Very well executed

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Highly Overrated But Still Good

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a Korean film telling the story of two lovers torn apart by class. The son of a governor and the daughter of a courtesan. It has the air of a fairytale and is a very good film.It may be difficult for some people to get into the film in the beginning if you are not familiar with pansori. Pansori is a centuries old Korean form of storytelling in which a storyteller sings the story while a drummer drums and makes short vocal sounds or words of encouragement. It is initially jarring for those of us who mostly watch American and European film, but stick with it. I first saw this in a film class and it was among two films that I wrote about for class and liked so much that I purchased on my own once the class ended.As the film begins the viewer is placed in the position of someone watching a pansori performance. From here the film transitions from the world of Chunhyang to the pansori audience. Part of the enjoyment of the film comes from watching the reactions of the pansori audience to the story. It is akin to being in a movie theater and sharing the same experiences with everyone else watching the film.Aside from the format, the story itself is enchanting, full of love, loyalty, and courage. The acting is very good and the actors are not bad looking themselves. The pansori performance is a song of the story so it has some poetic qualities that don't necessarily push the story forward, but are enjoyable if you are patient. All in all it is a look into Korean culture and storytelling that not many films from America, Europe, or the rest of the world do for their own cultures. Most films today just stick to the basic narrative design or are pretentious and abstract. This one creates a new experience for anyone who is willing to give it a chance.

The acting was marginal. The scenes well costumed but amateurish. And after listening to 120 minutes of drumming and bellowing by the ONLY decent performance, the "narrator," I wanted to scream as if being tortured.2 out of 10 stars!!

I found Chunhyang to be a beautiful Cinderella-like folktale. The story is very simple and universal. But I found myself suspending any skepticism and was completely caught up in the all the emotions the film took me through. The direction, acting, and cinematography was lush and beautiful. My response to the Pansori sequences was different than some reviewers who found it annoying. Granted, I wouldn't sit at home listening to Pansori opera on my stereo. But I found it to be a window into another culture that I've never been exposed to before. It was interesting to see the Korean audience also caught up in the emotion of the story as the Pansori told the tale. And the Pansori was also used effectively to reduce any graphic violence in the film during the violent beating of the heroine by the evil governor. I thought the concept of going up and back between the story and the Pansori telling the story was unique and brilliant. I'm surprised the film received an R rating. Any sexuality in the film was done very tastefully. I think it should have received a PG rating.

This movie had many beautiful qualities. The story is as old as time; it is the romantic and beautiful study of lovers separated by class. I would say this is closer to Cinderella than Romeo & Juliet. The movie is full of beautiful pictures, and it is visually very impressive. This story is taking place in Korea, so even though the story is not new, the characters, the behaviors, the setting, the environment, the physical tools they use, the daily habits of the characters are so different that you don't feel like you are watching a classic. However, the "Pandori" style was a challenge of endurance. Open mindedness has nothing to do with this, I cannot imagine anyone hearing the voice of that Pandori singer for the first time enjoying it. I wouldn't call this "music" because it mainly consisted of howling. It was interesting to pay attention to the words of this so-called song, because it was describing the movie act by act, and the emotions of the characters. However, the sound was unbearable. I wished I had ear plugs with me, I believe it would have increased my enjoyment of the movie quite a bit. I knew what it would be like when I walked into this movie, but nothing could have prepared me to the 2 hour howling that would come. So my emotions during the movie consisted of pain, agony and a desire to walk out during the singing, and mesmerized watching in the rare moments the singing stopped.