Arirang: I once was lost but now I am found?

I own ‘a lot’ of movies. While it isn’t what I would call a ‘plethora’ of movies, in comparison to say Harry Knowles [3,500 last count in his ’02 biography] or a chap at my church, Dave, who celebrated his 1000th DVD with a bottle of champagne, it is to some of my circles ‘a lot’ of movies. Whether it was self proclaimed, or aptly put by another, I cannot remember, my ‘Wall of DVDs’ is something to behold to many who enter my humble abode. I’m a bit behind on updating my lists but it’s somewhere around 500+ titles between DVD and VHS. But none of us can compare to Japanese film collector Abe Yoshishige and the near 50,000 titles he left behind after his death. And though death for most really sucks nuts Yoshishige’s death has the nation of Korea up in quite a tizzy.

Via HanCinema, Chosun and KoreanFilm.

Yoshishige’s collection [on the list are 60 Korean films as well as rare silent Japanese films] may contain a surviving copy of director Na Un-gyu's classic 1926 film "Arirang", a film believed lost (like the other 140 Korean films produced from 1919-1939) around WW II. Abe did claim to have a copy of the silent movie [Abe’s father was a police officer in colonial Korea and both became avid collectors of films from the periods before and after the Pacific War - His father’s position likely gave him incredible access to the films he collected]. While his possession of the film was never confirmed he did show documentary director Chung Su-ung and a reporter from Japan's Mainichi Shimbun a list of the films in his possession. No. 55? "Arirang/nine volumes/modern play".

Chung attended Abe's funeral in Osaka last Friday. "I wasn't able to confirm the film, but I did reconfirm that 'Arirang' is written on the list of films in the collection... As the film is a legacy of the Korean people, now is the time for the government to try to get the movie back."

Abe refused to allow experts to inspect the films while he was alive, but the collection is being hailed as the most significant discovery for the film worlds of Japan and Korea since the end of World War II. I suppose it would be like finding long lost copies of The General, The Birth of a Nation or Citizen Kane. Now since Abe died without an heir the 50,000 film collection has been reverted to the Japanese government. If that were not enough Abe believed the film to be an anti-Japanese film and refused to donate it unless the two Koreas were united. Given the geo-political history of the region one would assume that Abe were incredibly optimistic but it appears he never intended to give the film back.

The Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs has been charged with inspecting the collection. A spokesperson for the group said, "If we need to, we will request the cooperation of Korean experts and inspect the films... In that the film could be the root of the 'Korean Wave,' we hope it has been discovered."

The 1926 movie was tells the story of a college student who returns home after being tortured for his participation in the March 1 Independence Movement. He kills the landowner who had been harassing his family. At the end of the film it is reported that audiences would break into sing-a-longs of the Korean folk song "Arirang", after which the film is titled.