Jiseul

On 3 April 1948, a rebellion broke out on the Korean island of Jeju, resulting in conflicts that lasted until September 1954 and tens of thousands of people dead. There are still disagreements about the cause of the bloodbath; thanks to the dubious role played by the South Korean government, the events were ignored for a long time in Korean history.
O Muel, who himself comes from this island south of the Korean peninsula, now pays homage to the victims with a requiem. He does not focus on the large-scale struggle, but on the stories of ordinary people, occasionally with black humour and then again sad: quarrels, conflicts, reconciliation and comfort.
The most important part of the film focuses on one of the forgotten stories in the rebellion, in which a group of villagers flees to a cave. They hide underground for months, cold and numb, far too close for comfort – just like the potatoes to which the title refers.

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