 |
| Lee So-yeon as Park Nam-ok in a scene from "Apres-Girl," a performance about Korea's first female film director / Courtesy of National Theater of Korea |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
From past to present, many of the world's greatest film directors started as cinephiles and Park Nam-ok (1923-2017), Korea's first female film director, is no exception. Having maintained a strong interest in film from a young age, she quit Ewha Women's Professional School to write film reviews for a newspaper and worked as a scripter and assistant editor at a film company after the 1950-53 Korean War. Park was one of the few who blazed a trail for women in Korea's movie industry.
"Apres-Girl," a joint production of three troupes under the National Theater Company of Korea (NTCOK), brought to the stage last week the tale of the woman who famously directed a film with a baby on her back. The National Changgeuk Company of Korea, the National Dance Company of Korea and the National Orchestra of Korea all joined hands for the first time in nine years after "Kim Hong-do" in 2011.
The production, which was scheduled to run about a month from December, was cut down to less than a week from Jan. 20 to 24 due to the theater's temporary closure as the nation's COVID-19 infections spiked at the end of last year.
Despite the shortened run, the show portrayed the bumpy yet passionate life of a film lover who created her own movie amid difficulties.
The term "apres-girl," newly coined after the Korean War, refers to the independent women that emerged after the war. The term comes from the French word apres-guerre, meaning post-war period.
The performances juxtaposed Park working on her film "The Widow" and major events in her life.
 |
| A scene from "Apres-Girl," a performance about Korea's first female film director Park Nam-ok / Courtesy of National Theater of Korea |
Soon after giving birth to her child in July 1954, Park started film "The Widow," centering on various female characters living the turbulent post-war era. She had her infant child strapped on her back as she worked, installed the set in her own yard and made meals for the crew members to save on production costs.
The film revolves around war widow Shin, who receives financial help from her late husband's friend to survive. Later, Shin falls in love with a young man Taek and even sends her daughter to relatives to allow her to move in with Taek.
"Apres-Girl" jumps from Park shooting "The Widow" to memories of her past, which allows viewers to gain an insight into Park as a woman who suffered failures but never gave up her enthusiasm for film.
Park was a shot-putter in her high school days, setting the national record three times. Playwright Go Yeon-ok related this sport to Park's life, with the line saying "I can throw anything no matter how heavy it is."
However, it was not easy for Park to pursue her dream in art and film. Her attempt to attend Uneno Art School in Japan, now Tokyo University of Fine Arts, was thwarted by her high school, which only allowed students to apply for Nara Women's School of Education.
At university, the dormitory's housemistress told Park off for wanting to be a film director, instead of the wife of a high-ranking official.
 |
| A scene from "Apres-Girl," a performance about Korea's first female film director Park Nam-ok / Courtesy of National Theater of Korea |
She once attempted to smuggle herself into Japan to study film and art, but the ship became stranded and Park was detained at a camp in Japan before being sent back to Korea. The scene of Park on the smuggler to Japan is described with a chorus emphasizing the nature of "changgeuk," Korean opera featuring pansori, with a surprise appearance of Yun Sim-deok, Korea's first professional soprano who jumped into the Korea Straits in 1926 in Park's imagination.
After many hardships, Park's first-ever film was released the next year, but it was taken down shortly after its release as it failed to attract viewers. Park's husband asked her to divorce. The only thing left for Park was the title of Korea's first female film director and her baby on her back. "The Widow" was Park's first and last film.
Though the film was on screen for only three days, "The Widow" received favorable reviews from critics. "(The film) captured everyday feelings from the angle only a female director would capture," one review of "The Widow" reads.
"Apres-Girl" is directed by Kim Kwang-bo, a veteran director and artistic director of the National Theater Company of Korea. Though Kim has a knack for highlighting actors, it might have been better to have a female director to lead "Apres-Girl," like Park did.
 |
| Park Nam-ok (1923-2017), Korea's first female film director / Courtesy of Lee Gyung-ju |
