Park Chul-soo (November 20, 1948 – February 19, 2013) was a South Korean film director, producer, screenwriter and occasional actor. He was one of the most active filmmakers in

Korean cinema The term "Cinema of Korea" (or "Korean cinema") encompasses the motion picture industries of North and South Korea. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, ...

in the 1980s and '90s.

Career

Park Chul-soo was born in

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

, South Korea. After graduating from Daegu Commercial High School, Park studied Economics on scholarship at

Sungkyunkwan University Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU or simply ''Seongdae'', Hangul: 성균관대학교; Hanja: 成均館大學校) is a private comprehensive research university in South Korea. The institution traces its origins to the historic Sungkyunkwan, founde ...

. After graduation, he briefly worked as a teacher in his hometown, Daegu. He began his film career as a crew member for Shin Film before making his directorial debut in 1978 with ''Captain of the Alley'', which opened to a lukewarm reception. But success came his way through his second film released the following year, '' The Rain that Falls Every Night'', a story about a woman who falls in love with a boxer who raped her. Sentimental and sophisticated melodramas were the mainstay films during this period of his career. His 1985 thriller ''

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

'', featuring star actress

Youn Yuh-jung Youn Yuh-jung (, ; born June 19, 1947) is a South Korean actress, whose career in film and television spans over five decades. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Academy Film Award, an Independent Spi ...

in the role of a mother on a killing spree after her college student daughter is raped and commits suicide, is still considered as Korean cinema’s definitive work in the rape-revenge genre that was popular in the 1970s and '80s. It won several categories at the

Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...

that year, including best film. Women, sex and repressed urbanites continued to be main themes of Park's movies throughout his career, although his style of expression frequently altered between outrageous and subtle. A major change in his artistic approach came with his 1995 cult hit ''

301, 302 ''301, 302'' or ''301/302'' is a 1995 South Korean film directed by Park Chul-soo. It tells the story of two South Korean women, neighbors in the same apartment building, who take very different approaches to the difficulties of modern life; one ...

'' which tells the story of two women who share the same apartment building but take very different approaches to food, sex, and the challenges of modern life. Park was arguably the first filmmaker to popularize South Korean cinema internationally when the film became one of the first contemporary Korean films to be released theatrically in North America. His 1996 work ''Farewell My Darling'' was shot mostly with

hand-held camera Hand-held camera or hand-held shooting is a filmmaking and video production technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator's hands as opposed to being mounted on a tripod or other base. Hand-held cameras are used because they are conve ...

s and remains his most critically acclaimed work. It portrays a family's experience as they hold a traditional three-day funeral for an elderly man killed after falling off a bicycle. It was renowned overseas and on the festival circuit, and received the Best Artistic Contribution Award at that year's

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

. '' Push! Push!'' (1997) continued Park's attempts at experimentation. His 1998 film ''Kazoku Cinema'' was adapted from the novel by Korean-Japanese writer

Miri Yu is a Zainichi Korean playwright, novelist, and essayist. Yu writes in Japanese, her native language, but is a citizen of South Korea. Early life Yu was born in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture and grew up in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture as one o ...

, cast Japanese actors and was shot in Japanese. After a prolonged absence from the industry, he returned to directing in the early 2000s with controversial, erotic dramas, most notably the explicit ''

Green Chair ''Green Chair'' ( 녹색 의자 - ''Noksaek uija'') is a South Korean film directed by Park Chul-soo, that was released in 2005. It is about an affair between an attractive thirty-two-year-old woman and a youth just short of legal majority. Inter ...

'' (2003), which was inspired by the real-life affair between a high school boy and a woman in her 30s. ''Green Chair'' competed at the 2005

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

and played in the Panorama of the 2005

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. He also shot low-budget dramas about a man's relationship to sex, including ''Red Vacance Black Wedding'' (2011) and ''

B-E-D ''Bed'' is a 2012 South Korean erotic romance film directed by Park Chul-soo, based on the short story of the same name by novelist Kwon Ji-ye. Starring theater actors Jang Hyuk-jin, Lee Min-a and Kim Na-mi, the film is an erotic relationship drama ...

'' (2013). Increasingly an outsider of the orthodox South Korean film industry, he was a strong supporter of the

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Prior to 2015, it was known as the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan. Inaugurated ...

, despite threats to his own professional career. In its early days, PiFan was boycotted by much of the local film industry and Korean academics.

Death

Park was crossing a street in the city of

Yongin Yongin () is a city in the Seoul Capital Area, the largest in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population over 1 million, the city has developed rapidly since the 21st century, recording the highest population growth of any city in the count ...

on February 19, 2013 when he was hit by a man

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

. At the time of his death, Park had just contributed the

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

''Illusion'' () to the

omnibus Omnibus may refer to: Film and television * ''Omnibus'' (film) * Omnibus (broadcast), a compilation of Radio or TV episodes * ''Omnibus'' (UK TV series), an arts-based documentary programme * ''Omnibus'' (U.S. TV series), an educational progr ...

''A Journey with Korean Masters'', and was completing

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

on a new film titled ''Love Conceptually''. His last feature film ''Eating, Talking, Faucking'' was released posthumously in March 2013.

Filmography

#'' A Journey with Korean Masters'' (마스터 클래스의 산책 Maseuteo Keullaeseueui San-chaek), 2013 #'' Eating, Talking, Faucking'' (생생활활 Saengsanghalhal), 2013 #''

'' (베드 Bedeu), 2013 #'' Red Vacance Black Wedding'' (붉은 바캉스 검은 웨딩 Bulgeun Bakangseu Geomeun Weding), 2011 #''

'' (녹색 의자 Noksaeg Uija), 2003 #''

Bongja ''Bongja'' () is a 2000 South Korean film. Plot A seaweed roll maker named Ok Bong-ja finds a teenaged runway-turned prostitute lying down on the road and takes her to her home, where their friendship turns into mutual attraction. Cast *Seo Kap ...

'' (봉자 Bongja), 2000 #'' Kazoku Cinema'' (가족 시네마 Gajok Cinema), 1998 #'' Push! Push!'' (산부인과 Sanbu-ingwa), 1997 #'' Seven Reasons Why Beer Is Better Than a Lover'' (맥주가 애인보다 좋은 일곱가지 이유 Maegjuga ae-inboda Joh-eun 7gaji i-yu), 1996 #'' Farewell My Darling'' (학생부군신위 Hagsaengbugunsin-wi), 1996 #''

'' (삼공일 삼공이 Samgong-il samgong-i), 1995 #'' Sado Sade Impotence'' (우리 시대의 사랑 Ulisidae-ui sarang), 1994 #'' Flower in Snow'' (눈꽃 Nunkkot), 1992 #''

Seoul Evita ''Seoul Evita'' () is 1991 South Korean musical romantic film Plot A love story of Student activist and musical student who shared apartment. Cast *Hwang Shin-hye ... Lee Seon-yeong *Park Sang-won ... Kim Min-su *Jo Yeong-nam *Jung Hye-sun ...

'' (서울, 에비타 Seo-ul-ebita), 1991 #'' Theresa's Lover'' (테레사의 연인 Theresa-ui yeon-in), 1991 #'' Ose-am Temple'' (오세암 Oseam), 1990 #'' The Woman Who Walks on Water'' (물 위를 걷는 여자 Mul-wileul geodneun yeoja), 1990 #'' Today's Woman'' (오늘 여자 Oneul yeoja), 1989 #''

You My Rose Mellow ''You My Rose Mellow'' () is a 1988 South Korean film directed by Park Chul-soo and starring Lee Deok-hwa and Lee Bo-hee. The film is based on the poetry collection with the same name by poet Do Jong-hwan. Plot Jong-hwan and Su-kyung meet in a ca ...

'' (접시꽃 당신 Jeobsikkot dangsin), 1988 #'' Hello Im Kuk-jeong by Pak Cheol-su'' (Bak Cheol-Su-ui helro Im Kkeok-Jeong), 1987 #''

Pillar of Mist ''Pillar of Mist'' () is a 1987 South Korean film directed by Park Chul-soo. It was chosen as Best Film at the Grand Bell Awards. Plot The film is a drama about a married couple. Cast *Choi Myung-gil Choi Myung-gil (born November 11, 1962) ...

'' (안개기둥 Angaegidung), 1986 #''

'' (어미 Eomi), 1985 #''

Tinker Wife Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils. Description ''Tinker'' for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as ''tyckner'' or ''tinkler''. Some travelling groups and Romani p ...

'' (Ttamjang-i a-nae), 1983 #''

Stray Dog A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of w ...

'' (Deulgae), 1982 #'' Is There a Girl Like Her?'' (Ileon yeoja eobsna-yo), 1981 #''

Painful Maturity ''Painful Maturity'' () is 1980 South Korean melodrama film directed by Park Chul-soo. Plot Su-jin, a girl prone to lapses into unconsciousness, is saved by Kyung-ho when she passes out on the street. After Kyung-ho leaves her in a hospital, he ...

'' (아픈 성숙 Apeun seongsuk), 1980 #'' The Rain that Falls Every Night'' (밤이면 내리는 비 Bam-imyeon naelineun bi), 1979 #'' Captain of the Alley'' (Golmogdaejang), 1978

Awards

*1996 32nd

Baeksang Arts Awards The Baeksang Arts Awards (), also known as the Paeksang Arts Awards, are awards for excellence in film, television and theatre in South Korea. The awards were first introduced in 1965 by Chang Key-young, the founder of the Hankook Ilbo newspap ...

: Best Film and Best Director for '' Farewell My Darling'' *1994 18th Golden Cinematography Awards: Best Director for '' Sado Sade Impotence'' *1988 24th

: Best Director for ''

'' *1980 16th

: Best New Director for '' The Rain that Falls Every Night''

References

External links