Story Within a Song

I saw the three people in the family portrayed as a whole nation. Yu Bong reminded me of former president Park Chung Hee, who tried so desperately to make Korea's identity different from the Western world. Yu Bong's attempt to make Song Hwa bring out the best sound portrays the obsession Park Chung hee also had, the cultural distinction and national identity Park chased. The disappearing and 'going out of style' pansori also depicts how Korean traditions never really got around in building the nation's new identity after the Korean war. This small family is an allegory of the nation trying to shape an identity during post-Korean war period.

As suggested in Julian Stringer's paper, Sopyonje and the Inner Domain of National Culture, the transition from diegetic sound and the non-diegetic sound during the reunion of Dong Ho and Song Hwa could be ambiguous to some audience. It is confusing to why we did not actually get to hear the climax where we clearly see a connection between Dong Ho and Song Hwa. However, I believe that the han that has been accumulated over the years is just too overwhelming and indescribable by words, songs, or even pansori. But it is obvious that Song Hwa finally overcomes her grief and now the 'mystery' in her sound is gone. At the same time, i think, she finally fully understand Yu Bong, why he blinded her on purpose, his love towards pansori, and what he meant by overcoming sorrow and han in order to have the perfect sound. What is han? What about han is it that makes it so touching to Koreans? Director Im suggested that han is not an 'unified entity' then why was Sopyonje such a hit? Even though today's Korean generation have not lived through the hardships in the past, they are still greatly influenced by the stories they grow up with and the mindset of the nation.

Throughout the film, there are two stories told within a story. SimChungJeon and ChunHyangJeon. Both are Korean's traditional fairytales or myths that have been told down the generation. I think it is safe to say that majority of Koreans are aware of these tragic stories. ChunHyangJeon is about a woman who was loyal to a man but he leaves her to pursue his career. ChunHyang, no matter how much she is suffering and the high governor woos her, she continues to wait for him. While this story deals with love fidelity, SimChungJeon deals with filial piety. Long story short, SimChung sacrifices herself for her blind father to open his eyes. It is ironic how in the film the father blinds the daughter, not the other way around. Director Im did a fantastic job suggesting different meanings of messages through narrating the story indirectly using pansori.

I believe this melodramatic film definitely deserved the awards it earned in different film festivals. Even though pansori is not the only part of Korea's tradition or the nation's identity, it is still worth it to make the world aware of our traditions.