A Ferry Boat That Has No Owner

A Ferry Boat That Has No Owner (Korean임자없는 나룻배) is a 1932 Korean film starring Na Woon-gyu. Its title is also translated as "The Ownerless Ferry Boat". The film premiered at Dansungsa theater in downtown Seoul. This was director Lee Gyu-hwan's first film. This film is significant as the last pre-liberation film that was able to present an openly nationalistic message, because of increasing governmental censorship at this time.[1]

A Ferry Boat That Has No Owner
Na Woon-gyu in the film
Hangul
임자없는 나룻배
Revised RomanizationImjaeomneun narutbae
McCune–ReischauerImja ŏmnŭn narutpae
Directed byLee Kyu-hwan
Written byLee Kyu-hwan
Produced byKang Jeong-won
StarringNa Woon-gyu
Moon Yae-bong
Kim Yeon-sil
Lim Woon-hak
CinematographyLee Myeong-woo
Edited byLee Kyu-hwan
Distributed byYoo Shin Kinema Company
Release date
  • 14 September 1932 (1932-09-14)
CountryKorea
LanguagesSilent film
Korean intertitles
Budget1,200 won

Plot

edit

The story follows Soo-sam, a farmer who moves to Seoul to work as a rickshaw driver. He is imprisoned for stealing money to cover his wife's hospital expenses. After his release, he discovers that his wife has been unfaithful. Disheartened, Soo-sam returns to his village with his daughter and takes up work as a ferry boat operator. When a bridge is built a decade later, it renders his job obsolete. Following an attempted rape of his daughter by the bridge engineer, Soo-sam dies while trying to destroy the bridge and is struck by a train. With their home destroyed by fire and his daughter killed, Soo-sam's ferry boat remains as the "ownerless ferryboat" mentioned in the title. The original final scene had Soo-sam taking an axe to the bridge. This was cut by governmental censors because, as Lee says, "to axe the bridge was to describe the anger of the Korean people against the Japanese occupation."[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ Min Eungjun; Joo Jinsook; Kwak HanJu (2003). Korean Film : History, Resistance, and Democratic Imagination. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-95811-6., p.11
  2. ^ * Lee, Young-il (1988). The History of Korean Cinema. Motion Picture Promotion Corporation. ISBN 89-88095-12-X.

Sources

edit
  • Kim, Kab-ui (2001). Chunsa Na Un-gyu chonjip: ku saengae wa yesul (춘사나운규전집: 그생애와예술). Seoul: Chimmundang. ISBN 89-303-0877-5.[1]
  • Lee, Young-il (1988). The History of Korean Cinema. Motion Picture Promotion Corporation. ISBN 89-88095-12-X.
  • Min Eungjun; Joo Jinsook; Kwak HanJu (2003). Korean Film : History, Resistance, and Democratic Imagination. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-95811-6.

See also

edit