오발탄 (aimless bullet)

It was originally my intention to view this film, number 2 on The Korean Film Archive's recently published list of 100 Korean Films, alongside an item from the American Film Institute's list from the same time period (North by Northwest). Released one year apart, I assumed that the two would give conrasting takes on the world of the late 1950s in a way that might shed open an interesting conversation about Korea-American relations.  Of course the two were in marked contrast in just about every way, and I'm sure I could stich together some nice comparisons and package them up in little bites that would make everybody happy.



But comparing the two would really be like comparing Jaws to Cabaret.  Sure, the two were filmed at around the same time, but are so divergent as to make any comparisons seem a bit pointless.  North by Northwest was a beautifully filmed, but ultimately harmless romantic thriller.  오발탄 was not only shot with seemingly the lowest of budgets and the most ramshackle of equipment (the actors were not even paid), but was so inflammatory that the fascist government of Korea forbade its screening.  It was only seen at all due to the intervention of an American who managed to see a screener and bring it to San Francisco for entry in the 1963 International Film Festival.  The hastily painted (and error ridden) subtitles were still visible on the copy I found.  To this day it has still not been restored and is out of print.  If ever a film were begging for the attentions of the Criterion Collection, this is it.


Rather than North by Northwest, 오발탄 is reminiscent of an earlier American film--to the extent that I refuse to believe Director 유현목 didn't draw inspiration from it:  The Best Years of our Lives.  Both movies tell the same story, with almost the same cast of characters, and it is by viewing these two films side by side that the real contrast between the two worlds comes into focus:


Character:  wounded soldier returning from the war to try and find his place in a changed world.


The Best Years of Our Lives variant: real life amputee Harold Russell won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Homer Parrish, a man who lost both his arms in the war.  Homer returns home to find his girlfriend waiting for him, but he can't allow himself to be loved.  Ultimately he realizes that she loves him just as much without his arms, and they are married in a climactic and touching final scene.



오발탄 variant: The main character's army buddy is injured, and forced to walk with crutches.  He can't bring himself to accept the love of the woman to whom he was betrothed, preferring to remember the dream they once had of a happy life together.  Unable to bear it, he finally throws himself in front of a train.


Character: his beloved


TBYOOL variant: plucky and independent Wilma sticks by her man, and convinces him of her love after lovingly helping him remove his prostheses.


오발탄 variant: 명숙, unable to deal with her injured lover's rejection, becomes a prostitute for the American G.I.s .


Character: Hard working finance executive who is lucky enough to have a job upon the war's end.


TBYOOL:  Fredric March's Al returns to find his wife waiting for him, and eveything changed in his absence.  His children seem to have grown up wthout him, and he doesn't know where he belongs in this world any more.  Over the course of the movie, he gets to know his family again, as if for the first time, and is promoted to a cushy position at his bank.


오발탄: 영호 (the eponymous bullet) works his fingers to the bone as a clerk, and brings his meager paycheck home to his family, declining even to have a painful tooth removed.  But the check is not nearly enough to support his two kids, pregnant wife, brother, sister, and delusional mother, all living in the same hovel. 


Character: his wife


TBYOOL: Myrna Loy's Milly has been doing just fine in her husband's absence, and helps her well-meaning husband to adjust to his new reality.


오발탄: 영호's wife, who does not even seem to be named, is malnoursished and accordingly dies curing childbirth.


Character: decorated war veteran, whose skills don't seem to have a place in a post-war reality

TBYOOL: As Fred, Dana Andrews goes from war hero to soda jerk, and even gets fired from that insulting job after defending a fellow veteran from an abusive customer.  His wife, expecting a little more glamorous life, files for divorce and runs off with a dandy.  All's well that ends well, though, as this frees him up to marry the woman he really loves, and accept a simple but honest position at a scrap yard.


오발탄: 철호, a well respected Captain during the war, is unable to find any work whatsoever as a civilian. Desperate, he turns to crime and robs a bank at gunpoint.  He is caught and arrested, presumably to be hanged.


Character: his love interest


TBYOOL: Smart, kind Peggy (Teresa Wright) falls for a married man, but heartbreaking though it is, she does the right thing and lets him go.  Only later, after his divorce, do they meet again (at the happy wedding  of the first couple) and set about a simple, but honest life together.


오발탄: 철호 sees a glimmer of light when he is reunited with a nurse that tended to him during the war.  They declare their love for each other, but the next morning he returns to find that her neighbor threw her to her death in a fit of jealousy.


These are only the most striking parallels that can be found in the comparison.  Even without the benefit of a foil, however, 오발탄 is a masterpiece of cinema.  Visually stirring, symbolically poignant, well-acted, and haunting (the insane mother's "가자!" is still ringing in my ears), and all this on a budget of around $8,000 (compared to $2.1 million for The Best Years). As good as the latter movie is, it wanes in comparison to this Korean masterpiece.