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Painted Fire
Directed by
Im Kwon-taek
Not Rated
2002
2h
Drama
,
History
,
and more
7.1
83%
77%
7.0
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In a time of political and social unrest in nineteenth-century Korea, an uncouth, self-taught painter explores his natural talent amidst the repressive world around him.
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Cast of Painted Fire
Choi Min-sik
Jang Seung-up
Kim Yeo-jin
Jin-hong
Ahn Sung-ki
Kim Byung-moon
Yoo Ho-jeong
Mae-hyang
Son Ye-jin
So-woon
Jeong Tae-woo
Young Jang Seung-up
Park Cheol-min
Butler
Kim Eung-soo
Cho Byeong-gab
Park Gil-su
Mr. Go
Kim Min-su
An Jeong-Sik
Hwang Choon-ha
Pan-so
Ahn Byung-kyung
Paeng Man-gwan
Lee Geum-ju
Byeong-moon's Wife
Lee Jeong-heon
Song-heon
Min Kyung-jin
Owner of Jang Hwang-sa
Kwon Tae-won
Middleman
Hong Kyeong-yeon
Woman from Gwacheon
Ha Duk-sung
Person
Lee Yoon-geon
Byeon Won-gyu
Im Kwon-taek
Director / Writer
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Painted Fire Ratings & Reviews
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
It is quietly observant, with a detached eye for the telling moment, and the visual compositions are often exquisite.
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
[Chihwaseon] rushes through the life of its subject in nimble leaps and bounds, concentrating on the livelier and more spectacular parts and avoiding the dull historical and biographical stretches.
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
Another masterpiece from one of the world's more neglected great directors, a master artist who here reveals the soul of another.
Oregonian
Shawn Levy
It's one of the best films of an artist's life you'll ever see.
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
The movie's attention to anthropological and historical detail means things are slow to come alive. But once they do, the nature of Jang's psychic torture is palpable and unmistakable.
Los Angeles Times
Manohla Dargis
A vividly entertaining portrait.
L.A. Weekly
Ella Taylor
The film's sexy romanticism and its tragic sense of Korean history will thrill even those who have never set foot in an art gallery.
Reeling Reviews
Robin Clifford
["Chihwaseon"] explores the life of a brilliant artist virtually unknown in the West while effortlessly teaching us about a tumultuous period in Korea's past.
Reeling Reviews
Laura Clifford
Kwon-taek Im's greatest achievement is his visualization of the emotion of art over the intellect.
Seattle Times
Painted Fire is gorgeous. Even a shot of the dirty and miserable Jang flinging himself about in a bare room of wadded-up paintings turns into a thing of beauty.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
It's somehow a very calming, almost Zenlike experience, and it left me with a peaceful glow that I managed to carry around for the rest of the day.
Filmcritic.com
Jules Brenner
Budgetary limitations in making the movie are evident in part by abrupt cuts and somewhat crude storytelling
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
A handsome film, filled with lavish costumes and set designs and told in a series of exquisitely composed images.
Newsday
Gene Seymour
There's much to fill the eyes.
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
Slow and stilted.
Observer
Andrew Sarris
If you've never seen a South Korean film, or even if you have, Chihwaseon is an ideal place to start or continue.
Village Voice
Ed Park
The film succeeds as the rehumanizing of a near mythical figure.
New York Times
A.O. Scott
Mr. Im's own aesthetic command is evident in the movie's wealth of beautiful, perfectly framed images of nature.
Slant Magazine
Ed Gonzalez
Im Kwon-Taek recounts the life of a 19th century Korean painter with the workmanlike precision one expects from someone who's directed nearly 100 features in 40 years.
The Hollywood Reporter
Michael Rechtshaffen
Im Kwon-Taek has crafted a stirring, poetic portrait of the creative process as personified by Ohwon, an eminent late-19th century Korean painter.
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Chihwaseon Painted Fire
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