“THESE PRECIOUS HANDS…”: AN ATTEMPT TO CONDENSE THE CINEMATIC WORK OF IM KWON-TAEK
by Claudia Siefen-Leitich
Within his extensive film work, director Im Kwon-taek (born 1934 in Gwangju, South Korea) is concerned with national consciousness and thus with the history of his country. From cultural identity and the class differences associated with it, through to the divided roles of men and women: Im quickly takes the side of the women in order to find his way back to the history of his country through individual fates. The stories he has told since then cannot be imagined, let alone understood, without the basis of Confucianism. Confucius’ teachings are based on the so-called basic virtues such as humanity, a sense of morality and a sense of social justice.