138 Splendid Outing

[Finch]

Following a dream about her dead twin sister, thriving corporate tycoon Gong Do-hee (Yoon Jeong-hee, Poetry) takes a drive to the seaside. But her splendid outing becomes a nightmarish one when she is kidnapped and forced to live with a gruff island fisherman who insists that she is his runaway wife. Featuring a timely message about political oppression that evaded the stringent censors of the day, this daring modernist work from prolific Korean cineaste Kim Soo-yong (Mist) stands as one of the boldest works of Korean cinema’s darkest era — the 1970s.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES

New 4K restoration by Radiance Films
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Audio Commentary by Ariel Schudson (2025)
Interview with filmmaker Lee Chang-dong (2025)
Interview with assistant director Chung Ji-young (2025)
Stranded but Not Afraid: The Island Women of Classic Korean Cinema - a visual essay by Pierce Conran
Newly improved English subtitles
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Chung Chong-hwa and Pierce Conran and archival writing by Director Kim Soo-yong
Limited edition of 2500 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

UK/US December 8/9

[MichaelB]

Someone in the other place is taking issue with the phrase "a timely message about political oppression", saying that "Believe it or not, not all of us catastrophise about the orange man 24/7".

But the blurb doesn't mention the orange man, there's plenty of political oppression going on outside the US right now, and only a few months ago there was that thankfully failed attempt at declaring martial law in South Korea - i.e. the country where the film comes from.

So I think there may be a teensy amount of personal projection going on there.

[What A Disgrace]

Someone in the other place is taking issue with the phrase "a timely message about political oppression", saying that "Believe it or not, not all of us catastrophise about the orange man 24/7".

But the blurb doesn't mention the orange man, there's plenty of political oppression going on outside the US right now, and only a few months ago there was that thankfully failed attempt at declaring martial law in South Korea - i.e. the country where the film comes from.

So I think there may be a teensy amount of personal projection going on there.

I like to call it "weaponized disinterest".

I'd never heard of this film before today, but it sounds right up my alley - I'm almost as excited for it as the Bresson, which I've been wanting to see for a good 20 years.

[nicolas]

The Lee Chang-dong interview is huge. I dearly, dearly hope that Radiance managed to license the 4K remasters of his early films for the UK. The AU and US editions are unsatisfactory and this director more than deserves the Radiance treatment.

[rapta]

The Lee Chang-dong interview is huge. I dearly, dearly hope that Radiance managed to license the 4K remasters of his early films for the UK. The AU and US editions are unsatisfactory and this director more than deserves the Radiance treatment.

I reckon if they aren't doing it, then we might at least see another label (Third Window, Arrow, Eureka) tackle it. Chances are this is a sign Radiance are doing it though.

Great announcement, and similarly excited mostly about this and the Bresson (and will no doubt pre-order both), but might still put the Visconti on my Christmas list! Was interested in the director's better known Mist, so wonder if they'll be able to do more of his at a later date or not.

[yoloswegmaster]

The transfer note has been changed from

New 4K restoration by Radiance Films

to

High-Definition digital transfer from a 4K scan by the Korean Film Archive

[CSM126]

Splendid Beaver