SummaryIm Kwon-taek's ninety-fifth film tells the story of renowned nineteenth-century painter Jang Seung-up (Choi Min-Sik), an artist whose revolutionary work - and persona - has forever changed the face of Korean art. (Kino International)
Directed By:Im Kwon-taek
Written By:Yong-ok Kim, Im Kwon-taek, Byung-sam Min
Painted Fire
Metascore
Generally Favorable
78
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
95% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
5% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
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0 Reviews
100
While this isn't a masterpiece on the level of his great "Chunhyang," it packs a sophisticated cinematic punch.
90
Old-fashioned, beautifully crafted biopic of painter Jang Seung-up.
83
Art history majors may write in with corrections. Meanwhile, I'm declaring that the masterly, big-canvas biographical drama Chi-hwa-seon: Painted Fire is about the Jackson Pollock of 19th-century Korea.
80
Scene after scene blends masterfully with the work of Ohwon’s paint brush, and the power of images and symbols reveal not only a great artist, but also a pivotal era in Korean history.
75
The film is art in all its visual splendor, and no matter how confusing the historic story line may be to Westerners -- and it is -- the images on screen more than compensate for the faults.
70
Mr. Im's own aesthetic command is evident in the movie's wealth of beautiful, perfectly framed images of nature -- shots so full of passion and perception that they could almost be paintings themselves.
50
In the scope of things, Ohwon's story is a route into the larger story of an uncertain and tumultuous period in Korea, and it's here that Chi-hwa-seon loses its grip.
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