With a Girl of Black Soil

Colour, 35 mm
South Korea, France, 2007, 90 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Everyone in this South Korean mining town has to make their living nose to the grindstone, or otherwise get the right diagnosis from a doctor to get a better flat and the medical bills paid. A father of two is caught right in between these options. While unable to earn his living as a miner anymore due to black lung, he does not have sufficient medical complications to be able to claim retirement. Various aspects of life in the impoverished region veiled in wintry gloom are shown through episodes that pivot on the miner’s two children: a little girl and her older, retarded brother. The impressive cinematography puts emphasis on closely associating the characters with their environment and thereby creates captivating images of a woeful existence in a forlorn land. In a condemnation of an absurd social policy, the film gives a view of a critical family situation where a little girl takes up responsibility for the fortunes of the family members. The film received two awards at the 2007 IFF in Venice.

About the director

Jeon Soo-il (b. 1959, Sokcho, South Korea) began studying film at the University of Kyungsung in Pusan. He then did a postgraduate degree in film science in Paris (ESRA, Université Paris 7). In addition to directing feature films he also works as a professor at his home department of theatre and film at the University of Kyungsung. He began feature film direction in 1997 with The Wind Echoing in My Being. His next work, The Bird Who Stops in the Air (1999) was included in the section New Korean Cinema at Karlovy Vary in 2001. He has made five feature films through his own independent production company, Dongnyuk Film.