Masterful Movie

Expected more

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Painted Fire,also known as Strokes of Fire or Drunk on Women and Poetry, is a South Korean drama film directed by Im Kwon-taek.It stars Choi Min- sik,Ahn Sung-ki,Yu Ho-jeong,Kim Yeo- jin, and Son Ye-jin.It tells a story of Jang Seung-up, a nineteenth- century Korean painter who changed the direction of Korean art.Painted Fire has its story set during the 1850s. Kim Byung-moon saves young Seung-up from being beaten by a group of drifters. Seung-up draws him a picture to explain the reason of being beaten. Kim looks carefully at Seung-up's rough yet extraordinary talent and years later, Kim encourages Seung-up to pursue the life of a true artist and gives him a pen name, Oh-won. Seung-up meets Mae-hyang, a daughter of a declined Yangban or nobility who attracts him deeply. But, they part when she runs away from persecution of the catholic. Seung-up leaves and wanders about in pursuit of the truth of art. Nobody can hold on to him. Only through pleasure can he eagerly stroke his paintbrush. He confirms the power of his brush stroke through his painting of a monkey with a liquor bottle in hand while mocking the world. As fame builds up, he yearns to change and stretch beyond his limits. Then one day, he experiences all his body's energy flowing into the paintbrush. Seung-up, in a misshaped bowl, discovers the state he has strive to attain and turns his back to the world and fades away.Painted Fire is one excellent and outstanding movie.It had brilliant performances from its cast especially Choi Min-sik.The story was absorbing from beginning to end. The direction was phenomenal as we get into the persona of Jang Seung-up,his story and his art.In summary,it is one great Asian cinema experience.

inspite of many movies dealing with great artists or a genius, chihaweseon pointed out the real dilemma in which an artist is capted...the decision whether to ease the demands of the popularity or to create something new and to define ones' own style.Chiahweson's desperate seek for inspiration and broadening his conscious led him to live the way he did, restless, outrageous, and yes very drunk! But still he defended and retained the most important ethical rules for an artist: respect to his Master, respect to the nature and the gradual seek for improvement and to perfection.

The fire gives all... This is one of film's most masterful meditations on artistry. Set in 19th century Korea it tells the story of the famous painter Ohwon, but rather than stick to saucy anecdote, melodrama, or psychological egg hunting, it portrays a series of episodes throughout his life, all of which are beautiful works of art in themselves. It gives no interpretation of these episodes, but leaves them for the viewer to ponder along with the paintings of Ohwon himself. In this way, the viewer enters into the same sort of contemplation as Ohwon, and minus his talent can "feel" their way into the inspiration of his paintings. Part of why this is so effective is the utterly masterful evocation of 19th century Korea and the musical/artistic world that Ohwon moved in. There are so many gorgeous shots of the world outside the paintings that we get a mirror effect where we see the beautiful world inspiring Ohwon, Ohwon living and looking in that world, and the works of art he creates, all mirroring off one another. The story is told with extreme economy. A feeling evoked is hardly ever lingered with or explained, it just appears quickly then is gone for the next one to appear. As an analogy it is a sort of Mozartian work of art (endless and quick succession of great ideas) rather than Beethovinian (Obsessive lingering on one great idea). It has a classical restraint, much like Ohwon's paintings. There is really no music hinting how to feel except a few classical Korean pieces used with great effectiveness in several scenes (and mostly played by characters in the movie). One haunting image, if I remember correctly, is of a flock of birds soaring away over the blue mountains while a female singer croons"This life is like a dream, and only death will awaken us" One telling line of advice in the film, from one of Ohwon's teachers, is that "the painting lies between the strokes." The film follows that attitude as there is so much matter *between* what is spoken and described in the film. I have seen it twice and it was very rewarding on the second viewing. A very terse film, with little in the way of obvert explanation, one could see how it is Im's 96th film. It is an artistic masterwork. Like Ohwon's great friend and mentor tells him in describing one of his paintings, "Not a single stroke is wasted." I compare it to Andrei Rubylev in quality, though in style it is very different. It is much easier and more directly entertaining to watch, but classical in form where Andrei is gothic. All in all highly recommended to almost anyone except appetite junkies. Both times I left the film I felt a wonderful spiritual renewal. One point of Ohwon's life that intruiged me was that his mad drinking and raving began suddenly after visiting the noble who told him that "Good art can come only from great knowledge and learning." The next brief scene Ohwon was very angry, and the next blasted drunk as he often remained for the remainder of the film. I am curious why the nobles words effected him so much and drove him to the drinking that dominated the rest of his life. Or was it just a coincidence?

That's right. Ohwon (the painter and the main character) is an exceptional person. What strikes me most is the message this film might address to all of you people there. And the message is sad. It says that, it's very difficult to do anything that's amazing or maybe even genius without having to obey the governments, establishment and other VIPs of this world. And even if you try, you might not be able to bear it. It is about the battle of a single person with a system. With many systems.A great film of this wonderful Korean director. Please see it if you do have an opportunity.