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Yu Hyun-mok

Yu Hyun-mok
유현목
Born	(1925-07-02)July 2, 1925 Sariwon, Hwanghae, Japanese Korea
Died	June 28, 2009(2009-06-28) (aged 83) Seoul, South Korea
Occupation	Director
Years active	1948–2007
Awards	Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit (2009)
Korean name
Hangul	유현목
Hanja	兪賢穆
Revised Romanization	Yu Hyeon-mok
McCune–Reischauer	Yu Hyŏnmok

Yu Hyun-mok (July 2, 1925 – June 28, 2009) was a South Korean film director. Born in Sariwon, Hwanghae, Korea (North Korea today), he made his film debut in 1956 with Gyocharo (Crossroads).^[1] According to the website koreanfilm.org, his 1961 film Obaltan "has repeatedly been voted the best Korean film of all time in local critics' polls."^[1] Yu attended the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1963, where Variety called Obaltan a "remarkable film", and praised Yu's "[b]rilliantly detailed camera" and the film's "probing sympathy and rich characterizations."^[2]

His dedication to the intellectual side of film and interest in using film to deal with social and political issues led him to have difficulties both with box-office-oriented producers, and with Korea's military government during the 1960s and 1970s.^[1] Korean critics have said his directing style is "in the tradition of the Italian Neorealists," yet "the terms 'modernist' or 'expressionistic' [are] just as applicable to his works."^[3]

Besides his directing activities, he has taught film,^[1] and made a significant contribution to Korean animation by producing Kim Cheong-gi's 1976 animated film, Robot Taekwon V. A retrospective of Yu's career was held at the 4th Pusan International Film Festival in 1999.^[3]

Yu died from a stroke on June 28, 2009.^[4]

• Blue Dragon Film Awards
  • Best Picture/Best Director (Descendant of Cain) (1968)
• Grand Bell Awards
  • Best Director (To Give Freely) (1962)
  • Best Director (Martyr) (1965)
  • Best Director (Bun-Rye's Story) (1971)
  • Best Picture (Flame) (1975)
  • Honorary Director Award (1995)
• Korean Film Critics Awards
  • Best Director (Son of Man) (1980)
• Order of Cultural Merit, Korean government - Geumgwan (Gold Crown), 1st Class (2009)
• Pusan International Film Festival
  • Award for Artistic Contribution (2003)

• Lee, Young-il (1988). The History of Korean Cinema. Motion Picture Promotion Corporation. p. 336. ISBN 89-88095-12-X.
• Min, Eungjun; Joo Jinsook; Kwak HanJu (2003). Korean Film : History, Resistance, and Democratic Imagination. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. pp. 41, 44–46, 52, 57, 62–63. ISBN 0-275-95811-6.
• "Filmography of Yu Hyun-mok" (in Korean). DAUM Movie DB.

• Yu Hyun-mokatIMDb
• The Yu Hyun-mok Page at koreanfilm.org