Yeonryeon
English Title_4K_5.1 Sound
The motifs of Yeonryeon are longing for a mother who has passed away and reflection on my life. Through the families of Seoyeon and Dongryeon, I aim to convey to the audience the preciousness of family and introspection on life. Furthermore, Yeonryeon attempts to recreate Korean traditional cultures such as Seodo Sori and Darigut, as well as Gyeonggi Sori, Gyeonggi Gut, and Hwanghae-do Gut, with the goal of introducing them to a wider audience. In particular, Seodo Sori and Darigut are traditional Korean cultural traditions passed down in the Pyeongan-do and Hwanghae-do regions, embodying the musical and ritual characteristics of the people of North Korea. However, despite being precious Korean traditional cultures, Seodo Sori and Darigut are currently difficult to transmit and preserve due to the Korean War in 1950.
Dongryeon, a singer from Pyeongan Province, lives a desperate life consumed by alcohol and gambling, while his wife, Eulun, endures daily verbal abuse and violence, living a miserable existence. One day, after being swindled out of all his money by a gambler, Dongryeon beats the gambler to the ground and flees to Hanyang. When Dongryeon performs a song at a tavern in Gaeseong to earn travel money, people flock to see him. Noticing this, musicians from Haeju recruit Dongryeon into their troupe and promise to travel to Hanyang with him. As they travel to Hanyang with the Haeju musicians, Dongryeon stops at a tavern for the night as dusk falls. There, he hears from the innkeeper that a grand shamanistic ritual has been held at the home of Soonyoung Choi, a nobleman from the village. Greedy for money, Dongryeon extracts information about Soonyoung Choi's family from the innkeeper. Seoyeon was an only child who grew up receiving abundant love from her father, Soonyoung Choi, and her mother, Mrs. Choi. She was a bright and curious girl who was enterprising enough to visit temples, a rarity for women in Joseon at the time. Having already been betrothed to the son of the Magistrate of Pyeongsan, Hwanghae Province, through an arranged marriage, Soonyoung Choi and Mrs. Choi were eagerly awaiting their daughter Seoyeon's wedding day. However, Dongryeon learns that a week before the wedding, Seoyeon suddenly went mad, went into a frenzy, and died, and that Soonyoung Choi had therefore performed a shamanistic ritual to send his daughter to paradise. The next morning, Dongryeon betrays the musicians from Haeju and sneaks into the ritual at Soonyoung Choi's house, becoming a fake shaman. Using information obtained from the innkeeper, she initially thought she could make a fortune by completely deceiving the couple. However, the fraud was soon exposed, and Dongryeon is beaten to death by the servants. However, when Dongryeon sings the song of resonance that Seoyeon sang in his dream last night, Soonyoung Choi sheds tears and recalls the song of resonance that her beloved daughter Seoyeon used to sing. Returning home, Dongryeon apologizes to his wife Eul-un for his past wrongdoings and begs for forgiveness.
