A unique crowd-sourced film about the city of Seoul was released on February 11, "Bitter, Sweet, Seoul." The movie is a collection of video clips shot by people in Seoul, citizens and foreigners alike, who either reside in the metropolis or were just traveling through.
The 63-minute documentary is not concerned with only shining a light on the positive aspects of the city. Instead, it aims at showing the genuine colors of the city, across the whole spectrum.
The movie is the result of the "Our Movie, Seoul" project run by the city government last year from August to November. Seoul residents and tourists were invited to submit videos of city life. Submissions were made in three categories: “Working in Seoul,” “Made in Seoul” and “Seoul.”
The government received nearly 12,000 entries, about 6,000 created by expats from China, Canada, the U.S. and Singapore, and about 6,000 created by Korean citizens.
Two directors—Park Chan-wook, famous for his 2003 smash-hit “Old Boy," and his younger brother Park Chan-kyong—then edited the submissions and selected 154 clips to turn into one piece of art.
The completed movie shows Seoul raw, capturing various lives and stories as they happen, in every nook and cranny of the city. It also shows a dynamic Seoul, one that has experienced rapid transformation and development over the years.
The movie features many stories about people from all walks of life. There are students waiting for college-admission results, a young lady who opens her first coffee shop, a foreign resident who maintains a garden on his rooftop and even a foreign couple expecting its first baby.
All the stories unfold to traditional Korean music, or gugak, being performed by the traditional orchestra Bibing.
As one might tell from the title, the film embraces painful stories of the city as well, such as the burning of Sungnyemun Gate, commonly called “Namdaemun Gate,” in 2008 and the stories of fired workers demanding to be reinstated.
"With this movie, we tried to bring to life all the many different colors that Seoul has," said co-director Park Chan-wook at a press conference held upon the movie’s release. "We focused on presenting the city as it is, its real life and its real people."
It was, Park added, a big challenge to watch each of the submitted video clips and to edit many hours of footage. “However, doing that, we got a lot of unique ideas. Compiling them was a blissful time, for sure,” said Park, calling it, "a movie created by global Seoul citizens."
"Bitter, Sweet, Seoul" can be appreciated at its official website (http://www.seoulourmovie.com/en/) or at YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1X5N679noM).
Also, many of the clips are available individually at the “Our Movie, Seoul” YouTube channel(http://www.youtube.com/user/seoulourmovie/featured).
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
jiae5853@korea.kr
The 63-minute documentary is not concerned with only shining a light on the positive aspects of the city. Instead, it aims at showing the genuine colors of the city, across the whole spectrum.
154 video clips shot by people in and around Seoul were turned into the film "Bitter, Sweet, Seoul," a movie that shows all aspects of life in the city of Seoul. (captured image from "Bitter, Sweet, Seoul")
The movie is the result of the "Our Movie, Seoul" project run by the city government last year from August to November. Seoul residents and tourists were invited to submit videos of city life. Submissions were made in three categories: “Working in Seoul,” “Made in Seoul” and “Seoul.”
The government received nearly 12,000 entries, about 6,000 created by expats from China, Canada, the U.S. and Singapore, and about 6,000 created by Korean citizens.
Two directors—Park Chan-wook, famous for his 2003 smash-hit “Old Boy," and his younger brother Park Chan-kyong—then edited the submissions and selected 154 clips to turn into one piece of art.
Scenes from "Bitter, Sweet, Seoul."
The completed movie shows Seoul raw, capturing various lives and stories as they happen, in every nook and cranny of the city. It also shows a dynamic Seoul, one that has experienced rapid transformation and development over the years.
The movie features many stories about people from all walks of life. There are students waiting for college-admission results, a young lady who opens her first coffee shop, a foreign resident who maintains a garden on his rooftop and even a foreign couple expecting its first baby.
All the stories unfold to traditional Korean music, or gugak, being performed by the traditional orchestra Bibing.
As one might tell from the title, the film embraces painful stories of the city as well, such as the burning of Sungnyemun Gate, commonly called “Namdaemun Gate,” in 2008 and the stories of fired workers demanding to be reinstated.
"With this movie, we tried to bring to life all the many different colors that Seoul has," said co-director Park Chan-wook at a press conference held upon the movie’s release. "We focused on presenting the city as it is, its real life and its real people."
It was, Park added, a big challenge to watch each of the submitted video clips and to edit many hours of footage. “However, doing that, we got a lot of unique ideas. Compiling them was a blissful time, for sure,” said Park, calling it, "a movie created by global Seoul citizens."
Scenes from "Bitter, Sweet, Seoul."
"Bitter, Sweet, Seoul" can be appreciated at its official website (http://www.seoulourmovie.com/en/) or at YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1X5N679noM).
Also, many of the clips are available individually at the “Our Movie, Seoul” YouTube channel(http://www.youtube.com/user/seoulourmovie/featured).
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
jiae5853@korea.kr