Ogu: A Hilarious Mourning

September 23, 2004 at 6:30 PM

Korean Cultural Service New York

Yun-taek Lee, Drama, 2003, 95 minutes

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Adapted from the hit play, Ogu: A Hilarious Mourning was featured in the 2003 Pusan International Film Festival as well as in Switzerland's 2004 Fribourg International Film Festival.
The film centers around the Kut ritual, a traditional shaman ritual from the folk beliefs of ancient Korea. When the Angels of Death appear in old lady Hwang's dreams to warn her of her passing, she seeks out the local shaman to perform the Kut ritual so that her soul will be sent to heaven. However, problems develop, as the village had decided six years ago to ban the ritual, and the four village shamans have gone their separate ways.
Writing about the original play, Korea Times critic Andrew Salmon described it as "one of the most exhilarating, funny, charming and enjoyable works this writer has seen on stage anywhere."