The Flower Girl
Encyclopedia
The Flower Girl is a North Korea
n revolutionary genre
theatrical performance, supposedly written by Kim Il-Sung
himself according to official North Korean sources. The performance is considered as one of the "Five Great Revolutionary Operas" (Korean
: 5대 혁명가극), a group of classical, revolution-themed opera repertoires well received within North Korea. It was also made into a novel. A film adaption of the opera starring Hong Yong-hee was made in 1972.
, and is based on the anti-Japanese guerrilla movement
during the period of Japanese occupation in Korea
. A poor, rural girl, around whom the plot is centred, picks flowers on the mountain every day to sell at the market, to care for her ill mother. Additionally, she has a blind sister, and her father is deceased. Her mother is in debt to the landlord, and is bankrupt and unable to purchase food. The landlord's subordinates frequently harass the girl and call for her to work for them, to which her mother refuses. The girl then finds her blind sister attempting to earn money by singing on the street, to her anger.
Eventually, she collects enough money to purchase medicine for her ill mother, but by the time she returns, her mother had already died. The landlord's wife becomes very sick, and suspects that the flower girl's blind sister is possessed by the spirit of her deceased mother, and so arranges for her to be frozen to death in the snow. When the flower girl returns home and asks where her sister had gone, the landlord's subordinates chain her up. At this moment, her brother, who had joined the Revolutionary Army, returns home to visit family when he realises that the flower girl had been locked up, and so organises a group of villagers to overthrow the landlord.
's personal memoirs, he personally created the ideas and foundation for the play himself whilst in a Jilin
prison during the 1930s. The first section of his 1992 memoir With the Century , entitled "Anti-Japanese Revolution" , notes that:
Although it is commonly stated that Kim Il-sung was the sole author of the production, many critics in China cast doubts over the reliability of the claim, and suggest that other North Korean writers may have also had some form of interaction in the opera's production.
The first official premiere of the opera production was held on November 30, 1972 in Pyongyang
, where it was hailed as a great success.
According to official North Korean reports, in April 1968, Kim Jong-il
suggested that another revolutionary opera, Sea of Blood
, be adapted for a film. Since then, other works have also been adapted into movies "under his guidance", including The Flower Girl. The opera was intended to promote the communist ideology, by incorporating themes such as the class struggle
against the bourgeois; such themes were similarly maintained in the film.
In April 1972, the film adaptation was officially launched. The film was directed by Choe Ik-kyu and the script was written by Pak Hak; Paekdu-san Group was responsible for the production of the film.
when they were introduced there since September 9, 1972, predominantly during the closing period of the Cultural Revolution
and the beginning of the era of Deng Xiaoping
's rule, where the production was known by the name of The Flower-selling Girl . A number of theatrical tours were made in China, which were performed in 1973, 1998, 2002 and 2008. In 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
was received by Hong Yong-hee during his visit to North Korea.
As of 2008, the opera has been performed over 1,400 times in North Korea and more than 40 other countries, mostly Eastern Bloc
states; other countries include France
, Italy
, Germany
, Algeria
and Japan
. The title of the opera and film was known as Blomsterflickan in Sweden
, Das Blumenmädchen in the German Democratic Republic
, Kvetinárka in Czechoslovakia
, and Kwiaciarka in Poland
.
In China, the film adaptation of the opera was dubbed
by the Changchun Film Studio, based on translations by He Mingyan, who was earlier responsible in 1958 in the translation of the North Korean film adaptation of Chunhyangjeon
. The entire translation process for The Flower Girl took only seven days. Although the dialogue was dubbed in Mandarin Chinese, song lyrics remained in Korean
. As the film was played in Chinese cinemas during the period of the Cultural Revolution
, the movie became immensely popular due to its proletarian revolution
-based content, to the point where theaters even adopted a 24-hour screening cycle because of high ticket sales.
In South Korea
, the film was deemed as communist propaganda
and a symbol of the enemy, and screening was banned; police were often mobilised when university students were found playing the film on campus, and the students were often accused of being sympathetic
with the North. In 1998, the Supreme Court of South Korea
ruled that The Flower Girl and six other North Korean films were "not favouring anti-ROK sentiments" in regards to national security laws.
At the 18th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
in 1972, The Flower Girl film adaptation was awarded the special prize. Hong Yong-hee is depicted on a North Korean won
bank note, in her role as the flower girl.
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
n revolutionary genre
Communist revolution
A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism, typically with socialism as an intermediate stage...
theatrical performance, supposedly written by Kim Il-Sung
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung was a Korean communist politician who led the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death...
himself according to official North Korean sources. The performance is considered as one of the "Five Great Revolutionary Operas" (Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
: 5대 혁명가극), a group of classical, revolution-themed opera repertoires well received within North Korea. It was also made into a novel. A film adaption of the opera starring Hong Yong-hee was made in 1972.
Plot
The story is set during the 1930s1930s
File:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...
, and is based on the anti-Japanese guerrilla movement
Korean independence movement
The Korean independence movement grew out of the Japanese colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. After the Japanese surrendered, Korea became independent; that day is now an annual holiday called Gwangbokjeol in South Korea, and Chogukhaebangŭi nal in North Korea.-Background:In...
during the period of Japanese occupation in Korea
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
. A poor, rural girl, around whom the plot is centred, picks flowers on the mountain every day to sell at the market, to care for her ill mother. Additionally, she has a blind sister, and her father is deceased. Her mother is in debt to the landlord, and is bankrupt and unable to purchase food. The landlord's subordinates frequently harass the girl and call for her to work for them, to which her mother refuses. The girl then finds her blind sister attempting to earn money by singing on the street, to her anger.
Eventually, she collects enough money to purchase medicine for her ill mother, but by the time she returns, her mother had already died. The landlord's wife becomes very sick, and suspects that the flower girl's blind sister is possessed by the spirit of her deceased mother, and so arranges for her to be frozen to death in the snow. When the flower girl returns home and asks where her sister had gone, the landlord's subordinates chain her up. At this moment, her brother, who had joined the Revolutionary Army, returns home to visit family when he realises that the flower girl had been locked up, and so organises a group of villagers to overthrow the landlord.
Creation
According to Kim Il-sungKim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung was a Korean communist politician who led the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death...
's personal memoirs, he personally created the ideas and foundation for the play himself whilst in a Jilin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
prison during the 1930s. The first section of his 1992 memoir With the Century , entitled "Anti-Japanese Revolution" , notes that:
"There was a time during our country's independence movement where we held on to our vision to build an "ideal village" concept... At the time, we adopted the Korean students in Jilin to teach village people to sing a large variety of revolutionary songs, such as the Red Flag Song and Revolution Song. In Wujiazi we formed a performance group based at Samsong school led by Kye Yong-chun. It was during this time that I was completing the script for The Flower Girl, which I had started whilst I was in Jilin City. Upon finishing the script, production of the opera began, and we staged the opera in the Samsong school hall on the 13th anniversary of the October RevolutionOctober RevolutionThe October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. For many years after liberation, the opera hadn't been performed since, until it was improved and adapted for film, and re-written as a novel, under the guidance of the Organising Secretary (Kim Jong-il) and released in the early 1970s."English translation of memoir is abridged from the original text for conciseness, and is based on the 1994 Chinese-language publication.
Original memoir text from the Chinese language version published in 1994, unabridged:
"有一个时期，我国的独立运动者们抱着要建设一个“理想村”的构想，为实现这个构想从各方面作过努力……当时在吉林文光中学念书的朝鲜学生当中，有几个来自孤榆树和五家子的青年，他们常夸五家子是个好地方。因此，我就开始注意五家子，并决心把这个村改造成革命村。 1930年10月，我从东满来到五家子……当时，我们通过学生，给村里的人教唱了很多革命的歌曲。《赤旗歌》、《革命歌》等革命歌曲，只要到学校去教唱一次，当天就传遍全村。 五家子村有个由我们组织起来的演艺队。在桂永春的领导下，这个演艺队以三星学校为据点，积极开展了活动。 我也着手完成《卖花姑娘》的剧本。这个剧本，我在吉林市就已开始写，并已试演过几次。剧本一完成，桂永春就带领三星学校的戏剧小组成员开始排练。 在十月革命13周年纪念日那天，我们在三星学校礼堂演出了这出歌剧。这出歌剧解放后长期被埋没，到了70年代初，才在党中央组织书记的指导下，由我们的作家、艺术工作者改编成电影、歌剧和小说公诸于世。组织书记为此付出了很大的力量。"
Alternate English translation provided by Korea-DPR.com (page 276 of 2161):
"In Wujiazi we had formed an art troupe. This troupe was based at Samsong School and worked successfully under the guidance of Kye Yong Chun. I worked hard to complete the libretto of The Flower Girl which I had begun to write in my days in Jirin and then staged rehearsals for it. Once the libretto was finished, Kye started the production of the opera with the members of the drama group that had been formed at the school. We staged this opera in the hall of the Samsong School on the 13th anniversary of the October Revolution. This opera was not seen on stage for many years after liberation, and then was improved and adapted for the screen, re-written as a novel by our writers and artistes under the guidance of Organizing Secretary Kim Jong Il and presented to the public in the early 1970s. At that time the Organizing Secretary did a lot of work."
Although it is commonly stated that Kim Il-sung was the sole author of the production, many critics in China cast doubts over the reliability of the claim, and suggest that other North Korean writers may have also had some form of interaction in the opera's production.
The first official premiere of the opera production was held on November 30, 1972 in Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
, where it was hailed as a great success.
According to official North Korean reports, in April 1968, Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim born 16 February 1941 or 16 February 1942 , is the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea...
suggested that another revolutionary opera, Sea of Blood
Sea of Blood
Sea of Blood is a revolutionary novel, film, and opera created in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea about the mass killings during the Japanese occupation...
, be adapted for a film. Since then, other works have also been adapted into movies "under his guidance", including The Flower Girl. The opera was intended to promote the communist ideology, by incorporating themes such as the class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
against the bourgeois; such themes were similarly maintained in the film.
In April 1972, the film adaptation was officially launched. The film was directed by Choe Ik-kyu and the script was written by Pak Hak; Paekdu-san Group was responsible for the production of the film.
Reception
The opera and its film adaptation were both well received in the People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
when they were introduced there since September 9, 1972, predominantly during the closing period of the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
and the beginning of the era of Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
's rule, where the production was known by the name of The Flower-selling Girl . A number of theatrical tours were made in China, which were performed in 1973, 1998, 2002 and 2008. In 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao is the sixth and current Premier and Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy...
was received by Hong Yong-hee during his visit to North Korea.
As of 2008, the opera has been performed over 1,400 times in North Korea and more than 40 other countries, mostly Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
states; other countries include France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The title of the opera and film was known as Blomsterflickan in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Das Blumenmädchen in the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
, Kvetinárka in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, and Kwiaciarka in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
In China, the film adaptation of the opera was dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
by the Changchun Film Studio, based on translations by He Mingyan, who was earlier responsible in 1958 in the translation of the North Korean film adaptation of Chunhyangjeon
Chunhyangjeon
The Chunhyangjeon is one of the best known love stories and folk tales of Korea. It is based on the pansori Chunhyangga.Date of composition and author are unknown, and the present form took shape 1694~1834 from the most famous of the five surviving pansori tales, the Song of Chun Hyang.-Main...
. The entire translation process for The Flower Girl took only seven days. Although the dialogue was dubbed in Mandarin Chinese, song lyrics remained in Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
. As the film was played in Chinese cinemas during the period of the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, the movie became immensely popular due to its proletarian revolution
Proletarian revolution
A proletarian revolution is a social and/or political revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie. Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialists, communists, and most anarchists....
-based content, to the point where theaters even adopted a 24-hour screening cycle because of high ticket sales.
In South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, the film was deemed as communist propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
and a symbol of the enemy, and screening was banned; police were often mobilised when university students were found playing the film on campus, and the students were often accused of being sympathetic
Subversion
Apache Subversion is a software versioning and a revision control system distributed under a free license. Developers use Subversion to maintain current and historical versions of files such as source code, web pages, and documentation...
with the North. In 1998, the Supreme Court of South Korea
Supreme Court of South Korea
The Supreme Court of Korea is the highest court in South Korea. It is located in Seoul.Articles 101-110 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea establish the Supreme Court and enumerates its powers and responsibilities.-Composition:...
ruled that The Flower Girl and six other North Korean films were "not favouring anti-ROK sentiments" in regards to national security laws.
At the 18th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events....
in 1972, The Flower Girl film adaptation was awarded the special prize. Hong Yong-hee is depicted on a North Korean won
North Korean won
The won is the currency of North Korea . It is subdivided into 100 chon. The won is issued by the Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea...
bank note, in her role as the flower girl.