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The Uprising
(Yi Chae-su ui nan)

Director in Person
Screening on Film
$12 Special Event Tickets
Directed by Park Kwang-su.
With Shim Eun-ha, Lee Jung-Jae, Myeong Gye-nam.
South Korea, 1999, 35mm, color, 100 min.
Korean with English subtitles.

The Uprising (Yi Chae-su ui nan) introduction and post-screening discussion with Haden Guest and Park Kwang-su.

After two acclaimed films exploring the relationship between the recent past and the present, Park goes back to 1901 to tell the true story of a revolt against local Catholics, French missionaries and a corrupt government. When peasants balk at increased taxation by a local government that includes a number of Christian converts, the insurrection quickly becomes a religious war. Yi Chae-su is an uneducated young man who finds himself at the head of the insurrection. The film presents an ambiguous picture of a complex event. On the one hand, the uprising was a rebellion against corrupt local officials and foreign influence over them; on the other hand, it led to indiscriminate massacre. Park presents Lee as an impassioned leader but also a naïve one, one who ultimately transforms into a grim, bloodthirsty warrior. – DP

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