesting transitions between scenes were well observed in the previous films, whereas in Sopyonje, these aesthetic techniques were hard to catch. Instead, the movie took advantage of the scenery, especially of seasonal change, of Korea, and used that as its way of showing transition from scene to scene. There were a lot of long shots of the beautiful scenery of the four seasons of Korea, in a way representing the beauty of life despite the hardships of society.
ReplyDeleteThe artistic film Sopyonje starts with the scene of mountain peaks, and the space filled with the sound of pansori. The sound travels over and touches every possible part of the mountain valleys. This scene gives a sense that the pansori is about life. Throughout the film, there are shifts between the scenes of Dongho reminiscing and searching for his sister Songhwa and father, Yubong, and the scenes of their past. There is a great use of eclipse and the camera movement is smooth. There is one scene that well portrays the western influence as well as the loss of prestige of the traditional sound, pansori. Songwha and her father perform on the street where a few spectators listen. When a company of music band playing trumpet, accordion, and other western instruments passes by, their performance inevitably gets interrupted and the spectators immediately pays attention to the band, disregarding the pansori. Right after the scene, the camera captures a sparrow saying “Dongho, beat the drum… great” These scenes depict how the pansori is regarded as inconsequential sound, just like the sparrow’s imitation of sounds. Also, the scenes portray how the Korean society in postwar period is influenced by the western culture that leads to the loss of our own culture, our traditional folk song. Throughout the film, the pansori along with the sounds of nature including the sound of bell, shaking leaves, crying owls further provides the feeling that it is a part of life: grief of our people.
ReplyDeleteOne of the central conflicts throughout Sopyonje is the clash between the traditional and the modern. The director utilizes beautiful wide shots of the Korean landscape and traditional Korean dress to aesthetically establish the focus on the traditional. The father especially, with his proud, stubborn adherence to the old ways, embodies a steadfast refusal to move forward or accept change. His genuine love for Pansori is evident, but in his traditional idealism, he becomes easily angered and over-controlling (beating his children, effortlessly quitting jobs, blinding Songhwa), revealing the desperation with which he clings so tightly to the Korea he knows. At one point, Songhwa is reciting Pansori in a street when a band marches by and completely drowns her out as well as engages most of the spectators that were previously attending to Songhwa’s Pansori; Yubong is enraged, but also at a loss – Westernization is louder, more attractive, and more exciting, and though Yubong knows he cannot win against such a great force, he nonetheless never gives up Pansori or Songhwa, and dies a rather sad and lonely death, yet ever faithful to his heritage.
ReplyDeleteSopyonje was a comment upon the relationship a native Korean bears with Korea's history and culture. Korea's history has been one of particular hardships, one after another, that redefined the idea of "the nation of South Korea" many times over. The suffering of the country is and always has been represented by the suffering of it's people. Korean cinema's "melodrama as reality" genre appropriately fits Korea's national "genre" and Sopyonje uses Songhwa, Dongho and their relationship with their adoptive father Yubong and subsequently to p'ansori to demonstrate this "melodrama as reality". With p'ansori representing Korean culture and its giving way to westernization, attempts by Yubong and his adoptive children to hold on to p'ansori represent attempts to keep Korean culture as pure and up to old standards as it used to be. However, life is hard and their way of life is less than ideal, more pitiable. P'ansori is unable to support them and only gives them grief. But in the end, they are unable to let go of the art that has caused them so much pain and grief. Just as Dongho abandons Songhwa and Yubong, Yubong blinds Songhwa, and Songhwa continues to wander as a waif alone, the Korean people will always carry the grief of their history within them. And just as p'ansori hurts Songhwa and Dongho, it also remains as their only bond and brings them together, and finally, gives them strength to master this grievous art. It is in this way that Korean history and culture will always tie together its people.
ReplyDeleteMost of time, the story and the theme of the movie were impressive, but the filming technique of “Sopyonie” had more powerful influence. The movie contained knowledge of human nature while Pansori and images were inspiring me. The shots had the lyric sentiment. Usually, the camera angel stayed in front of the character but this film shots from backward. In addition, the camera did not follow people’s movement and the angel stayed at same spot, only people moved. This skill gave a feeling about characters’ wandering life and fulfilled their desire on the road. The most highlighted part was when the characters were reciting Pansori with walking the hill. In this scene, I felt that the director used the idea of Pansori to be relating with their movement. The Pansori began slowly while people started to walk, then the melody went faster as people started to walk fast. Overall, Pansori and Korea’s picturesque scenery gave an idea about our culture. The period of this movie was when Korean was influence by western music. People were amused at Pansori but more interested on Western music. Even nowadays, people knew about beautiful Pansori but not listening to Pansori often. “Sopyonie” captures our tradition and it explains that the period change but it never destroy the culture.
ReplyDeleteThe film, Sopyonje, is a story about a pansori singer, Yubong, and the two children he raises. Although their story is depicted throughout the entire movie, there are themes that transcend the three main characters. one of the main themes is suffering. Songhwa, the blind daughter of Yubong, is portrayed as going through so much during her life. She has lived in poverty and has been raised by a figure that is not the best example of a father figure. In addition, Yubong purposely blinds Songhwa so she can experience real pain in order to become a better pansori singer. If yubong really cared about her wellbeing, he would have gone about another way to teach her better. When Dongho runs away, she no longer has the support of a brother by her side. This event in itself had such an emotional and mental toll on Songhwa to the point that she stopped eating and singing. As demonstrated by these examples, Songhwa seems to have gone through more pain than the average person. I believe that her story is a symbol of life after Japanese colonialism. After all, this story takes place right after the Japanese imperialists leave Korea. Songhwa's story portrays the life of every Korean as they had suffered such great atrocities under the rule of the Japanese. Now that they are liberated, they must overome their sufferings like Songhwa has done. Being strong despite their given circumstances is pertinent to their survivle and reconstruction of a broken country. Songhwa's character is a prime example of what Korea had gone through.
ReplyDeleteThe film seopyeonje really captured the essence of the traditional pansori. What I liked about the film was that the director really tried to capture the essence of Korea by showing the scenery of Korea. Especially on the scene when they are singing their version of "Arirang". The way that the scene was shot from a far while the two singers and the drummer were traveling down the road and singing. The song really related to the shot and showed what exactly what the singers were talking about. Also how deep the songs were really impressed me. In the scene when the girl sings about the sailors really moved me as to how deep the lyrics were to the songs.
ReplyDeleteIn modern society where the individuality is emphasized, the importance of securing a sense of family among family members is easily forgotten. In response to such tendency, this film shows that it is important for family to have something in common that binds keeps them together. The scene where Yubong's family plays pansori together altogether after they get fired demonstrates that having something in common between family members can keep the family intact. Here the pansori keeps the family together and helps them overcome hardship. Althogh Dongho abandons the family, he comes back looking for his sister eventually and the first thing Dongho and Songhwa do when they meet is pansori. They do pansori together and realize that pansori binds them together and thus they will never be apart from each other mentally even if they are so physically. With such firm belief, Dongho can leave again because he knows he and his sister Songhwa are related by an undestoyable force, which is pansori. Although pansori is something that Yubong arbitrarily forced them to learn, it turns out that pansoro is the only force that keeps the famiy together. Therefore, the movie suggests that while it is important to respect individuality of family members, it is also necessary for family members to sacrifice their desire a little and conform themselves to the common interest of their family.
ReplyDeleteAn element of this film I immediately noticed from the very beginning was the quality of the film; compared to all the films we watched thus far, I feel that the shots of this film are more clear and pleasing to the eye. As I continued to watch the film, I saw the director gradually change “pansori” from just a sort of “talent” of certain individuals in the film to an actual character in itself. We watched “pansori” be defeated or undermined numerous times throughout the film; some examples include the music band overpowering the pansori of Song-Hwa and the drunk men paying off the “pansori” by throwing money into Song-hwa’s hanbok paralleling “pansori” to a prostitute. Overall, the viewer constantly saw this traditional sound be underappreciated; however, like any other human character of a film, “pansori” overcame these constant obstacles and was a sacred invaluable element to having a deeper connection with oneself and one’s experiences.
ReplyDeleteSopyonje captured the mold of melancholic drama to strengthen the identity of Korean cinema. Its careful work on cinematography pushed the film into the category for art cinema as well. The scene where the three main characters are in the country side starting from a far singing pansori was a good monument valley shot, where the scene gave a very picturesque view of the Korean countryside, but also showed a moment of happiness for the characters in a film full of depressing emotions and melancholic environment. The three characters represented very different personalities. From the three characters, the audience could relate to the greed, selfishness, love and hate, but the characters did not seem to possess each trait with significance. A theme in the film was that grief was always apart of life, and it resonated throughout the film. The flash forwards and flash backs made the audience think more closely about the story, because it left the viewers putting the pieces of the plot together. The last scene where the brother and sister was the final puzzle piece, where each character has attained and can harmonize with grief and life moving on.
ReplyDeleteThe repetition of the scene where the characters Yubong, Songhwa, and the father escape and enter the grassy hills on their journey symbolizes a particular concept in this film "Sopyonje". The director utilizes this projection of landscapes with different seasons throughout the film to illustrate the concept of time progression. The "pansori" music plays a vital role in smoothly transitioning from one scene to another by being played in the landscape scenes, where the people are walking. For example, in the very beginning of the first scene, there is a bed scene, and rather than transitioning right away to the lady giving birth, the landscape with three family members walking through the grassy hills created a smooth transition. Even in the last scene, Songhwa is in the landscape scene once again, holding hands with a little girl. The camera focuses on the two characters and the scenery at the same time with the mood of the music. It can be later inferred to the idea that time is progressing, and that things are either getting better or worse depending on the mood of the music.
ReplyDeleteThis film was a representation of Korean culture and its struggle to be in existence in times of modernization. The genre of Pansori music is used in this film to emphasize the loss of traditional Korean culture. The hardships Yubong and his two children face constantly traveling to make a living off of Pansori represents the Korean identity and its struggle to endure during this time of modernization and westernization. Songhwa was an essential character in which I thought she herself symbolized South Korea. Songhwa had to strive through hardships and suffer a great deal in order to achieve that level of greatness in Pansori just like all the suffering Korea had to push through throughout its history to survive and become a great nation.
ReplyDeleteThe movie “Seopyonje” is a Korean melodrama. It is different from the rest of the films we have watched so far due to its musical factor. Pansori, which is a genre of traditional Korean music that is characterized by musical story-telling performed by a vocalist with drum accompaniment, is the main sound and uniting element of the characters throughout the movie. “Seopyonje” is about Dong-Ho’s search for his sister, Song-Hwa. The movie is mainly about the long journey but it also tells the tale of how to find the perfect voice, which is by overcoming the han of one’s sound. The scenic beauty and sounds of Korea’s four seasons are well-depicted and the balance of traditional Korean and western cultures through fashion, songs, and instruments is also something to focus on. Like the movie title “Seopyonje”, Song-Hwa learns to accept her han and create her unique sound into a voice of her own.
ReplyDeleteWhen the movie was started, I felt Deja vu. Even though I haven't watched Sopyonje before but I remembered many scences. Later, I realized I watched “Beyond the years,” which is directed by same director and the heroine character, Songhwa, was acted by same actress. Through out the movie, I felt watching a musical. I got goose bumps from the last pansori scene. Even though I do not know anything about Pansori but I could tell it was very different from many of previous pansori songs she sang in the movie. Sopyonje is a Korean traditional musical cinema like “the phantom of the opera” in Hollywood version.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Sopyonje is about Pansori singers on post Korean War. Before Japanese colonization, Pansori represents Korean's feeling through singing voice with drum. Pansori represents early Koreans feeling in sorrowful melody. In Sopyonje, Pansori wasn't that popular to people because since Japanese colonial era, Japanese Enka and American pop were became popular music in Korea. The main characters, Yubong, songhwa and Dongho, were unfortunate people because even though they got good talent on Pansori, they live in poor environment and they live as vagabond. Also, Yubong’s friend who was famous Pansori star became poor and Dongho ran away from his father’s Pansori group. Today, Pansori is kind of rare performance in Korea. Thus, Sopyonje is good movie for people who don’t know much of Pansori or who loves Pansori.
ReplyDeleteThis filim indicates Korean national grudge and the miscommunication between tradition and modernization. Pansori was method of relieving Korean people’s agony. In this film, by recursively showing drum, Drum symbolizes the same thing as pansori. As playing a drum, people relieve and forget their misery. The most impressive shot was the long take full shot which was that 3 family members amusingly sang a song and danced together. They seemed that they don’t have any agonies at that moment.
ReplyDeleteWhenever characters sing pansori camera is slowly moving following the feeling of song. That makes people to impress and sympathy more effectively. Also I like that there are several fantastic full shot and long take. Especially for emphasizing the passage of time, director use the full shot with the pansori and season’s change which I could realize with circumstances of that shot (snow or maple tree)
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ReplyDeleteThis particular film, Sopyonje, sought to explore the nature and the essence of a unique form of music, Pansori. The film introduces siblings- Dong Ho and Sunhwa- to demonstrate that Pansori is a form of art that is passed down from a generation to another through means of dedication and hardships. It also showed us audience that Pansori heals people- siblings' hatred towards their father was eventually understood and forgiven by them. During their moment of practicing together after all these years, they came to an understanding in which they reached an epiphany of Pansori music.
ReplyDeleteThis movie really stuck out to me because of it’s cultural background and storyline. I never really knew what Pansori music was until I watched this and by the end I felt as if I knew more about Korean culture and it’s cultural history as well. While watching the movie, it also showed how the music was changing along with the time period and how people did not embrace Pansori music like they used to. Instead, people started straying more towards modern music such as when the people with instruments walked by, overpowering Junghwa’s voice with their loud instruments. The father in this film was a very interesting character because one could understand his point of view and empathize with him, but on the other hand disapproved of many things he did throughout the movie. He was very passionate about Pansori music and his beliefs, where his whole life revolved around music, and because of this he went to very extreme measures to perfect Junghwa’s singing such as making her blind just so she could feel grief. The story line was also very touching, where the younger brother kept searching for his blind, older sister. I really liked how the film would go back and forth to the present and the past because it allowed the audience to fully understand what the brother went through/was going through for his sister.
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