Join the KCCUK for a special screening of To the Last Day (1960), accompanied by a pre-screening lecture by Dr Hyunseon Lee (PhD, Habil.), Professorial Research Associate at SOAS, University of London, celebrating the publication of her books Korean Film and Festivals (2022) and Korean Film and History (2023).
Shin Sang-ok’s masterful portrayal of a family coping with the realities of the Korean War won the Special Jury Prize at the 1962 Berlin International Film Festival.
Captain Kim is grievously wounded in the first days of the war. When the northern troops continue their advance, his wife and small daughters flee south to Daegu, dragging him along in a sledge. His wife struggles to keep herself and their surviving daughter alive. Working as a market trader, she meets a kind young man — who happens to be tall, dark and handsome.
This is the most difficult film Shin Sang-ok tackled in his long and varied career. Questions of wounded veterans – in this case, one who will certainly father no more children — the fate of refugees, and the hardships of war widows are presented in melodramatic fashion. That doesn’t really seem to blunt the realism and shock of what the characters endure.