Peppermint Candy(Bakha satang)

The traumatic history of South Korea’s modern development – from the Gwangju Uprising in 1980 to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis – is told through the tragic story of the antihero protagonist Yongho in reverse chronology. From taking part in the Gwangju Massacre during his mandatory military service to torturing dissidents as a policeman, Yong-ho’s acts of violence on behalf of the state are transferred to his private life in the form of toxic masculinity resulting in misogynistic domestic violence. Lee’s second feature ambitiously tackles a nation’s historical pain through the popular form of melodrama, establishing him as a talent to watch whose promise was quickly fulfilled in his subsequent films.

Grand Bell Awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress

1/12 (Fri) Speaker: Dr. Kim So Hye (Korea Foundation Visiting Professor in Korean Studies at the University of Hong Kong). Conducted in English

Further Readings:
Peppermint Candy, by Dr. Kim So Hye (2023)