Hong Kil-dong (1986 film)

Hong Kil-dong is a 1986 North Korean historical drama film directed by Kim Kil In.[1][2]

Hong Kil-dong
DVD cover
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
홍길동
Hancha
洪吉童
Revised RomanizationHong Gildong
McCune–ReischauerHong Kil-tong
Directed byKim Kil-in
Screenplay byKim Se-ryun
Based onHong Gildong jeon
Starring
  • Ri Yong-ho
  • Pak Chun-hui
  • Choe Sun-bok
CinematographyJon Hong-sok
Edited byOm So-yong
Music byJon Chang-il
Hwang Jin-yong
Production
companies
Hong-Jong Corporation
Korea February 8 Film Studio
Distributed byKorea Film Export and Import Corporation
Mokép
Shochiku Home Video
Release date
  • 1986 (1986)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryNorth Korea
LanguageKorean

The film was based on the Hong Gildong jeon, an anonymous Korean novel about a Robin Hood-like bandit.[3]

Plot

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In Joseon-era Korea, Hong Kil-dong is born in Hanseong (modern Seoul) as the illegitimate son of a nobleman. His stepmother tries to have him killed by bandits, but he is rescued by a monk who uses magic and martial arts. Hong goes on to train with the monk and defend the oppressed villagers, later fighting an invasion by Japanese ninjas.

Release

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Hong Kil-dong was released in 1986. It received a wide release in the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc, and was very popular in Poland and Bulgaria.[4][better source needed]

Reception

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Hong Kil-dong is often listed as among the best North Korean films; authors have noted the influence of Shin Sang-ok, a South Korean director abducted by the North Korean regime in 1978 and forced to make films. It is also known for its lack of propaganda and its criticism of policies of the North Korean regime (most notably the Songbun policy).[5] In 2002, North Korean defectors in South Korea were surveyed by The Chosun Ilbo, and declared it the best North Korean film.[4][6] Simon Fowler of The Guardian wrote that "With heaped spoonfuls of Shaw Brothers-inspired kung fu, the film is unlike the entire pantheon of North Korean cinema that had gone before it. This is a film that needs no historical context to be watched and most unusually for North Korean film, can quite easily be enjoyed."[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Review: Hong Kil Dong". 18 July 2011.
  2. ^ Curnow, James (1 September 2013). "Hong Kil Dong: The Ironic and the Indestructible". Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  3. ^ "North Korean Film Industry Built From Propaganda And Kidnapping Of South Korean Director Shin Sang-ok". VOI - Waktunya Merevolusi Pemberitaan. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b Stephenson, ~ Ian (1 August 2017). "REVIEW: Hong Kil-dong [홍길동] (dir. Kim Kil-in, 1986)".
  5. ^ "Hong Gil-dong: Korean classics on North Korean screens". NK News. 7 June 2016.
  6. ^ Schönherr, Johannes (13 August 2012). North Korean Cinema: A History. McFarland. ISBN 9780786465262 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Fowler, Simon (15 August 2014). "The five best North Korean films". the Guardian.
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