A Day Off

The film never made opening night and was forgotten until rediscovered as one of director Lee Manhee's best films. It's the story about a poor, young couple's Sunday. Shin Seong-il appears as penniless Heo Uk, the image of the despair and futility of the era. Unable to make the money he needs for his girlfriend's abortion, Heo Uk resorts to stealing from a friend. He is able to pay for the abortion, but Heo Uk wanders about throughout the surgery. A Day Off is one of the most highly praised Korean films of the 1960s today, for amazing cinematic expression and filmic tension unseen at the time. (Busan International Film Festival)