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Lee Hye-Young in Paris Cinémathèque Lobby
Photos by Helen Dobrensky

Dainty Korean Actress Revives Legacy of her Maverick Film Director Dad

LEE Man-Hee 이만희

Slender, elegant Korean beauty, LEE Hye-Young, one of the country`s famous actresses, flew into Paris for a few days early June, from SEOUL, to present the exclusive and unprecendented tribute to her father LEE MAN HE, Korea`s unforgettable national cinematographer who disappeared at the too early age of 45, leaving behind a phenomenal collection of 51 films turned out over 15 years !
Now, 30 years after director Lee
Man Hee's death, the Cinémathèque Francaise, after discovering his works
at the PUSAN Film Festival is showcasing 12 of his  most famous films.
Unfortunately, many films have vanished and this is the first time,
any of Lee's films will be shown outside of Korea, having been recently
painstakenly restored by the Korean Film Archives. BLACK HAIR   

LEE MAN HEE

Director Lee Man-hee (1931-1975)

Director Lee Man-hee was born in Hawangsimni-dong Seoul, in 1931, the
youngest of 8 children. He participated in the Korean War deciphering
enemy codes and during the years between 1956 and 1961, he worked as an
assistant director under the directors Ahn Jong-hwa, Park Gu and Kim
Myeong-je. He made his directorial debut in 1961 with Kaleidoscope
(Jumadeung) with the support of Kim Seung-ho, one of the most famous
actors of the era. Afterward, he proved that he could make movies that
were commercially successful with Call 112(112reul Dollyeora) (1962).

The Cinémathèque retrospective was inaugurated with his Korean noir and horror movie Black Hair (Geomeun
Meori) (1964), which deals with urban gang codes and honour. When the wife of a mafia-type leader is raped by the opposing gang leader, she has to be disfigured and dishonoured and work as a prostitute. Her black hair covers the scratches on her face. But her husband breaks the code by taking her back, which ultimately he must pay for with his own death, by knife. The film shows a dark side of Korean society, which appears male-dominated where women have little say.

Many of his films seem pessimistic and sad. The film MURDERER, also introduced by Lee's daughter, Lee Hye-Young, is an experiental in-depth study of a hired assasin who is supposed to kill a brave general and his 'états d'âme'about it.

Lee Hye-Young Ms. Lee remembers her father though, as a cheerful person and not someone sad. "You must bear in mind the time in which this film was made", she added. North and South Korea were starting to form as separate political entities. Many of my father's films dealt with war and he had a special way of portraying the soldiers in depth."

Although he made many political films criticizing the Korean War i.e. "The Marines Who Didn't Come Home" (1963), they dealt with the intense
humanity and hardships during the Korean War. Also in 1966, the film
"Soldiers Without Serial Number" realistically captured the political
ideology adopted during that era.

"In any case, my father had no political leanings and he wasn't a leftist. If anything, his politics was filmaking, and he was totally devoted to it."

That he was arrested for violation of the Anti-Communism Act
in 1964 for the film "The Seven Female POWs" is a nonsense. 

He also
opened up new possibilities in Korean art films with Full Autumn
(Manchu) (1966) and continued on this stylistic path with Homebound
(Gwiro) (1967) and Holiday (Hyuil).

When the Korean movie
industry fell in the 1970s, he got fewer opportunities to
make movies and this coincided with a deterioration of his health and
financial situation. Lee died of liver cirrhosis as he was finishing his
film, A Road to Sampo (Sampoganeun gil) (1975).

Lee Hye-Young Actress Lee, daughter of Lee Man-Hee

One can imagine the considerable pressure under which her father worked, making so many films in such a short time in order to satisfy a government quota. The pressure took its toll and Lee Man Hee sought solace in the bottle, perhaps prematurally leading to a tragic 'burn-out'.

The presence and heart-felt contribution of Lee Hye-Young at this tribute should be commended for the precious testimony she provides to a crucial period in Korea's history and to unveiling the sensitive and brilliant works of her father, as they resurface, this time, on the world scene after thirty years.

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