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12/30/06
Chi-hwa-seon (2002)
82 %
Reviews Counted: 39 Fresh: 32 Rotten:7 Average Rating: 7.1/10
Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins
Synopsis: IM Kwon-taek's ninety-fifth film tells the story of renowned nineteenth-century painter JANG Seung-up (Choi Min-Sik), an artist whose revolutionary work - and persona - has forever changed the face of Korean art. CHIHWASEON (PAINTED FIRE) begins in the 1850s, when KIM Byung-moon... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Min-sik Choi, Sung-Kee Ahn, Ho-jeong Yu, Yeo-jin Kim, Ye-jin Son
Reviews
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/09/06
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07/08/03
Top Critic
The problem is, painting isn't a spectator sport, as the interminable scenes of Jang at work continually confirm.
06/06/03
Top Critic
A fascinating, consummately crafted and ultimately moving study of a man who conforms surprisingly closely to western archetypes of the artist as rebel and hedonist.
06/03/03
In spite of these few moments of wonder, and even the dense, moving thematic content, the film ultimately doesn't leave a lasting taste.
05/15/07
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11/15/04
Top Critic
The sturdy and goateed Choi Min-sik gives an extraordinary performance as the mercurial Ohwon whose moods fluctuate from sadness to rage, anguish, and depression.
06/25/04
For all its beauty and artistic ambition, the film remained stubbornly remote and soulless to me.
01/09/04
This Korean drama is a credible portrait of its main character, the revered 19th-century artist Oh Mon Jang Seung-up, and it looks beautiful enough to be a work of art itself.
06/20/03
Director Im Kwon-Taek steeps this film with reverence for Korean lore and history.
06/20/03
It is quietly observant, with a detached eye for the telling moment, and the visual compositions are often exquisite.
06/20/03
[Chihwaseon] rushes through the life of its subject in nimble leaps and bounds, concentrating on the livelier and more spectacular parts and avoiding the dull historical and biographical stretches.
06/06/03
Another masterpiece from one of the world's more neglected great directors, a master artist who here reveals the soul of another.
06/05/03
The movie's attention to anthropological and historical detail means things are slow to come alive. But once they do, the nature of Jang's psychic torture is palpable and unmistakable.
05/16/03
Top Critic
The film's sexy romanticism and its tragic sense of Korean history will thrill even those who have never set foot in an art gallery.
05/14/03
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