‘MANSHIN’, FILM REVIEW. UK PREMIERE. 9TH LONDON KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL 2014.

by Adnan Kundi
November 12, 2014
in FILM FESTIVALS IN LONDON, FILM REVIEWS, KOREA, LONDON KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL
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Shown in the K-Spotlight section of the 9^th London Korean Film Festival 2014, and having its UK Premiere in London, Manshin tells about the Shaman who have become less popular in South Korea with the passage of time due to the overshadowing of modernity along with the spread of Christianity.

Kim Keum-hwa

Manshin Directed by Park Chan-kyong the brother of Director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) comes an autobiographical documentary of Kim Keum-hwa who is mocked and shunned because of being possessed by spirits in her young age, and with time is oppressed because of her superstitious beliefs as a Shaman but in the end emerges as a National Treasure of Korea.

The re-enactments were done with the actors Moon So-ri, Kim Sae-ron and Ryu Hyun-kyung. The re-enactments take us back in the time when Kim Keum-hwa was first born. Even at her birth she is ignored with only her mother’s love beside her. Later as a young girl she is shown to look at the world in a different way, and look at such things which no one else is able to see. Thus she is thought of being possessed and is shunned from the little society where she belongs. From here her life takes a turn and she becomes a Shaman. Further re-enactments show her being in between the turning point of the history of Korea with the Japanese colonial period and then the Korean War which broke Korea in to North and South. Other than the re-enactments, rare archive footages were also added into the film.

Kim Sae-ron

Although Kim Keum-hwa went through a very hard time, she would entertain herself through the rituals she would do while practicing Shaman. She would sing and act and play music. She would joke around and at the same time continue on with the Shamanic rituals. By doing all this she gained an audience for herself and slowly gained followers.

Moon So-ri

Director Park Chan-kyong says that he approached Kim Keum-hwa and asked her if she would allow him to make a film on her. She was very generous and agreed to it. When the filming finished, she said to the director that she thought that he was like all the others who had come before him to make a film on her, but abandoned their projects in between.

Ryoo Hyoun-kyoung

Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits, is a visually compelling style of storytelling, and the fascination put into it brings it more into life. Through this documentary, Director Park Chan-kyung has successfully introduced Shamanism to the world.