{"id":8478,"date":"2019-02-10T23:52:46","date_gmt":"2019-02-10T22:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/berlinhimmel.de\/berlinalereport-kok-du-yi-ya-ki-generation\/"},"modified":"2020-02-04T04:08:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-04T03:08:12","slug":"berlinalereport-kok-du-yi-ya-ki-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/berlinhimmel.de\/en\/berlinalereport-kok-du-yi-ya-ki-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlinalereport – Kokdu: A Story of Guardian Angels (Generation)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Titel:<\/strong> Kok-du yi-ya-ki | Kokdu: A Story of Guardian Angels | Kokdu \u2013 Eine Geschichte von Schutzengeln<\/p>\n

About the movie:
\nThe 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.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 National Gugak Center & Kirin Productions | One of the four Kokdu (animator) together with the two siblings Su-min and Dong-min<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 National Gugak Center & Kirin Productions | All four Kokdus try to accompany the two siblings without getting scared of what awaits them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Conclusion:<\/strong>
\nThe 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.<\/p>\n

Actors:<\/strong>
\nKim Su-an (Su-min)
\nChoi Go (Dong-min)
\nCho Hee-bong (Pfleger Kokdu)
\nPark Sang-ju (W\u00e4chter Kokdu)
\nShim Jae-hyun (Reisef\u00fchrer Kokdu)
\nLee Ha-kyoung (Unterhalter Kokdu)
\nPark Mi-hyen (Mutter)
\nPark Jeong-suk (Gro\u00dfmutter)
\nBaek Seung-tae (Haetae)
\nKim Min-gi (Haetae)
\nRegie:
\nKim Tae Yong<\/p>\n

Infos zum Film inkl. kurzen Filmausschnitt und Spielzeiten:
\n<\/strong>https:\/\/www.berlinale.de\/de\/programm\/berlinale_programm\/datenblatt.html?film_id=201914538<\/a><\/p>\n

Other infos:
\n<\/strong>Report about the film with some excerpts and interviews by ARIRANG CULTURE
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