Genealogy

During the final years of the Japanese colonial era, Koreans were required to adopt Japanese names as part of an assimilation policy known as Sōshi-kaimei (창씨개명). Resistance to this erasure of Korean identity was widespread, prompting increasingly coercive and punitive measures from the colonial government to enforce compliance. Based on a short story by Korea-born Japanese author Kajiyama Toshiyuki, Genealogy tells one such story: a proud patriarch who refuses the decree in honor of his ancestors, seen through the eyes of a sympathetic Japanese official. As pressure mounts and the lives around him begin to unravel, the patriarch is faced with an impossible choice. With remarkable stillness that invites introspection, Im Kwon-taek avoids grandstanding patriotism in favor of a solemn meditation on conviction, heritage, and identity. Long focused on commercial filmmaking, Im would later describe this work as an important artistic turning point. Genealogy is indeed an understated masterpiece that marks the beginning of Im’s ascent to greatness. Digitally mastered in 2011 under the supervision of the Korean Film Archive.