KIM Tak-hoon, YOO Jing-young, RYU Jin-ho, PARK Sung-ho
What if the painful story of a North Korean defector were made into an animated film? Furthermore, what if it was a claymation film? A Purpleman is your answer to these questions. The theme of defecting from North Korea becomes not a re-enactment but an expression which highlights an absurd reality. The North Korea presented in this film is dismal beyond words. A boy who ventured out to China in search of food is arrested by the authorities and imprisoned in a hellhole where space and food are luxuries while terrible torture is a daily routine. Yet this film transforms such adversities into a caricaturized reality where there are at least bugs to eat, while others outside the prisons walls are starving, and torture seems to look like child¡¯s play. The same goes for life in South Korea. To North Korean defectors, South Korea at first seems to overflow with food but eventually it reveals a reality where hardship exists, as the film cleverly and succinctly expresses through an egg at a buffet restaurant: people are no longer allowed to have more than one egg due to an economic crisis! The light, whimsical way that anti-U.S. and anti-communist education in North and South Korea are compared also gives an amusing touch to this film as it introduces the inefficiencies and problems of both countries¡¯ ideological education systems. Despite the comic-like presentation of such heavy themes, just like its hero who is neither red or blue but a mixture of both, A Purpleman brings your attention to this subtle cacophony with humor. (KANG Sung-ryool)
KIM Tak-hoon
Born in Seoul, 1972. After graduating from Kyung-il University, he won a MFA degree in Animation Filmmaking and Computer Art at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Currently, he is an associate professor at Chung-Ang University and a director at Tak Toon Enterprise Inc.
YOO Jing-young
Born in 1977. After graduating from Kyonggi University, she majored in Animation at the Graduate School of Advanced Imaging Science, Chung-Ang University. Currently, she is a director at Tak Toon Enterprise Inc.
RYU Jin-ho
Born in 1978. After graduating from Hoseo University, he majored in Animation at the Graduate School of Advanced Imaging Science, Chung-Ang University. Currently, he is a director at Tak Toon Enterprise Inc.
PARK Sung-ho
Born in 1980. After graduating from Hoseo University, he majored in Animation at the Graduate School of Advanced Imaging Science, Chung-Ang University. Currently, he is a director at Tak Toon Enterprise Inc.
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