kdrama1-2, Exercise 2: Arirang and Na Woon-gyu

Model answer:

Na Woon-gyu (1902 to 1937) was an actor, writer and director, jailed after the 1 March 1919 protests and later called "possibly Korea's first true movie star". He directed, wrote and starred in Arirang, which premiered on 1 October 1926 at Dansungsa. Its hero Yeong-jin, a student broken by Japanese imprisonment and torture, kills Gi-ho, a collaborator who attacked his sister, and is taken back to prison. The article calls it "the first Korean nationalist film" and describes its resistance to Japanese rule as metaphorical. It was a commercial success and a national sensation.

Every claim about its politics is hedged because the film is lost: the article says the nine reels are "believed to have been lost during the Korean War", and a rumoured copy has never been confirmed. The plot comes from a summary, the "nationalist" label is "considered", and stories about audiences singing "Arirang" are "said to" be true.

Sources: Wikipedia, Arirang (1926 film); Na Woon-gyu.