A beautiful film by veteran filmmaker Im Kwon-taek with a fine performance by Oldboy’s Choi Min-sik, but suffers from covering far too long a period…
Chihwaseon rattles through the lifeof Ohwon (Choi Min-sik, Oldboy, Lady Vengeance), a peasant who became one of Korea’s most respected painters in the 19th century. We follow him through the discovery of his talent as a peasant, to finally breaking free of the stigma attached to his class and becoming a celebrated artist.
Throughout his life those humble beginnings come to the surface with a drunken, self-destructive streak that often stands in the way of true success, reducing him once again to poverty. Meanwhile the political landscape of Korea itself is in turmoil as it is fought over for control by China and Korea.
As always Choi Min-sik’s performance is incredible, creating a believable and even sympathetic character out of a man who often acts like a complete bastard. He has able support from actors like Ahn Sung-kee (Musa, Duelist) as his mentor Kim Byung-Moon.
However, like many biopics, particularly those around artists, veteran director Im Kwon-taek (Sopyonje, Downfall, Festival) falls into the trap of trying to tell Ohwon’s entire life, covering an impractical period of time. The result loses depth in Ohwon’s character as a cost – however impeccable Min-sik’s performance is – giving little insight into his motivations, conforming to the template portrayal of the artist as objectionable and self-destructive, though least interesting.
More absorbing is the political upheaval that Kwon-tek sets his lead against. As Ohwon seeks his own path beyond simply imitating the art from China and Japan, Korea itself is being torn apart by those two countries. It’s noticeable how relevant that history feels to a country still occupied but now also divided. Many are still old enough to remember Japanese occupation, and those that are not are all too aware how it they were simply replaced with America and Russia at the end of the Second World War.
Without a doubt Kwon-taek’s film is beautiful to look at, with Jung Il-sung’s cinematography bringing those works to life. It’s as good a depiction an artist at work as there has ever been, getting over the deceptive simplicity of Asian paintings. Kwon-taek exudes a kind of confidence that comes with both age and experience – being 66 years of age when Chihwaseon was originally released and having directed over 90 films by that time. Like the late Robert Altman, there’s a sense of a director making a film solely for his own benefit, without any need to impress anyone other than himself.
Chihwaseon is a fascinating insight into Korea political history, if not quite such a full study of the artist himself.
DVD details
Distributor: Optimum Home Entertainment (UK)
The original Korean 2-disc DVD is beautifully packaged (unlike the US and UK releases) with a fine transfer of the film. There's a variety of additional material on the second disc, including an extensive Making of documentary, filmmaker interviews, pre and post CGI comparisons. Unfortunately, if somewhat unsurprisingly, none of this is subtitled in English.
That said, it's such a superior version of the film you might still want to consider it.
