Ieoh Island (1977)

The Story

"It's amazing. Not only to discover a true artist of film named Ki-young, but also to discover totally unpredictable art through his works." – Jean-Michel Frodon, Cahiers du cinema

The rapid industrialization of South Korea in the 1970s forms a backdrop for this genre-bending tale of a businessman accused and acquitted of murdering a man from Ieoh Island. Intent on developing a tourist resort but also uncovering the truth behind the murder, he has a life-changing encounter: a ruling matriarchal society of female divers who live “according to the old traditions”. Regarded as a giant in Korean cinema, Kim Ki-young delighted in transgressing the expectations of critics and audiences with his intense psychosexual melodramatic horror films.

“Ancient mythology collides with environmental degradation…a female society must reconcile the masculine destruction…with their increasingly desperate need for any man to provide the precious sperm to keep the population going and ward off evil spirits.” — Patrick Dahl

“Kim focuses on portraying the clash between the modern and the traditional, the money-driven capitalism and the superstition-filled folklore.” — Panos Kotzathanasis

The 7:30pm screening on Sunday 30 April will be introduced by Dr Russell Edwards, a university tutor in film studies at Monash University, film critic and a contributor to the forthcoming publication The Films of Kim Ki-young (2023).

Presented with the support of the Australia-Korea Foundation.

Rating

Unclass15

Duration

110 min

Cast

Kim Jeong-cheol, Lee Eun-shim, Kwon Mi-hye

Director

Kim Ki-young