{ "id": "epkwd2ekpt", "slug": "green-fish", "title": "Green Fish (초록물고기)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films", "label": "Film noir and neo-noir films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films.yr-1977-2022", "label": "Released 1977 to 2022", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films.yr-1977-2022" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000: Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Green Fish (초록물고기, Chorok mulgogi) is Lee Chang-dong's 1997 South Korean directorial debut, a crime drama starring Han Suk-kyu, Shim Hye-jin, and Moon Sung-keun about a discharged soldier drawn into Seoul's gangland; it swept the 1997 Blue Dragon, Grand Bell, and Paeksang awards.", "snippet": "Green Fish (초록물고기, Chorok mulgogi) is Lee Chang-dong's 1997 South Korean directorial debut, a crime drama starring Han Suk-kyu, Shim Hye-jin, and Moon Sung-keun about a discharged soldier drawn into Seoul's gangland; it swept the 1997 Blue Dragon, Grand Bell, and Paeksang awards.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films.yr-1977-2022", "markdown": "# Green Fish (초록물고기)\n\n**Green Fish** (초록물고기, *Chorok mulgogi*) is a 1997 South Korean crime drama and the directorial debut of [Lee Chang-dong](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-chang-dong), released on February 7, 1997. It follows Makdong, a young man discharged from military service, who returns to a hometown transformed by redevelopment and is drawn into Seoul's criminal underworld through Mi-ae, a nightclub singer who is the mistress of the gang boss Bae Tae-gon.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048) The film swept the major Korean film awards of 1997 and established Lee, previously a novelist and screenwriter, as a leading director of the rejuvenating Korean film industry.[2](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=824&pyear=1997)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / debut | Lee Chang-dong's first feature; he also wrote the screenplay with Oh Seung-uk[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048) |\n| Release | February 7, 1997, South Korea; Korean language; rated for adults only (18+) in Korea[3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=166) |\n| Runtime | 114 minutes per the Korean Film Council database and Cine21; 111 minutes per Busan, Rotterdam, and Seattle festival listings[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048) • [4](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/green-fish) |\n| Principal cast | Han Suk-kyu (Makdong), Shim Hye-jin (Mi-ae), Moon Sung-keun (Bae Tae-gon), with Song Kang-ho as Pan-su[3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=166) |\n| Production | East Film, a company founded in 1996 by Myung Gye-nam, Moon Sung-keun, Lee Chang-dong, and Yeo Kyun-dong; distributed by Cinema Service[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/chorok_mulkogi/chorok_mulkogi.htm) |\n| Major awards | Blue Dragon: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Music; Grand Bell: Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress; Paeksang: Best Film, Best New Director, and others[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048) |\n| International recognition | Dragons and Tigers Award for Young Cinema, 1997 Vancouver International Film Festival; New Currents selection, 2nd Busan International Film Festival[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/chorok_mulkogi/chorok_mulkogi.htm) • [2](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=824&pyear=1997) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and themes\n\nMakdong finishes his military service and boards a train home. On the way he helps Mi-ae, who is being harassed by gangsters, and as a result misses his stop; he arrives at his family's house holding her rosy scarf.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048) His hometown has changed beyond recognition: the rice paddies and fields have given way to dense high-rise apartments, and his family members live scattered, each absorbed in making a living. Only his older brother with polio, who is mentally handicapped in the film's account, welcomes him back.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048) • [4](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/green-fish) Makdong dreams of running a small restaurant so the whole family can live together again, and goes to Seoul to find work.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048)\n\nSeeking to return the scarf, he finds Mi-ae singing at a nightclub in the down-at-heel district of Yeongdeungpo, where industry and a nightlife dominated by violence coexist. She is the mistress of the gang boss Bae Tae-gon, and through him she arranges a job for Makdong, who begins in a parking lot and is gradually absorbed into the gang.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048) • [4](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/green-fish) Makdong and Mi-ae seem destined for each other, but once Bae Tae-gon's old boss is released from prison and insists on reclaiming his territory, Makdong acts in a way he will come to regret; the closing sequence then recasts what has happened.[4](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/green-fish)\n\nThe Busan festival's program note frames the film around the disintegration of the family as a common Korean social phenomenon: Makdong, who dreams of his family living together as before, and Bae Tae-gon, a gang leader with no qualms about using people, are opposites who share similarities representing the distortions of Korean society. Its writer, Lee Yong-Kwan, describes the closing scene, shot with the seriousness of film noir, as revealing the dirty side of survival through Bae Tae-gon's act of betrayal, with the characters' food chain a reflection of society's weaknesses.[2](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=824&pyear=1997) The Rotterdam catalog reduces the film's world to a credo: eat and be eaten.[4](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/green-fish)\n\nThe title itself is explained within the story. In an emotional phone call, Makdong begs his brother to remember the green fish from their childhood, an image the critic John Fidler identifies as one of the film's rare and explosive hard-won connections.[6](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2012/cteq/green-fish/) A contemporary Korean newspaper account put it the same way: the dream in one's heart, a place of hope absent from reality, is the green fish.[7](https://www.hankyung.com/article/1997013002131)\n\n## Production and context\n\nLee Chang-dong came to film relatively late, after establishing a reputation as a novelist, with awards including the 1987 [Yi Sang Literary Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/yi-sang-literary-award) recommendation and the 1992 [Hankook Ilbo Literary Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/hankook-ilbo-literary-award).[8](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_009043) He entered the industry as co-writer of two films by Park Kwang-su, *To the Starry Island* (1993) and *A Single Spark* (1996), which deal with aspects of twentieth-century Korean history; his own debut was instead a contemporary story set in the rapidly developing outskirts of Seoul.[9](https://smtps.koreanfilm.org/kfilm97.html)\n\nEast Film was founded in 1996 when Myung Gye-nam, Moon Sung-keun, Lee Chang-dong, and Yeo Kyun-dong gathered to make a large-scale venture together, and Green Fish was its founding work.[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/chorok_mulkogi/chorok_mulkogi.htm) Major corporations declined to finance the production, and Cinema Service took on both the production funding and nationwide distribution; the source account credits this arrangement with helping improve Korea's inefficient distribution structure and consolidating Cinema Service's position as a specialized distributor.[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/chorok_mulkogi/chorok_mulkogi.htm) The crew included cinematographer Yoo Young-gil, lighting director Kim Dong-ho, editor Kim Hyun, and composer Lee Dong-jun.[3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=166)\n\nThe film opened on February 7, 1997 in 70 theaters nationwide simultaneously.[7](https://www.hankyung.com/article/1997013002131) Admissions figures differ by source: the Korean Film Archive database records about 170,000 in Seoul and 300,000 nationwide, while Cine21 lists 163,659.[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/chorok_mulkogi/chorok_mulkogi.htm) • [3](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=166) The Korean Film Council's English database separately records 378 admissions on a single screen, a figure that reflects a limited re-release rather than the original run.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048)\n\n## Reception and awards\n\nThe film dominated the 1997 Korean awards season. At the Blue Dragon Awards it won Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Music; at the Grand Bell Awards it won Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress; and at the Paeksang Arts Awards it took Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best New Director, and Best Screenplay.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048) The Korean Film Critics Association gave it Best Film, Best New Director, and Best Screenplay, and the 17th Korean Film Critics awards also named it Best Film, Best Actor, and Best New Director.[10](https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/green-fish) • [5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/chorok_mulkogi/chorok_mulkogi.htm) Internationally, it received the Dragons and Tigers Award for Young Cinema at the 16th Vancouver International Film Festival, was selected for the New Currents section of the 2nd Busan International Film Festival, and played in the non-competitive section of the 41st London Film Festival.[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/chorok_mulkogi/chorok_mulkogi.htm) Tony Rayns, writing for the Vancouver festival, called it the most highly regarded movie of the year in Korea and credited it with establishing [Han Suk-kyu](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-suk-kyu) as the most exciting new actor in Korean cinema.[11](https://history.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=2051)\n\nKorean critics of the time read the film as a turning point. The Korean Film Archive's retrospective account says it swept the major categories of the Paeksang, Grand Bell, Blue Dragon, and critics' awards and made 1997 the year of Green Fish, offering a Korean cinema divided between action and comedy both entertainment and meaning as a proper drama, and changing the market's taste.[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/chorok_mulkogi/chorok_mulkogi.htm) Later English-language criticism has emphasized the same qualities: Senses of Cinema's John Fidler called it a wrenching, tonally nuanced first film that packs a quiet wallop, and reviewers have noted its refusal to glamorize the gangster world, presenting violence with painful impact rather than cool styling.[6](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2012/cteq/green-fish/) • [12](https://fareastfilms.com/review/green-fish/) The film also marked the first substantial film role for [Song Kang-ho](https://www.edgepedia.org/song-kang-ho), who had been limited to bit parts before Lee cast him in his debut feature.[13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO5mWFKF7h0)\n\n## Legacy and restoration\n\nGreen Fish began a directorial career that continued with *Peppermint Candy* (1999), *Oasis* (2002), *Secret Sunshine* (2007), and *Poetry* (2010); Busan's retrospective notes that Lee started late in the film world but became a top director with these films.[2](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=824&pyear=1997) The film has been repeatedly revived at retrospectives, including the Fukuoka International Film Festival's Lee Chang-dong special feature in 2013 and the London Korean Film Festival's Korean Noir special focus in 2017.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048)\n\nA new 4K restoration was released theatrically and on home video by Film Movement Classics in 2024 as part of The Poetry of Lee Chang-dong box set.[14](https://filmmovement.com/press/film/green-fish) The release had a rocky start: buyers found that the Green Fish disc used an older HD master rather than the advertised 4K restoration, and Film Movement announced a replacement disc program for customers.[15](https://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?sid=af2e396cfad1e5c7da554f79676808c3&start=175&t=2315) The restored film now streams on Film Movement Plus, Kanopy, and Hoopla in the United States, with rental and purchase options on major digital platforms.[16](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/green-fish)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Green Fish (1997), Korean Film Council (KOFIC) film database](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970048)\n2. [Green Fish program note, 2nd (1997) Busan International Film Festival New Currents archive](https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?kind=history&m_idx=824&pyear=1997)\n3. [초록물고기 (Green Fish) 상세정보, Cine21](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=166)\n4. [Green Fish (Chorok mulgoki), International Film Festival Rotterdam 1998](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1998/films/green-fish)\n5. [초록물고기, Korean Film Archive (KOFA) database](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/chorok_mulkogi/chorok_mulkogi.htm)\n6. [John Fidler, Green Fish, Senses of Cinema, Issue 63 (2012)](https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2012/cteq/green-fish/)\n7. [초록물고기 내달 7일 일제 개봉, 한국경제 (January 30, 1997)](https://www.hankyung.com/article/1997013002131)\n8. [초록 물고기, Cinematheque KOFA program](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_009043)\n9. [Darcy's Korean Film Page, 1997](https://smtps.koreanfilm.org/kfilm97.html)\n10. [Green Fish, Gene Siskel Film Center](https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/green-fish)\n11. [Green Fish, San Francisco Film Festival (Tony Rayns, Vancouver Film Festival catalog)](https://history.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=2051)\n12. [Andrew Skeates, Green Fish review, Far East Films (2015)](https://fareastfilms.com/review/green-fish/)\n13. [초록물고기 cast and production history video, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO5mWFKF7h0)\n14. [Green Fish, Film Movement Classics press page](https://filmmovement.com/press/film/green-fish)\n15. [Criterion Forum discussion of the Film Movement Lee Chang-dong set and Green Fish master issue](https://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?sid=af2e396cfad1e5c7da554f79676808c3&start=175&t=2315)\n16. [Green Fish streaming guide, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/green-fish)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Film noir and neo-noir films › Released 1977 to 2022*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/green-fish", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/green-fish.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Green Fish (초록물고기)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/green-fish. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Green Fish (초록물고기)](https://www.edgepedia.org/green-fish)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/green-fish](https://www.edgepedia.org/green-fish). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Green Fish (초록물고기)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/green-fish. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Green Fish is Lee Chang-dong's 1997 South Korean directorial debut, a crime drama starring Han Suk-kyu, Shim Hye-jin, and Moon Sung-keun about a discharged soldier drawn into Seoul's gangland; it swept the 1997 Blue Dragon, Grand Bell, and Paeksang awards." }