Titel: Kok-du yi-ya-ki | Kokdu: A Story of Guardian Angels | Kokdu – Eine Geschichte von Schutzengeln
About the movie:
The siblings Su-min (Kim Su-an, possibly also known from “Train to Busan”) and Dong-min (Choi Go) discover during their visit on a market a small trader with various scrap metal on his table, but also a box with two puppies in it. When Su-min asks if they can have a dog, the salesman replies that there is nothing without money, or he exchanges something from home. So the two children walk a long way home and search for things they think are valuable enough, like a radio, a red telephone, a big brass bowl… When Dong-min holds Grandma’s shoes with flowers in front of his big sister’s eyes, for a short moment doubts arise about her plan, but in the end she is able to eliminate them, as Grandma won’t live much longer anyway. That’s what the people in the village say. The bag is packed full, they move back to the market and exchange all their items for the dog, which Su-min then proudly carries home. But there is a rather unpleasant picture waiting for them. Her grandma is being pushed into an ambulance and her mother reports that grandma has fallen. When the mother begins to look for the flowered shoes of her grandmother, whom she had wished for in the hospital, the two of them feel guilty.
Again the two go to the dealer, but he had disappeared. At the neighbouring stand they find out where to look and end up at a scrap yard. There is no trace of the man, but Dong-min discovers a cuddly toy of his sister on a heap. And they are lucky when they examine the pile a little closer, because they also discover their grandmother’s shoes. While trying to fish them out of the mountain, the two slip off and find themselves on a big stage in the middle of a play. Here they meet four Kokdus who, according to the myths and traditions of the South Koreans, are the companions of dying people for life afterwards. The four Kokdu introduce themselves as carers, guards, entertainers and travel guides. However, the four seem somewhat overstrained with their special role as they did not expect any children to accompany them. Nevertheless, they try their best to take away the fear of the two children and promise to help them find their grandma’s shoes. Together they wander through very different theatre scenes, which are accompanied by impressive choreographies, scenery pictures and traditional music, until the end of both children’s journey.
Conclusion:
The Berlinale has already awakened an immense interest in South Korean culture in me a long time ago and I would love to travel to this country to experience it live. This film brought me closer to another piece of this special culture. Unusual for a children’s film is the mixture of classical film with scenes from the theatre in constant change. And unlike in our German culture, dying here doesn’t seem like something that just ended in silent grief, but leaves a warm reassuring feeling that there are other ways to cope with that grief and even if you die once, you never go your own way. In the Q&A it was revealed that the four Kokdus actors come from the National Gugak Center. An institution in South Korea for traditional music and art. This is also the location of the play that can be seen in the film.
Actors:
Kim Su-an (Su-min)
Choi Go (Dong-min)
Cho Hee-bong (Pfleger Kokdu)
Park Sang-ju (Wächter Kokdu)
Shim Jae-hyun (Reiseführer Kokdu)
Lee Ha-kyoung (Unterhalter Kokdu)
Park Mi-hyen (Mutter)
Park Jeong-suk (Großmutter)
Baek Seung-tae (Haetae)
Kim Min-gi (Haetae)
Regie:
Kim Tae Yong
Infos zum Film inkl. kurzen Filmausschnitt und Spielzeiten:
https://www.berlinale.de/de/programm/berlinale_programm/datenblatt.html?film_id=201914538
Other infos:
Report about the film with some excerpts and interviews by ARIRANG CULTURE
About the National Gugak Center
Pictures from the Q&A at the Zoo Palast:
