Spring in My Hometown

"Upon its release in 1998, Lee Kwang-mo's debut feature, Spring in My Hometown (Arŭmdaun sijŏl, South Korea) was greeted by festival audiences and domestic and international critics as the renaissance of South Korean cinema. The film examines the impact of the 1950-1953 Korean War on Lee's grandfather and father. The narrative unfolds in an episodic fashion, consisting of 130 single-shot scenes filmed with a fixed camera in a wide-angle lens, with each sequence prefaced by explanatory intertitles. The film's sensitive treatment of conflict and its distinctive style established Spring in My Hometown as a firm festival favorite, winning Lee a Gold Award for Best New Director at the 11th Tokyo International Film Festival. This book examines Lee's only full-length feature film Spring in My Hometown. It analyzes the fin-de-siècle industrial context in which Lee attempted to bring his film into production, the cinematic cycle from which Spring in My Hometown emerged, the unique style that captivated festival juries and audiences, and the critical reception of a movie that challenged and inspired critics but ultimately divided audiences. The book is both an argument for why the film deserves reevaluation a quarter of a century after its release and an analysis of the style and narrative of a film that caused a minor sensation among critics upon its release. It offers a rare and historical insight into an important Asian cinematic industry on the verge of commercial transformation"--