ACTA KOR ANA VOL. 14, NO. 1, JUNE 2011: 73–116 ANALYSIS OF CHANGHWA HONGNYŎN (A TALE OF TWO SISTERS)—WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE NARRATIVE AND CHARACTERS By SEO JEONGNAM This study analyzes the story structure of director Kim Chiun’s film Changhwa Hongnyŏn (A Tale of Two Sisters), as well as the characters that arouse, lead, and complete the events that unfold in the story. While eight years have already passed since its release, this film continues to serve not only as the subject of many studies conducted by researchers involved in the field of film studies but also those engaged in the field of literary studies. To this end, this study begins by reviewing the opinion pieces written by film critics, pieces which caused much debate in fan magazines at the time of the film’s release, as well as the great majority of the previous studies that have focused on this film. Many individuals have conducted comparative studies about the direct and indirect relationship between the classic novel Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn and the film Changhwa Hongnyŏn. Such studies have focused on how the film adapted and transformed the classic novel, or how far the film deviated from the original work. However, these issues were not addressed in this study. This is because it is advanced herein that from the very beginning Kim’s decision to entitle his film Changhwa Hongnyŏn was based on a heavily calculated strategy that did not involve any intention to inherit or adapt (translate) any element of the original story in the film. The second issue which came to the forefront during the review of previous studies was the fact that the majority of researchers had a negative assessment of the film narrative’s degree of completion. In this regard, the present study conducted a thorough segmentation-based analysis of the text that saw the temporality and causal relationships found in the story be reorganized in a logical manner. The narrative structure of the film was also delved into in a detailed manner. Next, an analysis of the relationship between the characters and their personalities was undertaken. The dramatic relation- ship that exists between the characters was explained using the summary found in Figure 1. Thereafter, an analysis of the key characters, namely Sumi who serves as the film’s main character, and Muhyŏn (father), who serves as the cause of all the events that unfold therein, was carried out. An analogical examination of the elements which 74 Acta Koreana Vol. 14, No. 1, 2011 caused Sumi’s mental illness was also undertaken. Based on this process, the originality of Sumi’s complex ambivalence and how this ambivalence was expressed are clearly revealed. In the concluding section, the symbolism of the house as the background (space) for this film and its connectivity with the narrative was addressed. While the film does not suggest any alternative measures concerning the tragic situations that have been unlimitedly repeated inside of Sumi’s head, the present study does suggest that Sumi’s physical and mental departure from the house mark the first step towards overcoming her illness. Key words: Korean film Changhwa Hongnyŏn (A Tale of Two Sisters), post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychoanalysis, multiple personalities, ambivalence, Korean classic novel Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn, narrative structure, personage, character, horror film 1. INTRODUCTION Directed by Kim Chiun, the Korean film, Changhwa Hongnyŏn (A Tale of Two Sisters) was released in the summer of 2003, or so-called peak season for horror movies. The film’s ability to draw in 3.5 million viewers helped create the image of new horizons for Korean horror movies. Many film critics and reviewers at the time wrote pieces about this work in fan magazines such as Cine 21. The general public also engaged in many online discussions and debates about this film. Thereafter, a significant number of researchers engaged in not only the cinema field, but also those of classic novels and literary studies produced works that were rooted in comparisons between the film and the original work. The perusal of these previous works proved to be a very interesting undertaking. The fact that the text of a film has produced so many discourses is worthy of an in-depth evaluation in and of itself. The film, Changhwa Hongnyŏn is not directly related to the classic Korean novel Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn (Story of Changhwa Hongnyŏn) in terms of such aspects as its subject matter, plot structure, and story.1 On the contrary, some people, such as Sim Yŏngsŏp have to some extent rightfully argued, “this film in reality exposes a proclivity for Hollywood fare such as The Sixth Sense, The Others, Psycho and Carrie. It also reflects an obvious penchant towards Japanese horror films such as Cure, Audition, and Ring, and also boasts jump cuts from series such as Yŏgo goedam (Memento Mori), as well as images associated with Sorum (Goosebumps).2 1 I will first begin by delving into this assertion in a more in-depth manner in order to establish the clear differences between these two. This constitutes a very important premise of this study. 2 Sim Yŏngsŏp, “Changhwa Hongnyŏn (A Tale of Two Sisters) is more focused on Sumi’s legs than her internal world (Sumi ŭi naemyŏn taesin tari e t΄amnik hanŭn Changhwa Hongnyŏn)”, Cine 21, Issue No. Seo: Analysis of Changhwa Hongnyŏn (A Tale of Two Sisters) 75 The film opens in a mental ward. Clad in hospital garb, Sumi comes in with a nurse as a doctor sits across from her. Although the doctor asks Sumi questions, she does not respond in any way or form. When the doctor shows Sumi a photo of her family and once again asks her about what happened on ‘that day’, Sumi turns her head and can be seen immersed in thought. This scene is reminiscent of the intro to the film Cure (1997) directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. By the mid-part of this film, viewers have already begun to suspect that, much as was the case in the The Sixth Sense (1999) and The Others (2001), one of the family members has ‘already’ died. This proves to be the biggest trick employed by the director in the film. As part of efforts to achieve a great dramatic reversal, the film tries to conceal who it is in fact that has died. Under such circumstances, the conflicts between the sisters Sumi and Suyŏn and their stepmother Ŭnju, and the explosion of their emotions stands out in stark contrast from the coldness (indifference) displayed by their father Muhyŏn. The latter part of the film features methods, such as scenes that make viewers wonder ‘Why?’ that were first used in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), the man widely credited with having set the standard for gothic horror films, and also appears in more recent fare such as Ring (1998) directed by Hideo Nakata and Audition (1999) directed by Takashi Miike. As such, the director Kim Chiun employed horror film formats, contents and genres that he was cognizant of to construct the narrative of Changhwa Hongnyŏn. The story is set in an isolated house near a lake that boasts a strange mixture of Western-style furniture located in a Japanese-style wooden house. Based on this background, the argument can be made that Kim Chiun used the classic Korean novel, Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn (Story of Changhwa Hongnyŏn) in a multi-layered, complex, and strategic manner. In addition to the narrative that guides the story which makes up the film, the director also makes commercial use of well-known descriptions at the marketing level. Given the very nature of commercial films, which involve the input of exorbitant amounts of human and physical resources so as to make a splash at the box office, this two-pronged strategy proves to be a very efficient one. The classic novel Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn (Story of Changhwa Hongnyŏn)3 409, July 7, 2003. 3 The novel, Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn (Story of Changhwa Hongnyŏn) is classified as a so-called ‘Arang’ type of classic novel, a category that also includes such works as Kim Inhyang chŏn (Story of Kim Inhyang) and Sukyŏng Nangja chŏn (Story of Sukyŏng). The story of Arang revolves around a girl who dies after an attempt is unsuccessfully made to rape her. Thereafter, she becomes a ghost who routinely appears before the local governor to implore him to avenge her. Paek Munim, “Study of Korean Horror Films—With a special focus on the narratives of female ghosts (Han’guk kongp’o yŏnghwa yŏn΄gu—yŏgwi ŭi sŏsa kiban ŭl chungsim ŭro)”, Ph.D. dissertation, Yonsei 76 Acta Koreana Vol. 14, No. 1, 2011 had already been adapted for the big screen on five occasions prior to the release of Kim Chiun’s film. While the first such endeavor was the silent film, Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn (Story of Changhwa Hongnyŏn) directed by Kim Yŏnghwan in 1924, Hong Kaemyŏng produced a sound version of Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn (Story of Changhwa Hongnyŏn) in 1936. In 1956, Chŏng Ch’anghwa produced his own version of Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn (Story of Changhwa Hongnyŏn), an undertaking which proved to be successful at the box office. In 1962, Chŏng Ch΄anghwa remade this film as Tae Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn. Another version of Changhwa Hongnyŏn chŏn was then produced in 1972, this time by the director Yi Yusŏp. Unfortunately, all that remains of these films today are some scenarios. It has been estimated that the earlier versions of this film were relatively true to the original novel. However, the latter versions, which were rendered as horror films, focused on the revenge aspect of Changhwa and Hongnyŏn’s story, whose rancor and grudges were deeply rooted, and were presented in a format in which much attention was placed on the role of audiovisual effects.