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The Flower Girl

 The Flower Girl
type
TVTItem
 The Flower Girl
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The Flower Girl
 The Flower Girl
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TheFlowerGirl
 The Flower Girl
comment
The Flower Girl (꽃파는 처녀) is a 1972 film from North Korea.The film is set in the 1930s during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The plot follows the story of Kotpun (Hong Yong-hee) a young woman who sells flowers in the streets of her village. Her mother, a widow, is effectively a slave, trapped into unending service to the evil Pae family. Mr. and Mrs. Pae are the local landowners, who exploit and oppress the villagers, and who are collaborators with the Japanese. If that's not a sad enough life for Kotpun, her mother is dying. And if that's not sad enough, her brother Chol-ryong has been rotting in a Japanese prison camp for years. And if that isn't sad enough, her little sister, Sun Hui, is blind.The Flower Girl was based on an opera supposedly written by Kim Il-sung. That probably isn't true, but it is known that his son, cinephile Kim Jong-il, began his involvement in the North Korean film industry by producing this movie. It might be the best film ever made in North Korea, although that is likely an Overly Narrow Superlative given the limitations of cinema in a dirt-poor Stalinist dictatorship. It was iconic enough that a picture of Hong Yong-hee as Kotpun used to be on the North Korean one-won note◊.
 The Flower Girl
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2024-03-04T10:46:43Z
 The Flower Girl
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2024-03-04T10:46:43Z
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Dropped link to GodwinsLawOfFacialHair: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
 The Flower Girl
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Dropped link to Mook: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
 The Flower Girl
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Godwin's Law of Facial Hair
 The Flower Girl
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Mook
 The Flower Girl
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DBTropes
 The Flower Girl / int_1439161f
type
Heroic BSoD
 The Flower Girl / int_1439161f
comment
Heroic BSoD: Kotpun shuts down for a while after being told her brother is dead.
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The Flower Girl / int_1439161f
 The Flower Girl / int_1a3a91dd
type
Say My Name
 The Flower Girl / int_1a3a91dd
comment
Say My Name: "OOOOOOOOOOOOPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" (oppa, "brother"), says Kotpun, upon being told by the prison guards that her brother died in jail. Hilariously intercut with scenes of ocean waves crashing against the shore.
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The Flower Girl / int_1a3a91dd
 The Flower Girl / int_20613a2a
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Victorian Novel Disease
 The Flower Girl / int_20613a2a
comment
Victorian Novel Disease: Mom is dying of, well, she's dying of something.
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The Flower Girl / int_20613a2a
 The Flower Girl / int_34dd5f3
type
La Résistance
 The Flower Girl / int_34dd5f3
comment
La Résistance: Chol-ryong has been with the anti-Japanese guerillas. North Koreans who went to see this movie would obviously know that Kim Il-sung was an anti-Japanese guerilla leader.
 The Flower Girl / int_34dd5f3
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The Flower Girl / int_34dd5f3
 The Flower Girl / int_356e26da
type
Good Hair, Evil Hair
 The Flower Girl / int_356e26da
comment
Good Hair, Evil Hair: The Japanese officer dining with the Paes has a Hitler mustache.
 The Flower Girl / int_356e26da
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The Flower Girl / int_356e26da
 The Flower Girl / int_3fca462c
type
Deus ex Machina
 The Flower Girl / int_3fca462c
comment
Deus ex Machina: Kotpun's brother Chol-ryong, though to be dead, turns up out of nowhere in the last 15 minutes. He's been fighting with the anti-Japanese resistance for the last two years. One might have expected that poor little Sun Hui might have frozen to death after a Mook dumps her in the snowy mountains, since she's a small child who is blind. Luckily a hermit who lives in a nearby cabin just happened to be in the immediate vicinity.
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The Flower Girl / int_3fca462c
 The Flower Girl / int_425050e8
type
Tear Jerker
 The Flower Girl / int_425050e8
comment
Tearjerker: Well, how about a movie where a blind little girl crawls to her dead mother on her hands and knees, crying "Mama, here's medicine!"? That's pretty sad, right?
 The Flower Girl / int_425050e8
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The Flower Girl / int_425050e8
 The Flower Girl / int_49d59be9
type
Scenery Porn
 The Flower Girl / int_49d59be9
comment
Scenery Porn: The acting is mostly wooden, and the plot is cliche-filled, but visually the film is just lovely. There are some stunning color shots of the North Korean countryside.
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The Flower Girl / int_49d59be9
 The Flower Girl / int_4f3bf54e
type
Working on the Chain Gang
 The Flower Girl / int_4f3bf54e
comment
Working on the Chain Gang: When Kotpun finally completes her cross-country trek to the Japanese prison camp, she finds Korean men in chains, building a railroad.
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The Flower Girl / int_4f3bf54e
 The Flower Girl / int_52989fee
type
Narrator
 The Flower Girl / int_52989fee
comment
Narrator: One pops up from time to time to provide exposition, like when explaining that the dude who just appeared is Kotpun's brother.
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The Flower Girl / int_52989fee
 The Flower Girl / int_52c3c556
type
Blade-of-Grass Cut
 The Flower Girl / int_52c3c556
comment
Blade-of-Grass Cut: Many closeups of flowers.
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The Flower Girl / int_52c3c556
 The Flower Girl / int_53c9fc92
type
Flashback
 The Flower Girl / int_53c9fc92
comment
Flashback: One reveals that little Sun Hui was blinded when Mrs. Pae threw a pot of hot water at her in a fit of rage.
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The Flower Girl / int_53c9fc92
 The Flower Girl / int_71e8a5c5
type
Trauma Conga Line
 The Flower Girl / int_71e8a5c5
comment
Trauma Conga Line: Goodness. In the backstory, Kotpun's father is dead, her mother is ill, her brother is in jail and her sister is blind. Over the course of the movie, her mother dies, she is informed that her brother died, and her sister disappears.
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The Flower Girl / int_71e8a5c5
 The Flower Girl / int_768ae1c9
type
Les Collaborateurs
 The Flower Girl / int_768ae1c9
comment
Les Collaborateurs: The Paes are in bed with the Japanese occupiers.
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The Flower Girl / int_768ae1c9
 The Flower Girl / int_8b60a09b
type
Capitalism Is Bad
 The Flower Girl / int_8b60a09b
comment
Capitalism Is Bad: Most of the movie is a portrait of the Paes, the landowners, as being thoroughly evil capitalist oppressors. This becomes overt at the end, when Chol-ryong urges the villagers to rise up and fight the capitalists.
 The Flower Girl / int_8b60a09b
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The Flower Girl / int_8b60a09b
 The Flower Girl / int_9843be73
type
As You Know
 The Flower Girl / int_9843be73
comment
As You Know: Helpful exposition from a fortune teller that Kotpun visits in the first scene.
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The Flower Girl / int_9843be73
 The Flower Girl / int_aaece264
type
Rousing Speech
 The Flower Girl / int_aaece264
comment
Rousing Speech: The propaganda becomes very overt at the end, when Chol-ryong delivers a speech urging the villagers to rise up and fight the power.
 The Flower Girl / int_aaece264
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The Flower Girl / int_aaece264
 The Flower Girl / int_b3acb52a
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Innocent Flower Girl
 The Flower Girl / int_b3acb52a
comment
Innocent Flower Girl: Yep. Loves her mom and her sister. Walks 175 km one way to visit her brother's prison camp.
 The Flower Girl / int_b3acb52a
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The Flower Girl / int_b3acb52a
 The Flower Girl / int_c389390e
type
Opera
 The Flower Girl / int_c389390e
comment
Opera: Songs from the original opera are heard throughout the film.
 The Flower Girl / int_c389390e
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The Flower Girl / int_c389390e
 The Flower Girl / int_c960dde7
type
Melodrama
 The Flower Girl / int_c960dde7
comment
Melodrama: Lots of tragedy, death, weeping.
 The Flower Girl / int_c960dde7
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The Flower Girl / int_c960dde7
 The Flower Girl / int_e02630c1
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Witch Doctor
 The Flower Girl / int_e02630c1
comment
Witch Doctor: The Paes hire one when Mrs. Pae is prostrated by migraines. The witch doctor tells them that they need to cleanse an evil spirit that's coming from the southwest. That happens to be the direction of the hill where Sun Hui has been going to cry for her lost sister.
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The Flower Girl / int_e02630c1
 The Flower Girl / int_e3cee2e7
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Empathic Environment
 The Flower Girl / int_e3cee2e7
comment
Empathic Environment: A thunderstorm breaks out when Mom dies.
 The Flower Girl / int_e3cee2e7
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The Flower Girl / int_e3cee2e7
 The Flower Girl / int_e529d5c3
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Torches and Pitchforks
 The Flower Girl / int_e529d5c3
comment
Torches and Pitchforks: A rare heroic example. The Paes go too far when they do something nefarious with Sun Hui and then kidnap poor Kotpun. The townspeople rise up, attack the Pae estate, and massacre them. The scene where the villagers are carrying torches through the darkness is one of several beautiful shots in the film.
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The Flower Girl / int_e529d5c3
 The Flower Girl / int_ed503b22
type
Match Cut
 The Flower Girl / int_ed503b22
comment
Match Cut: Some match cuts in the ending montage compare Kotpun handing out flowers to activists handing out communist literature, as the song sings of "the red flower of revolution".
 The Flower Girl / int_ed503b22
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The Flower Girl / int_ed503b22
 The Flower Girl / int_f2b03c88
type
Indentured Servitude
 The Flower Girl / int_f2b03c88
comment
Indentured Servitude: "I'm a slave in debt", says Kotpun's mother, who is stuck slaving for the Paes because she can't pay off her debt.
 The Flower Girl / int_f2b03c88
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 The Flower Girl / int_fd184a86
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Street Performer
 The Flower Girl / int_fd184a86
comment
Street Performer: A violinist occasionally plays in the village. He briefly forms an act with Sun Hui before a mortified Kotpun puts a stop to it.
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ItemName
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The Flower Girl

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The Flower Girl
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Empathic Environment / int_14e751ae
 The Flower Girl
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Godwin's Law of Facial Hair / int_14e751ae
 The Flower Girl
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Good Hair, Evil Hair / int_14e751ae
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Indentured Servitude / int_14e751ae
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Innocent Flower Girl / int_14e751ae
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Job Title / int_14e751ae
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Trauma Conga Line / int_14e751ae
 The Flower Girl
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Working on the Chain Gang / int_14e751ae