Chi-hwa-seon or Chwi-hwa-seon, (also known as Painted Fire, Strokes of Fire or Drunk on Women and Poetry), is a 2002 South Korean drama film directed by Im Kwon-taek about Jang Seung-eop (commonly known by his pen name, Owon), a nineteenth-century Korean painter who changed the direction of Korean art.
Synopsis
It begins with the Korean artist being suspicious of a Japanese art-lover who values his work. The story then goes back to his man's early years. Beginning as a vagabond with a talent for drawing, he has a talent for imitating other people's art, but is urged to go on and develop a style of his own. This process is painful and he often behaves very badly, getting drunk and being hostile to those who care about him and try to help him.
These events are set against the struggle for reform within Korea, caught between China and Japan (annexed by Japan in 1910, outside the film's time-frame).
Cast
Choi Min-sik as Jang Seung-up
Ahn Sung-ki as Kim Byung-Moon
Yoo Ho-jeong as Mae-hyang
Kim Yeo-jin as Jin-jong
Son Ye-jin as So-woon
Awards
In 2020, the film was ranked by The Guardian number 13 among the classics of modern South Korean cinema.