Summary
A critical biographical hero of the 20th century in Korea, this latest adaptation of her life focuses on her youth, faith, and torture at the hands of the Japanese occupiers.
Yu Gwan-sun is such an important figure in Korea’s history, she is known as the nation’s “Joan of Arc” in some circles. An organiser of the March 1st Movement against Japanese colonial occupation, her steadfast refusal to name collaborators or submit to the Japanese threats is more impressive for her only being 17 at the time of her death.
The story of Yu Gwan-sun has (understandably) been told four times before in Korean cinema, many of which were directed by Yun Bong-chun. In tackling this story again, director Joe Min-ho (who shot A Million here in Australia) stated that he didn’t want to make another film about the icon so much as a 17-year-old girl and her beliefs.
In this film’s narrative, Yu Gwan-Sun (portrayed by Ko Ah-Sung, Right Now, Wrong Then) is sent to Seodaemun Prison where she bonds with fellow prisoners (Kim Ye-Eun, Kim Sae-Byuk, and Jeong Ha-Dam among others), refutes the powers that be, and inspires further sedition. It’s a straightforward take, both reverential of its subject while trying to humanise her.
Taking the interesting stylistic approach of shooting in start black and white, a first for the filmmaker, colour footage is reserved only for flashback sequences. In this way, the entire imprisonment is staged as a kind of death, filled with the dreary repetition of life on the inside and grim moments of torture and withholding designed to break the spirits of the prisoners.
There is a fair bit of harsh subject matter in that time though. Yu Gwan-sun is seen to be stripped, beaten, degraded, and tortured. Director Joe does attempt to posit this within a shared sisterhood, a solidarity that inspires other prisoners and people on the outside. If the intention was to not cast her as a martyr, then it is a shame that more time wasn’t spent on developing the character arcs of the women around her. As it stands, we largely learn of Yu Gwan-Sun outside the prison from a handful of colour snippets of her interacting with her family. In other scenes, she is beaten and tortured as a kind of petit Christ figure.
The other theme that rises out of the film is that of collaboration, primarily centred on “Nishida,” a Korean man who joins the Japanese armed forces as a means of advancing his station. Critic Russell Edwards, who moderated a Q&A with the filmmaker and stars at the Korean Film Festival in Australia, pointed to this being a recurring them in recent Korean cinema, citing Battleship Island (2017) as an example. In fact, at the time of writing this review, South Korea has cancelled an intelligence sharing pact with Japan over a trade dispute, and the roots of this fracture arguably trace their way back to their shared history.
So, while A RESISTANCE (항거:유관순 이야기) may not necessarily add anything new to the well-established legend, it’s unquestionably a timely picture. Indeed, younger viewers and foreigners who weren’t raised on the story will no doubt gain a new understanding for Korea’s struggle for independence.
2019 | South Korea | DIRECTOR: Joe Min-ho | WRITERS: Joe Min-ho | CAST: Go Ah-sung, Kim Sae-byuk, Kim Ye-eun, Jeong Ha-dam, Ryu Kyung-soo | DISTRIBUTOR: Korean Film Festival in Australia 2019 (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 105 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 22 August – 12 September 2019 (KOFFIA)
