Yu Hyun-mok (July 2, 1925 â€" June 28, 2009) was a South Korean film
director. Born in Sariwon, Hwanghae, Korea (North Korea today), he
made his film debut in 1956 with Gyocharo (Crossroads). According to
the website koreanfilm.org, his 1961 film Obaltan "has repeatedly been
voted the best Korean film of all time in local critics' polls." Yu
attended the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1963, where
Variety called Obaltan a "remarkable film", and praised Yu's
"[b]rilliantly detailed camera" and the film's "probing sympathy and
rich characterizations."His dedication to the intellectual side of
film and interest in using film to deal with social and political
issues led him to have difficulties both with box-office-oriented
producers, and with Korea's military government during the 1960s and
1970s. Korean critics have said his directing style is "in the
tradition of the Italian Neorealists," yet "the terms 'modernist' or
'expressionistic' [are] just as applicable to his works."Besides his
directing activities, he has taught film, and made a significant
contribution to Korean animation by producing Kim Cheong-gi's 1976
animated film, Robot Taekwon V. A retrospective of Yu's career was
held at the 4th Pusan International Film Festival in 1999.Yu died from
a stroke on June 28, 2009.
director. Born in Sariwon, Hwanghae, Korea (North Korea today), he
made his film debut in 1956 with Gyocharo (Crossroads). According to
the website koreanfilm.org, his 1961 film Obaltan "has repeatedly been
voted the best Korean film of all time in local critics' polls." Yu
attended the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1963, where
Variety called Obaltan a "remarkable film", and praised Yu's
"[b]rilliantly detailed camera" and the film's "probing sympathy and
rich characterizations."His dedication to the intellectual side of
film and interest in using film to deal with social and political
issues led him to have difficulties both with box-office-oriented
producers, and with Korea's military government during the 1960s and
1970s. Korean critics have said his directing style is "in the
tradition of the Italian Neorealists," yet "the terms 'modernist' or
'expressionistic' [are] just as applicable to his works."Besides his
directing activities, he has taught film, and made a significant
contribution to Korean animation by producing Kim Cheong-gi's 1976
animated film, Robot Taekwon V. A retrospective of Yu's career was
held at the 4th Pusan International Film Festival in 1999.Yu died from
a stroke on June 28, 2009.
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