The Flower in Hell

1958 CrimeDrama 86 minutes Directed by Shin Sang-ok

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About The Flower in Hell

Two weeks out of the army, Dong-shik comes to postwar Seoul to take his brother Yeong-shik home to their mother. He finds Yeong-shik with a gang that steals supplies from the American base, and with Sonya, a prostitute who then draws Dong-shik in as well. Sonya tips the military police so she and Dong-shik can leave for Hong Kong. The raid fails. Yeong-shik is shot, kills Sonya in the river, and dies of his wounds. Dong-shik goes back to the country with Julie, who returns his family photograph and accepts his proposal.

Cast & crew

More about The Flower in Hell

Shin Sang-ok produced and directed. Lee Jeong-seon wrote the script. Gang Beom-gu photographed it, Kim Yeong-hui edited, and Son Mok-in wrote the music. Seoul Films released it on 20 April 1958. During the Korean War Shin had shared a room with a prostitute rather than a crowded evacuation apartment, which he later tied to the subject.

Themes

  • a brother who will not go home
  • theft from the U.S. base
  • two men and Sonya
  • a return to the country
  • Seoul
  • Sonya
  • Yeong-shik
  • Dong-shik
  • black market
  • military police

Background

The story is set in Seoul after the Korean War, among black-market thefts from the U.S. base and the women working near it.

Reviews

Wally Adams, in Asian Movie Pulse, called the film an early South Korean picture about the city's outcasts and a forerunner of later genre mixes. Panos Kotzathanasis, writing for HanCinema, treated the production as one that stays readable through its mix of craft and the postwar setting.

Look

Gang Beom-gu shot the market chase, the river meetings, and the night raid on the base.

Music

Son Mok-in composed the score.

Notes

  • Choi Eun-hee, Shin's wife, plays Sonya. Kim Hak plays Yeong-shik, Jo Hae-won plays Dong-shik, and Kang Sun-hee plays Julie.
  • The Korean title is Jiokhwa (지옥화).
  • The file title on this site is The Flower in Hell. English sources often use A Flower in Hell.

Awards

  • Buil Film Award for Best Actress to Choi Eun-hee (2nd Buil Film Awards)

Scenes

  • Dong-shik catches Yeong-shik in the market only when his brother stops to flirt with Sonya.
  • Sonya's tip brings the military police down on the raid.
  • Yeong-shik kills Sonya in the river mud and then dies.