SDLC 111: Artifact #2

[Tia McArtis]

One of the most popular films that are about pansori is called Seopyeonje (서편제). I watched this film when I was studying abroad in South Korea. It is a 1993 film that tells the story of a “family of traditional Korean pansori singers trying to make a living in the modern world”. It follows the story of Songhwa, her brother Dongho, and their father Yubong, a pansori singer that strictly trains his children to be pansori performers, believing that a truly great pansori artist must suffer. Dongho runs away but Songhwa stays and takes all of the suffering. Eventually Yubong blinds Songhwa so she can experience true suffering. Years later, Dongho finds Songhwa and performs with her once more. This film seemed to give an analogy to a deep part of the Korean mindset: one must suffer to achieve greatness.