WHEN BUCKWHEAT
FLOWERS BLOOM
Animation directed
by Jae Hoon Ahn
Novel written by
Yi Hyo-Sok
Recently, an animation "When Buckwheat
Flowers Bloom" was silently released. I am saying it was released "silently"
because the animation film has been played in only small local theaters, not at
the cinema chains. To the amazement of many, this animation has brought more
than 10,000 viewers, a success as an independent film. As the title of the
animation indicates, this animation has been based on the original novel by Yi
Hyo-Sok, one of the most talented and stylish Korean writers in the 1920s and
1930s. For your appreciation of the novel and animation, I am here introducing
some scenes and brief plot of the novel.
Scene 1)
The film begins
with a scene where three peddlers are travelling through a field filled with
buckwheat blossoms. They converse about the market place in Pongp'yong, indicating that their sales of the day or following
days would not be much fruitful. Still, these peddlers immerse themselves into
their past experiences, some of which Cho Sondal and Ho Saengwon, the older
two, had known each other.
Here is the image
of a real buckwheat flowers field. As depicted in the novel, it appears as if
"salt has been sprinkled all over the field."
Scene 2)
Ho makes a scene by slapping Tongi, the
youngest peddler in the group, misunderstanding Tongi's words and behaviors.
But as Ho thinks of Tongi as an innocent and good young man, he soon regrets
his own careless words and apologies to Tongi on their way. Surrounded by
endless buckwheat flowers and enchanted by the aroma of the flowers and
moonlight, three peddlers share their stories, touching upon their love stories
and painful childhood. Their conversations reveal to the audience that Ho had
once and life-time love affair with a lady in Pongp'yong,
which happened about twenty years before and he has cherished the memory of the
night until today and they reveal that Tongi has no father and he deeply cares
about his mother who had reared him all by herself by running a small tavern.
The novel ends with an
indication that Tongi and Ho are related. Ho gets to hear that Tongi's mother's
home town is Pongp'yong and Tongi's descriptions on his mother and his life
allude that his mother is the lady Ho spent a night with in his youth.
About Yi Hyo-sok
His
poetic language, devoid of the plot of the traditional novel, distinguished Yi
Hyo-sok as one of the most unique and stylish writers among Korean novelists.
Many Koreans still celebrate Yi Hyo-sok's festival every year in Pongp'yong. Interested in the festival?
Then, go and visit at http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1844013
