The Money
Bong-su is a diligent farmer who is so poor that he had to postpone his daughter Sun-i’s wedding.
Tired of poverty, Bong-su falls for loan shark Eok-jo’s tricks and loses the money he earned by selling rice. He jumps into selling secondhand objects but loses that money as well to a group of swindlers in Seoul. One night, Eok-jo drops some money in his attempt to rape Ok-gyeong. Bong-su tries to pick up the money and in the heat of the moment, kills Eok-jo.
* Source: Korean Film Archive
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The Money, directed by Kim Sodong, was acclaimed as a milestone in Korean realism, reflecting the Italian neorealism pursued by the Korean film industry in the 1950s, and it was widely acknowledged as a path for Korean cinema to follow. Despite his hard work on the farm, naive farmer Bong-su’s situation does not improve. He is forced to postpone his daughter Sun-i’s wedding due to the lack of money. After losing all his earnings in gambling and accumulating debts, he sells his calf to seek his fortune in the city. However, he falls victim to swindlers, leaving him with nothing. The film carefully illustrates the reality of the rural community, which deteriorates due to its failure to obtain capital during the transition from agrarian to industrial society, as implied by the title. The controversy arose as the film’s submission to the Asian Film Festival was dismissed due to its dismal atmosphere. It featured a large cast of esteemed stars including Kim Seung-ho, Choi Nam-hyeon, Choi Eun-hee, Kim Jin-gyu, Hwang Jeong-sun, Noh Gyeong-hee. The scene with a close-up shot of Bong-su, portrayed by Kim Seung-ho, staring at the departing train(modernity) carrying his arrested son Yeong-ho, serves as a symbol of the remorse and despair of a greed-ridden individual, as well as the helpless realities of rural life during that era. (PARK Seho)
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Korean Film Archive⎜program@koreafilm.or.kr
KIM Sodong
