Strokes of Fire (Chihwaseon)
2002
South Korea
Director: Kwon-taek Im
19th century. Korea struggles to retain its identity in the shadow of
it's imperially minded neighbors Japan and China. And in between,
Ohwon emerges. An artist whose personal obsessions can feed the
self-image of an entire nation.
It's a conventional story of a self-destructive genius, whose fame
grows as his country falls apart, but Ohwon gets to express the
strength and uniqueness of the Korean culture. He goes through a lot
of journeys fighting to develop his great talent and create his art,
which is restricted by the government for not following the painting
tradition, and questioning if recreating masterpieces deserves
artistic merit.
But Ohwon is a very passionate man, who feels only two things inspire
him: "How can I paint without an erection?" "If you want to paint,
first learn how to drink!" But we find out that even if he is sober,
alone or surrounded by important people, he has a gift, but he feels
he can only get the fire of creativity out by drink, erections and
desire.
The director and Ohwon form a communion between art and nature, that
lets the viewer find many worlds: the outside one, the paintings one,
and the world seen from the eyes of Ohwon. "Not a single stroke is
wasted." And not a single shot is either, the cinematography is
astounding!
It's definitely worth seeing it more than once, so if you have the
chance, don't hesitate and enjoy!
By Nagiko.
Chihwaseon Homepage.
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