World Premiere | Restored Classics | Out Of Competition
South Korea, 1997/4K 2026, 95’, Korean
Directed by: Park Chul-soo
Screenplay: Ji Sang-hak, Byeon Won-mi
Cinematography (color): Seong Gwang-je
Editing: Kim Hyun
Music: Byeon Seong-ryong
Producers: Kim Jong-hak, Baek Jong-hak
Cast: Hwang Cine (Dr. Han Jeong-yeon), Pang Eun-jin (Dr. Min Hye-seok)
Date of First Release in Territory: May 31st, 1997
It’s tempting to categorize Park Chul-soo’s 1997 feature
Push! Push! as a kind of hero movie, because the two female doctors at its center are as formidable and resilient as any astronaut or spy. The story takes place almost entirely within the walls of an OB-GYN hospital, where dramas involving birth, sex, death, loss, love and betrayal unspool in a dizzying stream of crisis and resolution. What the film lacks in conventional narrative, it makes up for with its boundless energy, social commentary, and the spectrum of daily challenges faced by our two protagonists.
Taking on the leading roles are Hwang Cine and Pang Eun-jin, who rank as one of the most distinctive acting tandems of 1990s Korean cinema. Two years earlier they had made a similarly strong impression in director Park’s
301,302, about two women living in neighboring apartments. With its themes of gender, trauma, and eating disorders,
301,302 was one of the few Korean films of that era to receive global distribution. In
Push! Push!, Hwang Cine (who visited Udine in 1999 with the comedy
Bedroom and Courtroom) plays Dr. Han, a hot-tempered woman with a complicated personal life, who apart from her day job also appears on TV to discuss issues related to sex and health. Pang Eun-jin plays Dr. Min, who is more introverted but just as motivated and committed to her work. They form an effective team, pushing each other when necessary, and providing emotional support.
The script, which was a collaboration between a first-time female screenwriter (Byeon Won-mi) and a male writer with decades of screenwriting experience (Ji Sang-hak), presents a wide cross-section of 1990s Korean society in the various patients who pass through the hospital. In the intimate setting of the doctor’s office, we are able to hear their unfiltered attitudes towards a range of sensitive issues, including gender discrimination, abortion, sexually transmitted disease, female masturbation and more. And although an irreverent energy pervades the film, its primary goal seems less to shock than to spark discussion. It even slips into educational mode at times, such as when it provides viewers an illustrated guide to sex during pregnancy.
Push! Push! premiered in Korea in 1997, and screened in the Panorama section of the 1998 Berlin International Film Festival. Nonetheless, since then it has been rarely cited, and never released on DVD or Blu-ray. Perhaps at the time, some viewers might have felt like it was airing out Korean society’s dirty laundry in a way that felt uncomfortable. But watching it today, close to three decades after it was made, is an eye-opening experience. There are some ways in which Korean society has changed beyond recognition. For example, the film depicts a society-wide traditional preference for sons that brings severe stress to many of the pregnant mothers in the film. But this tradition has faded almost to nothing: in a recent survey of 44 countries, South Korea ranked first in preferring daughters to sons. In other respects, however, one might have hoped for more social changes than have actually taken place. We can also ask the question: are we more comfortable talking about sex than we were 30 years ago?
Push! Push! leaves viewers with much to think about, but it would be wrong to suggest that it is simply an issue film. Director Park puts a great deal of humor into the movie (the nurses who assist the head doctors have many scene-stealing moments of their own), and the camerawork in particular is on another level. Although the idea of watching a film set in an OB-GYN hospital might not seem particularly appealing, once you start watching it, it is hard to stop.
Park Chul-soo
After growing up in a rural village, Park Chul-soo had his first theatrical experience watching West Side Story as a young adult. He directed several classics of 1980s Korean cinema including Mother and Pillar of Mist, but it was in the mid-1990s with 301, 302 (1995), Farewell My Darling (1996) and Push! Push! (1997) that he broke out internationally. Green Chair (2004) also screened at the Sundance Film Festival. He directed 29 features in total, and also worked as a producer and ran a small film school. Park tragically passed away in a traffic accident in 2013.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
1985 – Mother
1986 – Pillar of Mist
1994 – Sado Sade Impotence
1995 – 301, 302
1996 – Farewell My Darling
1997 – Push! Push!
1998 – Kazoku Cinema
2000 – Bongja
2004 – Green Chair
2012 – B.E.D