The Yu Hyun-mok Page

Selected Filmography

Mommy, Star, and Sea Anemone (1995)
Son of Man (1980)
Rainy Days (1979)
The Gate (1977)
Flame (1975)
Bun-Rye's Story (1971)
I Would Like to Become a Human (1969)
School Excursion (1969)
Arirang (1968)
Descendent of Cain (1968)
Three Henpeck Generations (1967)
Guests Who Came by the Last Train (1967)
Martyr (1965)
Daughters of Pharmacist Kim (1963)
Obaltan ("The Aimless Bullet") (1961)
Even the Clouds Are Drifting (1959)
The Lost Youth (1957)
The Crossroad (1956)

(Link to complete filmography coming soon)

     Yu Hyun-mok was born on July 2, 1925 in Hwanghae Province, in what is now North Korea. He moved to Seoul in 1939, and after entering Dongduk University as a Korean Language major, he decided to become a playwright after seeing the plays of Yu Chi-jin and Lee Hae-rang. His first experience in the film industry was as an assistant director for Cho Jung-ho in 1946. The following year he directed and starred in a 45-minute film called Sea Dragon, and instituted a "Film Art Organization" which was the first film group in a major Korean university. In 1949 he graduated from university and assisted on Shin Sang-ok's debut feature Evil Night.

     Yu made his directorial debut with The Crossroad in 1956. Two years later, in 1958, he would marry visual artist Park Keun-ja, whom he has credited with having a strong impression on his work. Yu's most famous film Obaltan was shot in 1960 and screened the following year. It was invited to the 7th San Francisco Film Festival in 1963, and Yu attended the event together with actor Kim Jin-gyu.

     Yu continued making a considerable number of films throughout the 1960s (though not near the number of some of his contemporaries), while also teaching at Dongguk University from 1963. His first film as an independent producer was Martyr (1965), which also became the first Korean film ever to be exported to the U.S. That same year, Yu was arrested for violation of the Anti-Communist Law, but was later pronounced innocent. In 1967, Yu participated in Korea's first omnibus film, titled A Regret. In 1971 he established his own production company, Yu Productions.

     Apart from his filmmaking, Yu remained active in the film community in a number of different roles. He formed the Korea Amateur Filmmakers Association in 1970, was elected chairman of the Korean Directors' Association in 1974, was elected as vice president of the Motion Pictures Association of Korea in 1975, and was appointed a full professor at Dongguk University in 1976. In 1977 he was elected director of the Korean Film Archive, and then he organized the East-West Film Group in 1979. He was elected chairman of the Film Art Society of Korea in 1989, and then became Dean of the Department of Arts at Dongguk University. The following year he officially retired at the age of 65, but continued to teach as an honorary professor.

     Yu also published several books: The Development of Korean Cinema in 1980, Theory of International Film Directors in 1984, and he also wrote the cinema portion of the book History of Korean Theatre, Dance, and Cinema in 1984. Later he would write Critical Essays on Film Studies in 1990 and My Life: Yu Hyun-mok in 1995.

     Yu directed his last film, Mommy, Star, and Sea Anemone in 1995. His work has been the subject of several retrospectives in the 1990s, including at the Korean Film Archive in 1990, in Aix-en-Provence, France in 1999, and at the 4th Pusan International Film Festival in 1999. In addition, his works were presented along with that of Shin Sang-ok and Im Kwon-taek in a special film series "Three Master Korean Filmmakers" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1996.