Jeong Ji-yeong’s adaptation of Ahn Jung-hyo’s Vietnam War novel is the third in the KCCUK’s Korean Novels on Screen season of screenings. Director Jeong came to London back in 2010 to talk about this movie. LKL’s write-up can be found here.
White Badge (하얀전쟁)
Director: Chung Ji-young (1992, 124 mins)
Cast: Ahn Sung-ki, Lee Gyoung-young, Shim Hye-jin, Doko Young-jae
KCCUK, 26 Apr 2018 7:00 pm | Reserve your seat here
Writer Han Ki-jo exists in a kind of daze, floating between his cramped apartment, his editor’s office and into and out of the lives of his various friends and acquaintances. A Vietnam veteran, Han earns money by publishing articles on his experiences while carrying the ambition to someday write a novel on the subject, if he can ever bring himself to put the traumatic tale down on the page. When an old comrade from his Vietnam war days comes back into his life, Han is forced to recount the terrible war-time experiences that have left the lives of both men in ruins.
With a career stretching back to the 1950s, Ahn Sung-ki is considered one of Korea’s finest actors; he carries the film here as Han, while ably supported by a standout turn from, with over 100 films under his belt, fellow acting veteran Lee Kyeong-yeong as the damaged Pyon.
