What the "T'ae-ils' have achieved

A Single Spark directed by Park Kwang-su shows the ‘life and death of labor union martyr Chon T’ae-il’ during the period of intense industrialization in South Korea (107, Kim).

When reading about development, it is hard to miss the story about the Asian Tigers. South Korea, being one of them, is well known to have achieved economic development at a short period of time. So South Korea’s “success” story can be heard quite frequently. However, the side effects brought on by rapid development is not addressed most of the time.

Throughout the film, the director presents the harsh working conditions for the laborers. They are stuck in small rooms/attics, with no ventilator, and given shots (using the same needle by a non-medical professional) in order to stay up for days to meet their quota. If it weren’t for the laborers, South Korea would not have been able to be in the position it is today.

T’ae-il’s resort to an extreme measure of fighting for laborers’ rights allowed me to understand how difficult it must have been to change the system. After all, he tried many different ways (gathering with other laborers, going to the Ministry of Labor, realizing press, etc.)

Compared to the chronological films shown during the screening, Park uses a technique where the temporality of the film shifts from T’ae-il’s time to Yong-su’s time. The director’s choice in distinguishing the color of the movie (black vs. colour) enables the audience to switch back and forth freely, as the movie proceeds. It was see the scenes where it suddenly changes colour, which allowed me to compare the two different time slots. Although time has passed after T’ae-il’s death, some places (like the work space) didn’t seem to have changed a lot, which again showed that making a difference (getting laborers’ rights) cannot be easily done.

However, the scene where T'ae-il lights a fire on the book (about Labor Law) and himself changes from black & white to colour. Maybe it was Park's intention to make the scene seem as 'present', rather than 'past' to try to put the audience at that time to show how desparate T'ae-il was.

At the end of the movie, a young man picking up Young-su’s book is shown. The way the camera films the back of the young man arouses one’s curiosity. Once the man turns, T’ae-il’s face is shown. Perhaps it signifies another T’ae-il who will fight for the rights of laborers, just as T’ae-il and Yong-su? And thanks to those many T’ae-ils, working conditions and rights for laborers have improved significantly today.