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Chi Hwa Seon (Painted Fire) (2002)
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Winner of the Cannes Fillm Festival's Best Director award, Chihwaseon is a vivid portrait of the turbulent life and times of Korea's greatest artist. As remarkably embodied by Choi Min-sik, the temperatmental, passionate brush master Jang-Seung-up paints with a martial artist's fervor while indulging a rock star's single-minded lust for life. Amidst the tumult and destruction of ninteenth century Korea, "Ohwon," as he comes to be called, fights to escape both the rigid artistic boundaries and the social fetters that would deny his low-born, unschooled genius.
Saved from a street gang's fists by a wealthy patron, Ohwon's raw talent, as demonstrated in a sketch thanking his rescuer, opens the door to | | | |