The Taebaek Mountains

Im's masterly epic opens up the shadowiest period in Korea's modern history: the months in 1948/9 when a region in the deep south went communist and the state fought dirty to bring it back under control in what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the coming Korean War. The core issues are ideological, of course, but Im carefully relates them to family rivalries and other down-to-earth factors: the fascistic leader of the anti-communist guerillas, for instance, is the brother of the idealist who tries to promote communist values. The whole thing is seen through the neutral eyes of a local schoolteacher (Ahn, working with Im for the first time in ten years), who finally seeks solace in the rituals of a shaman. Kim Soo-Chul contributes a truly memorable score.