'The Ownerless Ferryboat' (1932) is directed by Lee Gyu-hwan and produced by Yooshin Kinema.

'The Ownerless Ferryboat'

The protagonist, Soosam, had to leave his hometown for Seoul. He led a hard life as a rickshaw driver. One day, when his wife had to be admitted to the hospital due difficulty while giving birth, he had to steal to cover the bill. Eventually, he was caught and imprisoned for his crime.

Upon his release, however, he discovered that his wife had already found a new husband and had remarried. With his daughter, he returned to his hometown to become an operator of a ferryboat along the river.

Misfortune, again, found its way into his life, as a steel railway bridge was constructed at that spot along the river. Enraged after witnessing the head of the construction company attempt to hurt his daughter, Soosam murders the man with an axe and goes on to destroy the bridge, only to be killed by an oncoming train.

His daughter also meets an unfortunate fate at home as the house catches fire.

Tainted with a strong sense of nationalism, "The Ownerless Ferryboat" was the last patriotic move made before Korea was liberated from Japanese colonialism in 1945, as the regulations and censorships in the early 1930s were at their peak.

This film also starred Na Un-gyu as the protagonist and some scenes were cut before being released at theaters.

By Paik Hyun
Korea.net Staff Writer
cathy@korea.kr
*Image courtesy of the Korea Post.