Ha Gil-jong (April 13, 1941 - February 28, 1979) was a South Korean film director, screenwriter and translator. Most famous for his youth classic, ''

The March of Fools ''The March of Fools'' () is a 1975 South Korean comedy film directed by Ha Gil-jong. Plot Philosophy university students, Byeong-tae and Yeong-cheol, make friends with French Literature female students, Yeong-ja and Sun-ja, from a nearby univers ...

'' (1975), Ha was also a very prominent social critic in his day.

Biography

He was born as the seventh child of a family with nine children in Choryang-dong,

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, South Korea. His little brother

Hah Myung-joong Hah Myung-joong ( ko, 하명중, Hanja: 河明中) (born May 14, 1947) is a South Korean actor, film director, producer, planner, and screenwriter. Hah started his career as an actor, but expanded his career to film directing, and film producing. ...

is an actor and film director. Ha lost his mother in 1945 and his father in 1950 when the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

occurred. Orphaned, Ha came to live with relatives. In 1956 he went to

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

with one of his older brothers, and attended Jungdong High School (중동고등학교) in the following year. He befriended Kim Chi-Ha there who later became a famous activist poet. In 1960, while Ha studied French literature at

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

, he met

Kim Seung-ok Kim Seungok (The romanization preferred by the author according to LTI Korea) (born December 1941) is a South Korean novelist and screenwriter. Biography Born in Osaka, Japan, Kim Seungok returned to Korea after its liberation in 1945. There, h ...

( 김승옥, novelist), Kim Hyun ( 김현, literature critic), Kim Chi-su ( 김치수, poet and critic),

Lee Cheong-jun Yi Cheong-jun (, 9 August 1939 - 31 July 2008) was a prominent South Korean novelist. Throughout his four decade-long career, Yi wrote more than 100 short stories and 13 novels. Life Yi Cheong-jun was born in 1939. He graduated with a degree ...

(novelist), Yeom Mu-yung ( 염무웅, literature critic) and Kim Ju-yeon ( 김주연, literature critic and scholar of German] literature). After graduation, he briefly worked for Shin Film, Ha went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1965 to study. Ha studied

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

and

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

at San Francisco Academy of Art and entered

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

graduation school where he acquired both a MA and MFA degree. During the time, he made several short films, and one of which is ''The Ritual for a Soldier''. With the film, he won a Mayer Grant awarded by

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

. Ha died of a stroke in 1979, aged 37.

Filmography

#'' Byung-tae and Young-ja'' (병태와 영자 Byeongtae-wa Yeongja) (1979) #'' The Home of Stars 2'' (별들의 고향 2 Byeoldeul-ui gohyang 2) (1978) #'' The Ascension of Han-ne'' (한네의 승천 Hanne-ui seungcheon) (1977) #'' I Am Looking For A Wife'' (여자를 찾습니다 Yeojaleul chajseubnida) (1976) #''

'' (바보들의 행진 Babodeul-ui haengjin) (1975) #'' Fidelity'' (수절 Sujeol) (1973) #'' The Pollen of Flowers'' (화분 Hwabun) (1972) #'' The Ritual for a Soldier'' (병사의 제전 1969)

Awards and nominations

*1979, the 15th Baeksang Arts Awards

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ha, Gil-jong 1941 births People from Busan Seoul National University alumni South Korean film directors 1979 deaths

Biography

Filmography

Awards and nominations

See also

References

External links