It is in Oct 1948, just 3 years after the Korean Independence of Japan in 1945 and before the Korean War (1950), when this story starts. Three principal characters are in conflicting positions.  Yom Sang-Chin and his brother Sang-Ku are in ideological opposition to one another, despite coming from the same household.  While Sang-Chin is an educated guerrilla leader of the communist "partisan" army located in the mountains, his brother Sang-Ku is a vulgar right wing leader of the local Anti-Communist Youth League, collaborating with the police to quell the local socialist insurgency.  The only common ground they share is signified through their nationalist friend, Kim Pom-Wu.  The three characters - along with impressive supporting roles - are interwoven into Korea's turbulent history, often obfuscating the boundary between the two spaces of public and private.  The ideological impulses, whether in the form of Communism, nationalism, or reactionary terror, break down the harmony of a pre-modern communal village.  No longer can people rely on one another's benevolence or trust.  The traditional divisions between the peasantry and the landowners, between the male and the female, and in general between the inner world and the outer world are radically subverted, instilling a new perception of change and fear in the village. 
 
 

<AWARDS> 
 -the 15th Blue Dragon Film Contest : Best Picture 
 -the 5th Chun-Sa Film Art Contest : Best picture 
 -the 45th Berlin Film Festival  : invited to competition 
 -the 33rd Grand Bell Film Contest : Judge’s Special Award