What does “A Single Spark” refer to in the movie?

     A movie “A Single Spark” illustrates the period of newly-industrialized South Korea in 1970s and also captures the struggles of the labor activist movement in Korea (Kim 107). 

     In “A Single Spark”, it is only Tae-il’s father who speaks to Tae-il about the labour law (Kim 115). He mentions “all of those bastards who violate the labour standard laws should be arrested” in a very short 10 second conversation. “The father’s endorsement of Tae-il’s political commitment encourages Tae-il to study labour lawas later on and to protest company policy on legal grounds” (Kim 115).

     In this ordinary scene, Tae-il’s mother brings in the meal in the living room for the whole family. There are two daughters and two sons sitting down with the father and mother. Tae-il speaks to his mother about the girl at the factory who is about his sister’s age. This girl was fired at the factory because she was coughing up blood. The father jumps in the conversation and talks about cruelty of the factory owners and the existent of labour law. The mise-en-scene of this scene tells the viewer the characteristics of the Tae-il’s family. Tae-il is raised under the warm-hearted mother and the father with a proper attitude. “His family’s support and love form the foundation for Tae-il’s dedication and strength so that he can adopt the role of leader” (Kim 115).  

     At first, the camera shoots the whole family having a meal then as the father talks about the labour law, it zooms in to Tae-il face. The bird’s chirping sound is accompanied by this close-up. This bird sound reminded me of the song of birds that ushers in the dawn. This sound represented Tae-il’s “enlightenment” of labour law. The father’s face is never shown throughout this scene. Personally, I do not understand why the father is facing the opposite side of the camera. I think he is a very important character to Tae-il since that the father is the one who triggered Tae-il to be a “labour organizer”.

     I wonder why the director made this scene very short when this scene seems like “a single spark”. This is the moment when Tae-il starts to research about the law and spreads the words to other labourers. It is this single spark which started the uncontrollable fire.

Works Cited: Kim Kyung Hyun. The Remasculinazation of Korea Cinema, Durham: Duke UP, 2004.