Empress Chung

Empress Chung (Korean: 왕후심청; Hanja: 王后沈淸; RR: Wanghu simcheong) is a 2005 animated feature film, produced in North and South Korea and directed by Nelson Shin.

Empress Chung
Theatrical poster
Hangul왕후 심청
Hanja王后 沈淸
Revised RomanizationWanghu simcheong
McCune–ReischauerWanghu simch‘ŏng
Directed byNelson Shin
Produced byNelson Shin
Yi Jin-eun
Kang Min-woo
Screenplay byKim Jung-ha
Shin Jang-hyun
Yoo Kwang-hee
Kyong Seung-won
Kwon Young-sup
Story byNelson Shin
Music bySung Dong-hwan
Edited byNelson Shin
Production
company
Distributed byKOAA Films
Release date
  • August 12, 2005 (2005-08-12)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryNorth Korea
South Korea
LanguageKorean
BudgetUS$6.5 million[1]

Synopsis

In this adventure, based on a famous Korean folk tale, a daughter sacrifices herself to restore her blind father's eyesight.

Production

As a personal project, Shin spent eight years getting the project off the ground, including three and a half years of pre-production. The film was co-produced in North Korea by the Chosun April 26th Children Film Studio (also known as SEK), and the score was also recorded in the North by the Pyongyang Film and Broadcasting Orchestra. In a move unusual for the Korean film industry, the character voices were recorded in both the South and the North due to differences in dialect. For the definitive international release version, the South Korean dub is the one used.

Release

On August 12, 2005, Empress Chung became the first film to have been released simultaneously in both North and South Korea. The film was featured at the 2004 Annecy International Animation Festival, and was also recognized with several awards in Korea.

The film grossed US$140,000 on its opening weekend against a US$6.5 million budget,[1] continuing a trend of under-performing animated features made for the Korean market.[2]

Disappearance

Since the initial release, aside from few screenings across the Europe there was never a home release and as such, the movie is considered lost. Nowadays, the only things related to the movie that is online is the trailer, sound test animation, some screenshotes[3] and a collection of children's books.[4]

There has also been evidence suggesting despite not being released on DVD internationally or in South Korea, that it was in fact released in North Korea because Johannes Schönherr has mentioned Empress Chung when talking about his latest North Korean DVD acquiring, however without more evidence it can neither be confirmed or disconfirmed whether North Korean DVD release is real.[5]

Another thing worth noting is that the movie does have a page on FilmDoo, which does allow users to vote if they want to see the movie available via the platform.[6]

See also

References
  1. Jie, Li (February 2012). "Drawing out the Hermit". NewsChina Magazine. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  2. Russell, Mark (August 31, 2005). "Uniting the Two Koreas, in Animated Films at Least". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  3. Korean database entry on Empress Chung. Retrieved 06 Oct '19
  4. Link to a site selling children's books based on Empress Chung. Retrieved 06 Oct '19
  5. North Korean film's page on North Korea animated films containing a section on Empress Chung. Retrieved 07 Oct '19
  6. FilmDoo page on Empress Chung. Retrieved 06 Oct '19
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