Sweet Dreams + Fisherman's Fire

Early Korean Cinema
Early melodrama at its best! Sweet Dreams follows bored housewife Ae-sun as she abandons her family to search for love and excitement in 1930s Seoul. The film presents a vision of modern city life, with the department store, the theatre, cafes and hotels, the site of most of the films action. Opening with a song bird in a cage, Sweet Dreamsoffers a debate on the role of women in 1930s Korea. Mun Ye-bong, playing Ae-sun, demonstrates why she was one of the leading actresses of the period with her lively and dynamic performance.
Fisherman’s Fire is the tale of In-soon, a young woman who is seduced away from her small fishing village only to fall into poverty on the harsh streets of the big city. Fisherman’s Fire presents the tension between rural communities and the new urban city experience via In-soon’s ill-fated experiences but concludes with a traditional melodramatic story of female redemption.
Sweet Dream (미몽)
Korea 1936
Dir Yang Ju-nam
With Mun Ye-bong, Lee Geum-ryong, Yu Seok-ok, Kim In-gyu
47min
Digital
English subtitles
Early melodrama at its best! Sweet Dream follows a bored housewife as she abandons her family to search for love and excitement in 1930s Seoul.
Fisherman’s Fire
어화
Korea 1938
Dir Ahn Chul-yeong
With Park No-gyeong, Yun Buk-yang, Jeon Hyo-bong, Park Hak, Na Woong
52min
35mm
English subtitles
Fisherman’s Fire is the tale of a young woman who is seduced away from her poor fishing village only to become a bar girl (gisaeng) in the city