192-399: A Story about the House Living Together
KOREA / 2006 / Korean / Color / Video / 126 min
Director, Script, Photography, Editing, Producer: Lee Hyun-jung
Sound: Pyo Yong-soo
Music: Yim Ji-hoon
Production Company: Seoul Visual Collective
Source: Lee Hyun-jung
The people in the House Living Together, a homeless community, sell clothes on the street to make a living, and serve meals to their fellow homeless people. A strange mix of people squat communally at 192-399 Jungrung Village in the Sungbuk district of Seoul, in an apartment which is scheduled to be torn down. However, the residents’ thoughts collide as the months go by, and the House Living Together slowly changes as a new member moves in during the winter of 2006, not far from the eviction deadline in February. The director’s camera casually drifts around and eavesdrops on conversations by middle-aged men born to drink soju and make meals, with cigarettes dangling out of their mouths, not to mention the other residents: a married couple, young people, a puppy, and a chicken.
[Director’s Statement] To lose one’s house in Korean society means to lose a job, hope, and even self-respect. Observing the homeless men who wanted to maintain hope by occupying an empty house over a year, we are reminded that human dignity is not simply a subject matter for a film, but an attitude toward life.
Lee Hyun-jung
Born in Seoul in 1968, Lee joined the Seoul Visual Collective, a group of documentarists, in 1996. She worked as an assistant director on On-Line in 1997, and as a producer on Rip It Up! (dir. Lee Mario) in 2001. |