On land, Moon Chae-Ku rages helplessly against the villagers' intrasigence. But Kim Chul finds his mind drifting back to his memories of his childhood on the island...

Most of all, he remembers the women who made such a strong impression on him. His father was the village teacher, the island's only educated man, but his mother was dead. In her absence, he was drawn to the kindly Oknim, a mentally retarded woman who consoled him and taught him that people become stars in the sky when they die. He recalls that Oknim was once forced into marriage with the fisherman SoDong, but never really understood what was happening and never lived with her 'husband'.

He remembers Opsunne, who was always being beaten by her bad-tempered husband Nam... until the day when she was possessed by the spirit of Nam's late father, who scolded his son for mistreating his wife. Opsunne became a shaman, a seer in touch with the spirits of the departed. One day, after young Chul was recovering from a fall, she spoke to him with the voice of his late mother.

And he remembers Nopdotaek, the long-suffering wife of Moon Duk-Bae and the mother of his friend Chae-Ku. Moon never showed much interest in his son, but always blamed his wife for giving birth to a hunchbacked daughter, Pan-nim. Moon was a faithless husband; evertone knew he was keeping a mistress on Gotsom Island, nearby. When Pan-nim fell ill and died, her mother Nopdotaek went crazy with grief. Moon took her away from the island, saying that he would place her in care in a hospital on the mainland; but when he returned with a new wife on his arm, everyone suspected foul play. Moon was given corporal punishment and expelled from the community. He left, vowing revenge on the island.

By then, the villagers had heard on the radio about the outbreak of war between Communists and Nationalists on the mainland. Many were nervous, wondering whether the war would reach this remote island. One day, their fears came true: soldiers landed in force, identifying themselves as Communists from the North, and ordered everyone to gather in the school yard. Then the soldiers called for volunteers to testify against "reactionary elements" in the community, and many tried to save their own skins or settle old scores by denouncing their neighbours. Only when the hated Moon Duk-Bae turned up alongside the soldiers' commanding officer did the villagers realise they had been tricked. The soldiers were actually southern Nationalist troops posing as Communists to root out Communist sympathisers. The only villager who never grasped what was happening was Oknim, who was shot by a soldier for disobeying his order. Later that day, many other supposed Communist sympathisers were executed...

Back in the present, the stand-off between Moon Chae-Ku and the villagers reamins unresolved. Chae-Ku demands the right to bury his father; the local people are determinded that the agent of the island's greatest tragedy will not be allowed back, even in death. Opsunne, now elderly but still a powerful shaman, comes to the beach and speaks to the late Moon Duk-Bae, asking what he has to say to the resentful villagers...

Directed by Park Kwang-Su. Casts include Ahn Sung-Ki, Moon Sung-Keun and Shim Hae-Jin.

Award:
  • Audience Favourite Nantes Film Festival
  • Official Selection Locarno Film Festival

Nominated:
  • Golden Leopard - Locarno International Film Festival