Evento

"First Son" screening at PUSAN WEST

[1984/115 min/35mm/color]

Korean tradition and custom mandates that the first son of the family must take care of his parents. Usually when the parents retire, they move in with their first sons family. However, as Korea transitions from a traditional society into a modern one, it becomes harder and harder to keep the traditional family structure and conflicts between generations becomes a common social problem. First Son vividly captures the dilemma of a typical family through the eyes of the aging parents.

The first son, an executive at a computer company, discovers his hometown, where his parents still live, will be submerged when a new dam gets built. They move in with him, but find city life difficult because of the hectic pace and high-rises of Westernization. When the son finally decides to build a dream-house for the family, tragedy strikes. The film addresses the crisis of how to live with receding tradition, hurling modernity.

Q&A with Director Lee Doo-yong after the screening!

Director Lee Doo-yong was one of the most prolific filmmakers in Korea in the 1980s and he is also one of the first Korean filmmakers to gain international recognition. His 1983 film Mulreya, Mulreya was the first Korean film to be invited to Cannes Film Festival to be presented at Un Certain Regard section. He first entered the Korean film industry in the 1960s as assistant director to Lee Man-hee, the foremost filmmaker of the decade, and made his directorial debut in 1969 with The Lost Wedding Veil. In the 1970s, he became a successful action film director with such films as Returned Single-legged Man (1974) and in the 1980s he made several period dramas depicting the sufferings of women under traditional confucian society. His 1980 film The Hut was invited to Venice Film Festival and won a special ISDAP award.