# Deep Sorrow (깊은 슬픔)
**Deep Sorrow** (깊은 슬픔; also romanized *Gip-eun seulpeum*, released internationally as *Deep Blue*) is a 1997 South Korean melodrama film directed by Kwak Ji-kyoon and adapted from [Shin Kyung-sook](https://www.edgepedia.org/shin-kyung-sook)'s bestselling 1994 novel of the same name. It follows Eun-seo, a violinist, and the two men who love her, Wan and Hyun-se, childhood friends from the village of Iseul-eoji whose entangled affections end in tragedy.[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/19970013) • [2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Korean title / English titles | 깊은 슬픔; *Deep Blue*, *Deep Sorrow*, *Gip-eun seulpeum*[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/19970013) • [3](https://letterboxd.com/film/deep-blue-1997/) |
| Director / screenwriters | Kwak Ji-kyoon; adaptation by Yu Jonathan (유상욱) and Kwak Ji-kyoon[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/19970013) |
| Source | Shin Kyung-sook's bestseller novel *Deep Sorrow* (Munhak Dongne, 1994, two volumes)[4](https://www.hankyung.com/amp/1997021302061) • [5](https://i1.daumcdn.net/svc/attach/U03/blogbook/5011E38E032BA00013) |
| Cast | Kang Soo-youn (Eun-seo), Kim Seung-woo (Seo Wan), Hwang In-sung (Yu Hyun-se), Bae Jong-ok, Kim Hae-gon[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/19970013) |
| Release | November 15, 1997 (Cine21); November 8, 1997 (Filmmakers database); 100 minutes; rated No Minors[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652) • [1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/19970013) |
| Production | Dongyang Media; cinematography by Park Hee-ju; music by Lee Bum-hee[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/19970013) • [6](https://madebykr.com/works/work%3A9701) |
| Admissions | 10,319 recorded admissions (Cine21 database)[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652) |
## Spoilers
### Story
Eun-seo, Wan, and Hyun-se grow up together in the hometown village of Iseul-eoji. In the backstory, Hyun-se's father and Wan's father, both in love with Eun-seo's mother, bring tragedy on themselves, and Wan leaves the village after asking Eun-seo not to forget him.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652) As adults in Seoul, Eun-seo studies violin and Hyun-se studies art, and the two lean on each other; when Wan reappears, now in the criminal underworld, Eun-seo and Wan share a passionate love while Hyun-se suffers from loving her.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652) Pressed by Wan's organization, Eun-seo gives him up and marries Hyun-se, but Wan's continued appearances torment Hyun-se until he leaves her; only after his departure does Eun-seo realize she loves Hyun-se.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652) The Busan festival program note adds that the marriage collapses through Hyun-se's jealousy, that the characters' tragedy is inherited from the parents' generation, and that the actors play past and present figures simultaneously to stage a fated cycle in which no one attains true love.[12](https://www.biff.kr/kor/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?m_idx=681&pyear=1997) A scholarly survey of Kwak's melodramas notes that, as in the film's ending, the suffering heroine chooses suicide.[13](https://journal.kci.go.kr/djnar/archive/articlePdf?artiId=ART002441384)
## The source novel
Shin Kyung-sook, who emerged in the 1990s as one of the leading women writers of Korean literature, published *Deep Sorrow* as a two-volume novel with the publisher Munhak Dongne on March 28, 1994.[5](https://i1.daumcdn.net/svc/attach/U03/blogbook/5011E38E032BA00013) A scholarly account of 1990s Korean fiction records that the publisher recruited Shin, then rising as a "1990s writer," to serialize the long novel about the crossed desires of three men and women, and that the book's success as a bestseller helped underpin Munhak Dongne's growth as a new literary publisher and its support for other women authors.[7](https://www.jkfr.co.kr/xml/30485/30485.pdf) The novel is known for its delicate psychological description and lyrical style, and centers on a woman who loves earnestly but completes no love: when she turns toward one man, he turns away, and the pattern repeats with the other.[8](https://magazine.hankyung.com/business/article/202103053776b) A 2010 translation-incentive list from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea records a 2006 edition of the novel with translations into Russian and Chinese.[9](https://www.ltikorea.or.kr/upload/document/List%20of%20Recommended%20Works.pdf)
## Production and casting
The film was produced by Dongyang Media, which bought the adaptation rights and gave Kwak Ji-kyoon full authority over production in 1996; a retrospective account attributes the project especially to Kwak's strong determination to film the bestseller.[10](https://news.nate.com/view/20180605n38954?mid=n0100) [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began on April 9, 1997, at a cafe in front of Hongik University in Seoul, with scenes of the fateful reunion between Eun-seo and Wan shot at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.[11](https://v.daum.net/v/M0FAfyi4GD)
**A casting change drew press attention.** The role of Eun-seo was initially set for [Shin Eun-kyung](https://www.edgepedia.org/shin-eun-kyung), but after a drunk-driving incident she was replaced by Kang Soo-youn, as reported by the Hankyung newspaper in February 1997.[4](https://www.hankyung.com/amp/1997021302061) The same retrospective notes that Kwak took particular care over casting the three leads and, departing from the novel's innocent heroine, shaped Eun-seo as a kind but strong-willed character, which made casting difficult.[10](https://news.nate.com/view/20180605n38954?mid=n0100) The film also departed from the novel by making the male lead Wan an organized gangster, a change a Cine21 review attributed to box-office considerations and criticized as one element among too many.[8](https://magazine.hankyung.com/business/article/202103053776b)
## Release and reception
Korean databases give slightly different release dates: Cine21 and Zetawiki list November 15, 1997, while the Filmmakers (Korea Film) database lists November 8, 1997.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652) • [14](https://zetawiki.com/wiki/%EA%B9%8A%EC%9D%80_%EC%8A%AC%ED%94%94_%281997%29) • [1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/19970013) The film ran 100 minutes, was rated No Minors (청소년 관람불가), and Cine21 records 10,319 admissions with an audience rating of 3.71 out of 5.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652) It was screened in the Korean Panorama section of the 2nd Busan International Film Festival in 1997, in a lineup that also included *The Contact* and *No. 3*.[12](https://www.biff.kr/kor/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?m_idx=681&pyear=1997) A home-video release by DMV followed on March 26, 1998.[15](https://oldcine.co.kr/product/%EA%B9%8A%EC%9D%80-%EC%8A%AC%ED%94%94/617/)
Contemporary commentary was mixed. The Cine21 production notes credit Kwak with applying his characteristic examination of women's psychology to polished visuals, while judging the film's sensibility slightly behind the times and out of step with the preceding year's melodrama boom.[16](https://host.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652) The Hankyung Magazine review found the film overloaded but acknowledged that its scenes stir tears, calling it a film suited to autumn.[8](https://magazine.hankyung.com/business/article/202103053776b)
## The director's later career
Kwak Ji-kyoon debuted with *Winter Wanderer* (1986) and established himself as a melodrama specialist with films such as *Long After That* (1989) and *Portrait of Youth Days* (1990).[12](https://www.biff.kr/kor/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?m_idx=681&pyear=1997) After a long gap following *Youth* (2000) and the box-office failure of *Because I Love You, It's Okay* (2006), he withdrew from public life and died by suicide in May 2010 at the age of 55.[12](https://www.biff.kr/kor/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?m_idx=681&pyear=1997) • [13](https://journal.kci.go.kr/djnar/archive/articlePdf?artiId=ART002441384) *Deep Sorrow* stands as his eighth feature and one of the late-1990s works through which he sought a new form for the Korean melodrama.[13](https://journal.kci.go.kr/djnar/archive/articlePdf?artiId=ART002441384) • [12](https://www.biff.kr/kor/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?m_idx=681&pyear=1997)
## References
1. [Deep Blue (깊은 슬픔), Korea Film / Filmmakers database](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/19970013)
2. [깊은 슬픔 (Deep Blue) 상세정보, Cine21](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652)
3. [Deep Blue (1997), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/deep-blue-1997/)
4. ['깊은 슬픔' 주역 강수연 결정, 한국경제 (1997-02-13)](https://www.hankyung.com/amp/1997021302061)
5. [나의 책 이야기: 깊은 슬픔, 신경숙 (publication details)](https://i1.daumcdn.net/svc/attach/U03/blogbook/5011E38E032BA00013)
6. [깊은 슬픔 (1997) 크레딧·제작진, MadeByKR](https://madebykr.com/works/work%3A9701)
7. [한경희, "비극적으로 아름다워야 한다는 조건," 현대소설연구 제83호 (2021)](https://www.jkfr.co.kr/xml/30485/30485.pdf)
8. [깊은 슬픔, 한경매거진&북 (2006-09-02)](https://magazine.hankyung.com/business/article/202103053776b)
9. [List of Recommended Works, Literature Translation Institute of Korea (2010)](https://www.ltikorea.or.kr/upload/document/List%20of%20Recommended%20Works.pdf)
10. ["깊은 슬픔" 비하인드 무비 스토리, 네이트 연예 (2018)](https://news.nate.com/view/20180605n38954?mid=n0100)
11. ["신경숙 소설 영화화하는 「깊은 슬픔"," 연합뉴스 현장 기사 (1997-04-23)](https://v.daum.net/v/M0FAfyi4GD)
12. [깊은 슬픔 Deep Blue, 제2회 부산국제영화제 한국영화 파노라마 프로그램 노트](https://www.biff.kr/kor/html/archive/arc_history_view.asp?m_idx=681&pyear=1997)
13. [이윤종, "우울과 죽음의 센티멘털리즘," 대중서사연구 제25권 1호 (2019)](https://journal.kci.go.kr/djnar/archive/articlePdf?artiId=ART002441384)
14. [깊은 슬픔 (1997), 제타위키](https://zetawiki.com/wiki/%EA%B9%8A%EC%9D%80_%EC%8A%AC%ED%94%94_%281997%29)
15. [깊은 슬픔 (1997) 비디오 상품정보, 청춘극장](https://oldcine.co.kr/product/%EA%B9%8A%EC%9D%80-%EC%8A%AC%ED%94%94/617/)
16. [깊은 슬픔 (Deep Blue) 제작 노트, Cine21](https://host.cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=652)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Adaptations of non-English-language literature*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license