Kwon-Taek-I'm, the talented Korean director, gives us a gorgeous film in "Chunhyang". Korean cinema rely heavily in presenting well crafted movies that rely heavily in their rich folklore. As witnessed here, this film will delight fans of Mr. I'm, as well as give the viewer an appetite to discover other films from that country that are not only beautiful to watch, but also gives us films that are original, not following well established patterns, as it's the case with most of the commercial cinema these days."Chunhyang" offers us a folk story in the traditional Korean style in which a singer is accompanied by a an instrument similar to our guitar and we learn about it as it enfolds mesmerized by the images one witnesses on the screen.We saw "Chungyang" in its original release and caught with it again with it in DVD format recently. This movie is highly recommended to those looking for a different kind of story told magnificently by Kwon-Taek-I'm.

This is a beautiful and sad movie, but the pansori singer, who is kind of like a Korean Homer, and who narrates the plot like a voice in the background, sings in this most unreal and grating style. His guttural voice soars high, then low, and ends on what can only be described as shrieks, even screams. It is unnerving. I had to listen with the sound muted! The one place where it is quite touching is where the pansori narrates the 10 blows on Chunhyang as she is beaten in the chair. The audience is weeping and moaning and moving around. It was quite touching. But the scenery, costumes, and actors are all quite beautiful.

I found Chunhyang to be a beautiful Cinderella-like folktale. The story is very simple and universal. But I found myself suspending any skepticism and was completely caught up in the all the emotions the film took me through. The direction, acting, and cinematography was lush and beautiful. My response to the Pansori sequences was different than some reviewers who found it annoying. Granted, I wouldn't sit at home listening to Pansori opera on my stereo. But I found it to be a window into another culture that I've never been exposed to before. It was interesting to see the Korean audience also caught up in the emotion of the story as the Pansori told the tale. And the Pansori was also used effectively to reduce any graphic violence in the film during the violent beating of the heroine by the evil governor. I thought the concept of going up and back between the story and the Pansori telling the story was unique and brilliant. I'm surprised the film received an R rating. Any sexuality in the film was done very tastefully. I think it should have received a PG rating.

This movie had many beautiful qualities. The story is as old as time; it is the romantic and beautiful study of lovers separated by class. I would say this is closer to Cinderella than Romeo & Juliet. The movie is full of beautiful pictures, and it is visually very impressive. This story is taking place in Korea, so even though the story is not new, the characters, the behaviors, the setting, the environment, the physical tools they use, the daily habits of the characters are so different that you don't feel like you are watching a classic. However, the "Pandori" style was a challenge of endurance. Open mindedness has nothing to do with this, I cannot imagine anyone hearing the voice of that Pandori singer for the first time enjoying it. I wouldn't call this "music" because it mainly consisted of howling. It was interesting to pay attention to the words of this so-called song, because it was describing the movie act by act, and the emotions of the characters. However, the sound was unbearable. I wished I had ear plugs with me, I believe it would have increased my enjoyment of the movie quite a bit. I knew what it would be like when I walked into this movie, but nothing could have prepared me to the 2 hour howling that would come. So my emotions during the movie consisted of pain, agony and a desire to walk out during the singing, and mesmerized watching in the rare moments the singing stopped.