Na Woon-gyu

Na Woon-gyu (; October 27, 1902 – August 9, 1937) was a Korean actor, screenwriter and director. He is widely considered the most important filmmaker in early Korean cinema, and possibly Korea's first true movie star. Since he often wrote, directed and acted in his films, he has even been said to have started the auteur film-making tradition in Korea.

Early life Na Woon-gyu was the third son of Na Hyong-gwon, a military officer during the final days of the Joseon period who had returned to his hometown of Hoeryong, Hamgyongbuk-do to teach. As a high-school student, Na was involved in theater and acting, but also in anti-Japanese activities including the March 1, 1919 protest against the occupation. To avoid imprisonment, he spent two years crossing and re-crossing the Duman River, which separates Korea from Manchuria. He traveled as far as Siberia, joining with Korean Liberation fighters in anti-occupation work.

In 1921, he returned to Seoul, and enrolled in Yonhui (now Yonsei) University to study social science. It was at this period that his fascination with the cinema began. He would fill notebooks with jottings while watching films in theaters, and would carry a hand mirror with him wherever he went to practice facial expressions.

However, like the main character in his first, and most famous film, Arirang, he was caught by the Japanese and jailed for his participation in The March 1st Movement. While in prison in Chongjin, from 1921 until 1923, Na received his artistic pen-name, Chunsa, from Lee Chun-song, another resistance fighter. When he was released in 1923, he joined the Yerimhoe Play Troupe in his hometown, Hoeryong.

After leaving the troupe, he sold all of his books to buy a train ticket to Busan, where he applied for a job acting at the Choson Film Company. He started playing extras and then villains in films for this company. His debut was in the 1925 film UnYeongJeon.

Film career

Though Na Woon-gyu has been described as short, and with a toad-like face which suited him for the peasant roles he often played, the anger and frustration he was able to project on the screen suited the situation and mood of the Korean people at the time. Na first came to public attention in the role of the father of the title character in Lee Kyong-son's 1925 film, Simchong-jon (The Story of Shim Chong).

His first film as writer/director/star, Arirang (1926), was a national sensation in Korea. Films in Korea underwent censorship and restrictions by the Japanese authorities. Scripts had to be submitted to, and approved by the occupying Japanese government before they could be produced and distributed. Criticism of the government was censored, leading most films to be in the melodramatic, sentimental style known as shinpa. Na's innovation in Arirang was finding a way to express Korean opposition to the Japanese occupation metaphorically by unifying the shinpa style with a spirit of nationalism. He thereby made cinema in Korea no longer mere entertainment, but a vehicle for an expression of national resistance to the Japanese occupation.

Financed by Park Sung-pil, owner of Dansongsa Theater, Na founded Na Woon-kyu Productions in September 1927 and opened his production company in Changsin-dong, near Dongdaemun. In contrast to the Japanese-run studios, the company's goal was to produce films by Koreans, for Koreans.

Na's 1929 Salangeul chajaseo was an epic film employing more than a thousand extras. As with Arirang, a period of Na's own life could be seen as an inspiration for the story. It dealt with Koreans crossing the Duman River, as Na himself had done, in search of freedom from Japanese oppression. The film was banned at first, but was finally released, though in a heavily revised and edited form. The failure of Beongeoli Sam-ryong (1929) soon forced the closure of Na's studio. The newspaper Chosun Ilbo's November 1938 audience poll for the best silent Korean films put Arirang in the number one spot. Two other films by Na Woon-gyu were also on the top ten list: Sarangul Chajaso (Looking for Love), and Punguna (The Man with Great Ambition) (1926). Na's last film, Omongnyo (1937) was second on the list of best sound films made in Korea.

His life was the subject of the 1966 film, Na Woon-Gyui ilsaeng, which was directed by and starred Choi Mu-ryong, father of current star Choi Min-soo. The Korea Film Directors' Society paid tribute to Na Woon-gyu, by taking his pen name for their Chunsa Art Film Festival, begun in 1990.

A location near "Arirang Hill" in Seoul was refashioned into a "Street of Motion Pictures," housing the Arirang Cine Center, Arirang Information Library, a small theme park claiming to be the movie set, a monument in memory of the 100th anniversary of Na Woon-gyu's birth, and an annual film festival.

He was an influence of Shin Sang-ok.

His story is fictionalized in the book Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park.

Filmography UnYeongJeon (1925) (Acting debut) Simchong-jon (The Story of Shim Chong) (1925) (Actor) JangHanMong (1926) (Actor) Nongjungjo (1926) (Actor) Arirang (1926) (Director, writer, actor) Punguna (Soldier of Fortune) (1926) (Director, writer, actor, editor) Deuljwi (The Wild Rat) (1927) (Director, writer, actor, editor) Heukkwa Baek (Black and White) (1927) Geumbungeo (Goldfish) (1927) (Director, actor, editor) Jalitgeola (Farewell) (1927) (Director, producer, writer, actor, editor) Ok-nyeo (1928) (Director, producer, writer, editor) Beongeoli Sam-ryong (Deaf Sam-ryong) (1929) (Director, producer, writer, actor) Salangeul chajaseo (In Search of Love) (1929) (Director, producer, writer, actor, editor) Sanai (1929) Arirang geuhu iyagi or Arirang hu pyeon (Arirang 2) (1930) (Writer, actor) Cheolindo (1930) (Director, writer, actor, editor) Geumganghan (The Grief of Geumgan) (1931) (Director, actor) Nampyeuneun Kyeongbidaero (1931) Gaehwadang imun (1932) (Director, writer, actor, editor) Imjaeobtneun naleutbae (The Ownerless Ferryboat) (1932) (actor) Amgunwang (1932) Jongno (1933) Muhwagwa (Fig Tree) (1935) (Director, editor) Kanggeonneo maeul (Town Across the River) (1935) (Director, writer, editor) Geulimja (Shadow) (1935) (Director, writer, actor) Hwangmuji (1935) Arirang 3 (1936) (Director, writer, actor) Chilbeontong sosageon (Incident of the 7th Bamboo Flute) (1936) (Director, writer, actor, editor) Oh Mong-nyeo (1937) (Director)