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Chunhyang, original Korean title as Chunhyangdyun, is a Korean Pansori film directed by Im Kwon-taek, with a screenplay by Kang Hye-yeon and Kim Myeong-gyoon, produced by Kim Dong-joo, and distributed by CJ Entertainment. The film was released on January 29,2000 in South Korea. Jo Seung-woo, a Korean actor, played a lead role as Mongryong and Lee Hyo-jeong, a Korean actress, was cast as Chunhyang. Supporting actors included Hak-young Kim, Sung-nyu Kim, Jung-hun Lee.

"To date, there have been more than sixteen works based on this narrative, including three North Korean films … Im Kwon-Taek's Chunhyang (Chunhyangdyon, 2000) presents a new interpretation of this oral tradition but it is created for a more global audience." It is the first Chunhyang movie that lyric of Pansori become a scenario. Therefore, the contents of the Pansori reappear as the scene in the movie. The film uses the framing device of a present-day narrator who, accompanied by a drummer, sings the story of Chunhyang in front of a responsive audience. The film flashes back and forth between the singer's presentation and scenes of Mongryong.

It was entered into the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. The film is the first Korean film which was presented in 2000 Telluride Film Festival. In 2000 Asia Pacific Film Festival, it awarded a Special Jury Award. It won an award for Best Narrative at the Hawaii International Film Festival in 2000.

Plot
The film is told through pansori, a traditional Korean form of storytelling that seeks to narrate through song. It is based on Chunhyangga, a traditional Korean legend and is set in 18th century Korea.

Lee Mongryong, a governor's son, falls in love and marries a beautiful girl Chunhyang Sung, the daughter of a courtesan. Their marriage is kept a secret from the governor who would immediately disown Lee if he found that his son married beneath him. The governor gets posted to Seoul and Mongryong is forced to leave his young wife behind, promising to come back for her when he passes the official exam.

After Mongryong leaves Namwon where Mongryong and Chunhyang first meets, new governor, Byun Hakdo, comes and wants Chunhyang for himself. When she refuses, stating that she already has a husband and will forever remain faithful to her belove, the governor punishes her by flogging. Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Lee passes the test with the highest score and becomes an officer. Three years have passed and Lee Mongryong returns to the town on the King's mission. There, he finds out that his wife is to be beaten to death on the governor's birthday as a punishment for disobeying his lust. The governor, very corrupted and greedy, is arrested by Mongryong. The two lovers are finally united.

Cast
Lee Hyo Jeong - Chunhyang

Jo Seung-woo - Mongryong

Kim Sung Nyu - Wolmae

Lee Jung-Hun - Governor Byun

Kim Hak Yong - Pangja

Choi Jin Young - Governor Lee

Hong Kyung Yeun - Kisaeng Leader

Cho Sang Hyun - Pansori Singer

Kim Myung Hwan - Pansori Drummer

Lee Hae Ryong - Lord of Soonchun

Gok Jun Hwam - Lord of Okgwa

Yoon Keun Mo - Lord of Goksung

Lee Hye-eun - Hyangdan

Critical Reception
Reviewed by Harvey Karten,""Chunhyang," Korea's most lavish film ever, looks terrific. Costumes, art direction, and shots of the landscape are magnificent. Im Kwon Taek's direction is on target not only in the portrayal of 18th Century Korea with its courtesans, bureaucrats, and governors with unlimited power, but in his vignettes of the lovers as they coyly take part in marriage- night antics, later to become madly in love with each other as they playfully roll in the hay."

Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times, "Instead the story is freshened through the use of a Korean singing storyteller, a pansori singer, to provide a narration, belting out the song from a stage in front of an audience. The pansori, or song, is performed under a proscenium arch to highlight the ritual elements of folk tales. Even though much of what the pansori tells us unfolds before the cameras at the same moment, the forcefulness of the performance lends another layer of feeling to the picture."

Awards & Nominations
2000 Telluride Film Festival —Film Presented

2000 Asia Pacific Film Festival —Special Jury Award

2000 Cannes Film Festival —Palm D’Or Nominee

2000 Hawaii International Film Festival —Best Feature Film

2000 Pusan International Film Festival—Netpac Award

2001 Singapore International Film Festival—Best Asian Director