Obaltan

Obaltan
Theatrical release poster

Hangul	오발탄
Hanja	誤發彈
RR	Obaltan
MR	Obalt'an

Directed by	Yu Hyun-mok
Written by	Lee Beom-seon
Produced by	Kim Seong-chun
Starring	Choi Moo-ryong Kim Jin-kyu Moon Jeong-suk
Cinematography	Kim Hak-seong
Edited by	Kim Hui-su
Distributed by	Cinema Epoch
Release date	April 13, 1961 (1961-04-13)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean

Plot

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Perspective

The film depicts Cheolho, an accountant living a hard life in post-war South Korea. He supports his pregnant wife, his younger sister Myeongsuk, who is a prostitute for American soldiers, his younger brother Yeongho, a war veteran, and their mother, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is constantly screaming, 'Let's get out of here!' Cheolho has a toothache, but he refuses to go to the dentist despite his brother's insistence that the toothache is a much worse problem than paying for dental treatment.

Myeongsuk's former fiancé is also a war veteran who was left crippled and now needs crutches to walk. He calls off the engagement, believing that he would only be a burden.

Yeongho befriends an actress named Miri. Miri aims to help Yeongho get a job by casting him in a film. While reading his lines from the script, Yeongho realises that his character is being judged for his appearance, which is scarred from the Korean War. Choosing dignity over a rare chance to earn money, Yeongho quits the film. However, he later regrets his decision and wonders if he was too rash to leave such a promising job.

He then meets Seol-hui, a former nurse who tended to him in hospital during the Korean War. They confess their love for each other; however, Seol-hui is later killed in a murder-suicide by her neighbour, who was obsessed with her. Seeing her with Yeongho drove the neighbour mad with jealousy. He pushed Seol-hui off the roof of their apartment building and then jumped off after her.

The final part of the film portrays Yeongho robbing a bank with a gun he had secretly stolen from Seol-hui. After being caught by the police, Yeongho hands over the money and then his gun, breaking down into tears as he is arrested. Now in jail, Yeongho tells Cheolho to take his niece, Hae Ok, on a trip and to be a good father to his wife's child.

After hearing that his wife had died in childbirth and failing to see either her body or the baby, who had survived, Cheolho finally decided to visit the dentist. Although the dentist finds that two of Cheolho's teeth must be removed, he refuses to remove more than one tooth on the same day. He tells the taxi driver to take him to the police station to see his brother. However, once they arrive, he orders the driver to continue, repeatedly echoing his mother's plea, "Let's get out of here!" With his family gone and his toothache still troubling him, the taxi continues to drive aimlessly, leaving Cheolho's fate unknown.

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Reception

The government banned Obaltan because of its unremittingly downbeat depiction of life in post-armistice South Korea. An American consultant to the Korean National Film Production Center saw the film and persuaded the government to release it in Seoul so that it might qualify for entry in the San Francisco International Film Festival. Director Yu Hyun-mok attended the film's première in San Francisco in November 1963. Variety called Obaltan a "remarkable film", and noted that its "brilliantly detailed camera work is matched by probing sympathy and rich characterizations."^[3]

Plot

Cast

Reception

Legacy

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