Preview of the controversial film Unbowed (부러진 화살)

Every once in a while, there comes along a movie that is so powerful and shocking that it leaves an indelible impact on an entire nation and even generates social change. But in 2011, South Korea premiered two such films in one year—The Crucible (도가니), a disturbing film about sexual abuse committed against deaf children that led to the South Korean government passing a stricter law on sex offenders, and Unbowed, a film that caused South Korea’s judiciary system to pay closer attention to the public’s concerns over the transparency and fairness of its legal proceedings. Based on actual events, Unbowed (부러진 화살) is a 2011 South Korean courtroom drama film directed by Chung Ji-young and starring Ahn Sung-ki, Park Won-sang, Na Young-hee, Kim Ji-ho, and Moon Sung-geun. It tells the story of Kim Kyung-ho (played by legendary actor Ahn Sung-ki), a math professor who is fired from his university for pointing out an erroneous math question on the university’s entrance exam. In an effort to get his job back, Kim takes the issue to court, only to have the judge rule in favor of the university. Believing that the judge made an unfair decision, Kim takes a crossbow to the judge’s residence one night and tries to shoot him. Whether he actually shot him, however, is unclear.

Kim is subsequently arrested and taken to prison. What ensues is a nationwide media frenzy over the “Crossbow Terror Incident” and months of agonizing trials for Kim. Kim goes through a string of defense attorneys before finally meeting Park Joon (played by Park Won-sang), an alcoholic lawyer struggling to make ends meet. Park tirelessly fights for Kim, although Kim, who has studied the law thoroughly while in prison, is often shown to talk more in court than his lawyer.

Sadly and surprisingly, Kim is constantly denied a fair trial—all of the evidence presented is more than suspect, and all of the judges seem to have already made up their minds that Kim is guilty. A gripping story of one man fighting against the system, Unbowed sparked a national debate over perceived biases within South Korea’s court system, as well as over how much of the story is actually true. Viewers were divided over the accuracy of the film’s portrayal of events, but one thing is for sure—it was and will remain a movie to be much talked about! No society is perfect, and the movie goes to great lengths to show some flaws that still exist in modern South Korean society, such as the power that the elite still hold in South Korean society and the importance of saving face and preserving one’s reputation.

This article appears in the book Korean Culture Navigation in NY published by the Korean Cultural Center NY.