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PEOPLE ART Young Korean Violinist Impresses the World BY PARK MIN-YOUNG STAFF WRITER Shin Hyun-su Yonhap Aloud applause from the audience filled the Gala concert hall of Concours Long- Thibaud in Paris on Nov. 15. It was for Shin Hyun-su, a Korean violinist who won first prize there, one of the 10 prestigious concours of the world. There was no second place winner this time. Instead, the 21-year-old violinist was awarded with two more, the Prize of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Prize of the Prince Albert II of Monaco. Shin’s talent is especially praiseworthy because it was very hard for her to maintain it. After her father’s failure in business, she managed to keep practicing violin. Her entire family lived in a dim single room that let in little sunlight. Studying overseas was out of the question for her. Her family could not even pay for her own violin. “I tried to make good sounds with cheap violins, and I think that helped me improve,” Shin said after the Gala concert. Shin still uses rentals or her teacher’s instrument. Now, she uses a Guadagnini, one of the best in the world, which is also borrowed. She was able to borrow it after winning second place in the Hanover Concours last October, but has to give it back next year. Fortunately, Shin had many people who cared for her. Her mother never mentioned their financial situation to her daughters, so that Shin and her older sister, Shin A-ra, who is also a violinist, could concentrate on practicing. Kim Nam-yun, a well-known violinist in Korea and the principal of the School of Music at the Korean National University of Arts, acknowledged the Shin girls’ talents. Knowing their heartbreaking situation, Kim taught them free for 10 years. “I could never thank her enough,” Shin said. Whenever her mother brought up the idea of studying abroad, she replied, “Where I am is the best place to learn.” Shin is passionate, optimistic and hardworking. She went back and forth from Seoul and Jeonju, in Jeollabuk-do, every day for her lessons. She did that for years but never complained. “When I’m down, I convince myself into thinking that things will get better if I work harder,” she said. ■ Death of Korean Student Remembered in Japanese Film BY LEE JI-YOON STAFF WRITER The late Lee Soo-hyun www.soohyunlee.com Back in 2001, a Korean university student was killed by a train at a subway station in Tokyo. Lee Soo-hyun, then 26, was trying to rescue a drunken man who had fallen onto the track, but he could not dodge the train and three people, including a Japanese photographer who was helping Lee, all died at the scene. Based on this story, the Japanese film “26 Years Diary,” which was released here in October, traces the young hero’s short life and dream. The movie opened first in Japan last year. In early 2000, Lee Soo-hyun, played by Korean actor Lee Tae-sung, who has recently come back to school after completing his military duty, moves to Japan to study. One day he saves a female street-band singer, played by A scene from the film “26 Years Diary” Japanese Maki Onaga, from gangsters, and the two become close through music. His Tokyo life sometimes faces prejudice from Japanese, especially Yuri’s father, who hates Korea. But Lee’s sincerity starts to change his attitude. As in real life, his short life ends as he throws himself on a train track. “The movie shows well what my son used to be. Whenever I see the movie, it reminds me of my son,” said Lee’s parents, Lee Sung-dae and Shin Yoon-chan, at the movie’s Seoul premiere on Oct. 27. Even though Lee’s unfortunate death is tragic, his courageous act has inspired people of both Korea and Japan. And still many people are making efforts to remember him in various ways. About 280 students from 16 Asian countries are helped by the LSH Scholarship Foundation, which was established in Japan by donations in memory of Lee. The film’s premiere in Tokyo last year was attended by many celebrities, including the Japanese royal couple, who had invited Lee’s parents to their palace. In 2001, a month after the accident happened, Korea University awarded Lee an honorary diploma, the first in its history. Lee was studying trade at the school. ■ 42 KOREA DECEMBER 2008 DECEMBER 2008 KOREA 43
ART A scene from “A Ballerina Who Loves a B-Boy” (top) and the show “Break Out” Three Renowned Film Directors Meet in ‘Tokyo!’ BY LEE JI-YOON STAFF WRITER B-boying Performances Wow New Yorkers BY LEE JI-YOON STAFF WRITER Korean b-boying theaters made a successful U.S. debut by performing on Off-Broadway stages in New York. The longer, staged form has yet to take hold there. With victories at world competitions and some crews becoming well known too, b-boying has exploded in popularity. While many new attempts are being made to incorporate other artistic genres into b-boying performances, staged works are trying to branch out to overseas audiences. One of the first such pieces is “A Ballerina Who Loved a B-Boy,” which was staged at 37 Arts theater in New York October. As the title suggests, it follows a ballerina who falls for a b- boy in a record store. After he shows his b-boying moves, they end up dancing together. Featuring Extreme Crew, a group of Korean break dancers who won the 2007 World B-Boy Championship, the show offers a visual pleasure to experience the collision of the two worlds of ballet and break dancing. Two kilometers away from the theater, another Korean performance, “Break Out” was shown at the Union Square Theater from Sept. 18 to Nov. 30, extended one month thanks to positive responses. Three prisoners — Tricky, Lump and Dandy — attempt a prison break, and a magic book falls from outer space and gives them the gift of breaking and beat boxing. The show climaxes with a helicopter chasing them in the last five minutes. Before the U.S. debut, it was performed in Malaysia, China and Thailand. The U.S. debuts of the two works were possible after they were shown last year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, the world’s largest arts festival, gaining great attention from participants. Their first showings in New York are expected to stimulate other Korean b-boying staged works to reach to the world’s performing arts scene. The Korean Government has hosted the annual International R16 B-boy Championships & Urban Arts Festival since last year to support youth culture by offering a healthy environment for them. For more information on the competition and Korean b-boys, visit the multilingual website www.r16korea.com ■ (From left) Renowned directors Michel Gondry, Leos Carax and Korean Bong Joon-ho The film “Tokyo!” an international collaboration of Korea, Japan and France, was released on Oct. 23 here, following its French premiere in April and in Japan in August. Set in Tokyo, the 107-minute omnibus movie was produced by three renowned directors Korean Bong Joon-ho, Michel Gondry and Leos Carax both from France. There is nothing in common among the films — except the genre and the fact that they were shot in Tokyo — reflecting their different styles and ideas of filmmaking. In the first segment, “Interior Design,” Michel Gondry, who has been recognized internationally for his previous films “The Science of Sleep” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” features the increasing problem of irregular employment among young Japanese. His unique explanation of the world, so-called “The Gondry World,” unfolds as he shows a woman suffering from social indifference and isolation and finally turning into a chair. In “Merde,” Leos Carax, who directed the famous “Les Amants du Pont- Neuf (The Lovers on the Bridge)” in 1991, mocks society in the eyes of a strange man who is living in underground sewers and appears out of a manhole to scare people. French actor Denis Lavant, who appeared in Carax’s 1991 film plays the unusual character. Director Bong Joon-ho completes the three-segment project with “Shaking Tokyo.” It explores the problem of hikikomori, a Japanese term referring to those unable to adjust to society and never leave their homes. A hikikomori man falls in love with a pizza delivery girl, played by a famous Japanese actress, Yu Aoi. The man, after locking himself in his home for 10 years, decides to go out to find her, but on that day an earthquake shakes the city. The movie was first opened to the public at the Cannes Film Festival in May. ■ Scenes from the movie “Tokyo!” 44 KOREA DECEMBER 2008 DECEMBER 2008 KOREA 45
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Page 25 and 26: TRAVEL Inje Ice Fish Festival Night
Page 27 and 28: EVENTS Daegu Photo Biennale 2008 1
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Seoul Lights Up for the Holiday Season - Korea.net

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