Forever with You (Geudaewa yeongwonhi )

Program section: | South Korean Noir |
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Directed by: | Yu Hyun-mok |
Year: | 1958 |
Country: | South Korea |
Length: | 109 min. |
Cast: | Kum-Bong Do, Yong Lee, Nam-hyeon Choi, Bong Choi, and others |
Screening:
- 29. 8. 2025 | 10:15 - Cinema Café of the U.S. Embassy (CZ+EN sub)
One of the oldest preserved films of director Yu Hyun-mok, a key personality of Korean cinema of the 1960s. His work was often intellectually nuanced and based on a playful use of film style. Forever with You opens a tense story of a man whose circumstances bring into juvenile detention, then to prison for a theft of American supplies. His only source of optimism is a memory of femme fatale Ae-ran. The film openly reflects on social inequalities in post-war South Korea and simultaneously works with the poetics of classic noir. While primarily a melodrama, Yu inventively works with shadows framing the faces of characters, emphasizing their emotions and creating a visually stunning imagery. The sophisticated staging of movement in certain moments is reminiscent of dance numbers, expertly leading the viewer’s attention through the space. Forever with You thus presents a fascinating connection of refined stylistics and deep social commentary. (Dan Krátký)