Blu-ray Collection
A Hometown in Heart(1949)
A Hometown in Heart is the 30th Blu-ray title planned by the Korean Film Archive and produced by Blue Kino. The film was one of the few films made in the late 1940s and has been mentioned as a representative film in the history of Korean cinema, praised as a work of aesthetic achievement that transcends the times. It was included in the ‘Korean Film Archive’s Top 100 Korean Films’ in 2013.
Until the early 1950s following Korea’s liberation from Japan on August 15th, 1948, the Korean film industry had a difficult time, as the industrial foundation from the Japanese colonial period had been destroyed and most films were made on 16mm celluloid, or even as silent films without proper equipment. Korean films during this period could not even keep up with the cinematic achievements of the late Japanese colonial period. An exception to the limitations of the times was A Hometown in Heart. The film contrasts Do-seong’s longing for his mother and his wounded inner self as a boy who was abandoned at a mountain temple by his mother when he was an infant and does all kinds of chores and training under a strict head priest, with the solitary image of the mountain temple. The beautiful images and deliberate editing created by the contrast leave us unable to take our eyes off the screen, despite the relatively uneventful narrative. It is no surprise that this film was well-received as “a masterpiece that set a new record as the highest peak of Korean film after the liberation”.
The director of the film, Yun Yong-gyu, was born in 1913 and worked as an assistant director in the Japanese film industry for several years after moving to Japan in the mid-to-late 1930s. His debut film was considered such a major achievement thanks to his time as an apprentice. In fact, Yun Yong-gyu received little publicity in Korea, because he directed only one film in South Korea, A Hometown in Heart, before defecting to North Korea during the Korean War, becoming a representative director of early North Korean films. It is no wonder that Yun Yong-gyu’s name had never been properly known in Korea, which went through a long Cold War, when the introduction of the career or works of artists who defected to North Korea were almost forbidden.
On this Blu-ray, film critic and director, Jung Sung-il provides the commentary. His extensive knowledge of Korean cinema history and his original interpretation of the film provide a fascinating addition that allows the viewer to see the film from a completely new perspective. The introduction of the director and a review of the film by Korean cinema researcher and Head of Research and Curation at the Korean Film Archive, Chung Chonghwa, will help the viewers gain a broader understanding of the film and director Yun Yong-gyu. The images on the Blu-ray were sourced from the restored version in 4K resolution, which was completed by the archive in 2022. The outstanding beauty of these images, which were reborn through restoration, provide an opportunity for us to feel the universal beauty of film art 70 years after it was first created. A photo story complied with stills of the film is included in the Blu-ray booklet.
Until the early 1950s following Korea’s liberation from Japan on August 15th, 1948, the Korean film industry had a difficult time, as the industrial foundation from the Japanese colonial period had been destroyed and most films were made on 16mm celluloid, or even as silent films without proper equipment. Korean films during this period could not even keep up with the cinematic achievements of the late Japanese colonial period. An exception to the limitations of the times was A Hometown in Heart. The film contrasts Do-seong’s longing for his mother and his wounded inner self as a boy who was abandoned at a mountain temple by his mother when he was an infant and does all kinds of chores and training under a strict head priest, with the solitary image of the mountain temple. The beautiful images and deliberate editing created by the contrast leave us unable to take our eyes off the screen, despite the relatively uneventful narrative. It is no surprise that this film was well-received as “a masterpiece that set a new record as the highest peak of Korean film after the liberation”.
The director of the film, Yun Yong-gyu, was born in 1913 and worked as an assistant director in the Japanese film industry for several years after moving to Japan in the mid-to-late 1930s. His debut film was considered such a major achievement thanks to his time as an apprentice. In fact, Yun Yong-gyu received little publicity in Korea, because he directed only one film in South Korea, A Hometown in Heart, before defecting to North Korea during the Korean War, becoming a representative director of early North Korean films. It is no wonder that Yun Yong-gyu’s name had never been properly known in Korea, which went through a long Cold War, when the introduction of the career or works of artists who defected to North Korea were almost forbidden.
On this Blu-ray, film critic and director, Jung Sung-il provides the commentary. His extensive knowledge of Korean cinema history and his original interpretation of the film provide a fascinating addition that allows the viewer to see the film from a completely new perspective. The introduction of the director and a review of the film by Korean cinema researcher and Head of Research and Curation at the Korean Film Archive, Chung Chonghwa, will help the viewers gain a broader understanding of the film and director Yun Yong-gyu. The images on the Blu-ray were sourced from the restored version in 4K resolution, which was completed by the archive in 2022. The outstanding beauty of these images, which were reborn through restoration, provide an opportunity for us to feel the universal beauty of film art 70 years after it was first created. A photo story complied with stills of the film is included in the Blu-ray booklet.
Subtitles: Korean, English, and Japanese
Screen: 1080P FULL HD 16:9
Audio: Korean LPCM Mono
Special Features
- Commentary by Chung Chung Sung-ill(Film Critic & Director)
- Digital Restoration : Before & After
- Image Gallery
Booklet
- Director Yun Yong-gyu, Who Has Left Only One Film As a Masterpiece in the History of Korean Cinema, Chung Chonghwa (Head of Research & Curation, Korean Film Archive)
- A Masterpiece with Beautiful Mise-en-scéne during Korea’s Liberation from Japan, A Hometown in Heart, Chung Chonghwa