The Story of Hong Gil-dong

Enjoy two films for the price of one at select double features! Valid on September 2 or 17 with a ticket to this film & Hopi and Chadol-Bawi. Discount automatically applied when adding both tickets to your cart; double features excluded from 3+ Film Package.

Hong Gil-dong is an iconic figure in Korean literature and pop culture who first appeared in the mid-19th century as the protagonist of an adventure novel, The Story of Hong Gil-dong. So it’s no surprise that South Korea’s first animated feature film would center on Gil-dong, in this case in an adaptation by director Shin Dong-hun of his younger brother Shin Dong-woo’s popular manhwa (comic) Lucky Adventurer, Hong Gil-dong (serialized from 1965 to 1969 in Children’s Chosun Ilbo). Born the illegitimate son of a government official—which automatically makes him a social outcast—Gil-dong leaves home, spends time training in martial arts under Master Baekwun, and becomes a leader of a group of bandits who steal from corrupt officials in order to punish them and help the poor. The film was considered lost until a 16mm print was discovered in Japan in 2008; it was blown up to 35mm before undergoing digital restoration. Restored in 2021 by the Korean Film Archive and the Image Power Station.