A Flower In Hell
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''A Flower in Hell'' () is a 1958 South Korean film directed by
Shin Sang-ok Shin Sang-ok (; 1925 or 1926 – April 11, 2006), anglicized as Simon Sheen, was a South Korean filmmaker who directed 74 films in a career spanning over five decades. He is best known in South Korea for his efforts during the 1950s and 1960s, ...
. For her performance in the film, Shin's wife,
Choi Eun-hee Choi Eun-hee (; November 20, 1926 – April 16, 2018) was a South Korean actress. She was one of South Korea's most popular stars of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1978, Choi and her then ex-husband, movie director Shin Sang-ok, were abducted to North ...
was given the Best Actress award at the 2nd
Buil Film Awards The Buil Film Awards () is a South Korean film awards ceremony hosted by the '' Busan Ilbo'' newspaper. It began in 1958 as one of the earliest film awards in the country. During the 1950s and 1960s, it was the biggest film awards event in the ...
. During the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, director Shin Sang-ok had shared an apartment with a prostitute in order to live more comfortably rather than sharing a one-room evacuation apartment with several families, giving him insight in the subject of the film.


Plot

Two weeks after leaving the army, Dong-shik (Cho Hae-won), arrives in post-Korean War Seoul in search of his brother, Yeong-shik (Kim Hak-a), hoping to bring him back home to take care of their mother. The city is destitute, with few jobs, high crime, a huge American military presence, and a thriving black market economy. The next day, Dong-shik finds Yeong-shik at the market and chases him through the streets. He only catches up when Yeong-shik stops to flirt with his girlfriend, Sonya, an in demand prostitute. Later at the river, Dong-shik meets Sonya's friend Julie, who speaks about the tribulations of being a prostitute and jokingly offers to marry him. When Yeong-shik comes back from his date, Dong-shik tries to convince makes his case for them to leave the city but Yeong-shik insists on staying. Yeong-shik tries to leave him with some money before being called out to work. Later that night, Yeong-shik and his gang sneaks onto the American base during a party to steal supplies, employing prostitutes to distract the guards. Dong-shik arrives at Sonya's residence to try to convince her to stop seeing his brother. Instead, Sonya seduces Dong-shik and his family photograph drops out of his pockets as he lays with her. They later go on a date by the river, which Yeong-shik eventually finds out about and beats Dong-shik for. Dong-shik, having failed to retrieve his brother and unable to pursue his relationship with Sonya, prepares to head back home. At the crossroad, he sees Sonya greeting Yeong-shik goodbye. Before Dong-shik leaves, he has one final lunch with her. Sonya offers to leave Yeong-shik for good and suggest that they could move to Hong Kong. She even reports Yeong-shik's heist so that she could runaway with Dong-shik with no strings attached. When Dong-shik finds out, he leaves immediately to find his brother. Sonya follows shortly after. With the tip, the military police easily prevents the gang's activities. Yeong-shik and others are slowly killed one after another as they attempt to escape from the police's pursuit. Yeong-shik eventually gets shot himself and crashes into the river. Dong-shik finally catches up to Yeong-shik and retrieves him from the river bank. When Sonya arrives, she tries to convince Dong-shik not to leave her. He ignores her pleas and leaves to retrieve his truck. Yeong-shik overhears her confessions and slowly chases Sonya further into the river. Deterred by the mud and failing to beg for mercy, Sonya eventually succumbs to Yeong-shik's approach and dies by his knife. Yeong-shik then dies by his own injuries. With his brother and lover dead, Dong-shik prepares to head home. Julie sees him off and returns his family photograph. Dong-shik proposes to Julie and they both head back to the countryside.


Cast

*
Choi Eun-hee Choi Eun-hee (; November 20, 1926 – April 16, 2018) was a South Korean actress. She was one of South Korea's most popular stars of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1978, Choi and her then ex-husband, movie director Shin Sang-ok, were abducted to North ...
as So-nya *Kim Hak as Yeong-shik *Jo Hae-won as Dong-shik *Kang Sun-hee as Julie


Reception

Wally Adams of Asian Movie Pulse have said that "despite the rather questionable buildup in places, ''The Flower in Hell'' is potent and mostly progressive early South Korean cinema that manages respectably level-headed examination of the society's outcasts". He then elaborated about it, adding that "it serves as a fascinating progenitor of the genre-meshing trends that the industry would become known for worldwide today". According to Panos Kotzathanasis of
HanCinema HanCinema () is an online South Korean movie and drama database created by Cédric Collemine during the summer of 2003 in Korea. It provides information related to Korean movies, television dramas, actors, and other related information. It is a ...
, the film was a "great production", adding to it that it " sone of those movies that stay relevant forever, through a combination of artistry and realism".


References


External links

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''A Flower in Hell''
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Korean Film Archive The Korean Film Archive (KOFA; ), or the Korean Federation of Film Archives, is the sole film archive in South Korea with nationwide coverage. It was founded in Seoul in 1974 as a non-profit organization. In 1976 KOFA joined the International Fe ...
via
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flower In Hell, A Films directed by Shin Sang-ok 1950s Korean-language films South Korean crime drama films