Archive

Korean Animation Revisited

Kongjui & Patchui

Kang Tea-Ung

Korea1977 71min

Synopsis

The classic KONGUI & PATCHI, the second full-length film directed by Tae-Ung Kang, was filmed using puppet animation. The film consists of various characters wearing colorful costumes in front of delicately crafted backgrounds and stage props. In order to add flexibility to the puppet’s facial expresseions, delicate pieces of paper were used for the eye browse, mouth, and eyes, giving the puppets a natural and smooth fnish. Alhough this animated piece was filmed long ago, it still entertains the audience today with its exciting visual effects and pertinent messages. The story is much like CHUN HYANG JUN,  a young Korean man who saves his lover from the town’s tyrannous leader, and the classic “Cinderella.” Kongjui loses her flower shoes which a Buddhist priest magically made. Later, a young man, who becomes a lord, find the shoes and tries to find the owner. Many classic Korean animal characters appear in this film, such as a kind toad who helps Kongjui fix a hole under a vase. Aside from the traditionally made Korean puppets, it is interesting to watch many modern-looking animals in choirs scold a girl for just being kind and timid, These are the part that the audience would be interested in and loved by many.

Diretor

Kang Tea-Ung

Born in 1929 in Hwang Hea Do, Korea. He granduated from Japan Art School in Film Making and came back to Korean in 1958. Since his directoral debut in THE ANGEL AND HUNCHBACK in 1957, he made two popular puppet animation movies, HUNGBU AND NOLBU and KONGJUI AND PATHCHU in 1967 and 1977 respectively and received the Chung Ryong Award for the recognition of his puppet animation films.