Obaltan [SEP] country of origin
- Kim Hye-jeong
- Noh Jae-sin
- Moon Jung-suk
- Yoon Il-bong
- Yu Gye-seon
- Nam Chun-yeok
- Park Gyeong-hui
Reception.
The government banned "Obaltan" because of its unremittingly downbeat depiction of life in post-armistice South Korea. An American consultant to the Korean National Film Production Center saw the film and persuaded the government to release it in Seoul so that it might qualify for entry in the San Francisco International
"Variety" called "Obaltan" a "remarkable film", and praised Yu's "[b]rilliantly detailed camera" and the film's "probing sympathy and rich characterizations."
His dedication to the intellectual side of film and interest in using film to deal with social and political issues led him to have difficulties both with box-office-oriented producers, and with Korea's military government during the 1960s and 1970s. Korean critics have said his directing style is "in the tradition of the Italian Neorealists,"