# The General's Son (장군의 아들)
**The General's Son** (장군의 아들, *Janggun-ui adeul*) is a 1990 South Korean action drama directed by Im Kwon-taek, based on the life of the colonial-era gangster Kim Du-han, the son of the independence activist General Kim Jwa-jin. Released on June 9, 1990, it became the most successful Korean film up to that time and launched a trilogy completed in 1992.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10521) • [2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/view/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601018&category=IN_FOCUS&seq=276)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / release | Im Kwon-taek; released June 9, 1990 at the Dansungsa theater, Seoul[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10521) • [3](https://namu.moe/w/%EC%9E%A5%EA%B5%B0%EC%9D%98%20%EC%95%84%EB%93%A4) |
| Production | Taehung Pictures; screenplay Yoon Sam-yuk; cinematography Jung Il-sung; music Shin Byung-ha; based on the novel by Hong Song-yu[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10521) • [4](https://www.viennale.at/en/film/janggun-ui-adeul) |
| Running time / rating | 108 minutes; rated for audiences 15 and older[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10521) |
| Subject | Kim Du-han's rise from street beggar to leader of the Jongno fist hierarchy in 1930s Japanese-occupied Seoul[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10521) |
| Box office | 678,946 admissions in Seoul, then a record for Korean cinema[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10521) • [2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/view/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601018&category=IN_FOCUS&seq=276) |
| Trilogy | Sequels released July 20, 1991 (357,697 admissions) and July 11, 1992 (162,600 admissions)[3](https://namu.moe/w/%EC%9E%A5%EA%B5%B0%EC%9D%98%20%EC%95%84%EB%93%A4) |
| Awards | Blue Dragon Awards 1990: Most Popular Film and Best New Actor; Daejong Film Awards 1991: Best New Actor[5](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?cdKind=014001&indexChar=A&mode=INDEX_PEOPLE_VIEW&movieCd=19900042&newsRownum=3&pageIndex=1&peopleCd=10006345&photoRownum=7&photoSeq=9&photoType=films&refCd=20137048&strMenuId=010402) |
## Spoilers
### Story and subject
The film is set in Gyeongseong (Seoul) in the 1930s, while Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. Kim Du-han, orphaned at eight, works as a rag picker and street beggar until his natural fighting ability earns him a place in the Jongno street-fist world centered on the Umi-gwan theater. The student gang leader Shin Ma-jeok reveals to him that he is in fact the son of General Kim Jwa-jin, who fought the Japanese in [Manchuria](https://www.edgepedia.org/manchuria). As Japanese yakuza extend their influence into Jongno, Du-han protects Korean shopkeepers, wins their trust, and after the Umi-gwan chief Kim Gi-hwan is captured becomes the official leader of the Jongno fist hierarchy, contesting supremacy with rivals including the Japanese fighter Hayashi.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10521) • [6](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_009925)
The subject drew on a body of popular folklore. Kim Du-han became Korea's most legendary gangster in part through his colorful "autobiography," which celebrated his rise through the street gangs of colonial Seoul's Jongno district and fed a steady stream of comics and films; the film's title rests on the disputed claim that his father was an anarchist general fighting the Japanese occupiers before being murdered.[4](https://www.viennale.at/en/film/janggun-ui-adeul) The real Kim Du-han later entered politics.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/view/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601018&category=IN_FOCUS&seq=276)
## Production and casting
For the series, Im Kwon-taek announced in 1990 that nearly all roles would be filled through open auditions. Park Sang-min, a newcomer just past twenty, was given the task of acting as if he were already a top star; he strode up to the judge [Kang Soo-yeon](https://www.edgepedia.org/kang-soo-yeon), then a leading star, and shouted that no amount of pleading could get her to appear alongside him. Im cast him as Kim Du-han on the spot, saying his acting preparation was thorough and the single audition left a strong impression. Ahn Sung-ki and Kang Soo-yeon served on the judging panel.[7](https://www.donga.com/news/Culture/article/all/20081118/8659551/9)
The cast also included Shin Hyun-joon as Hayashi, Lee Il-jae as Kim Dong-hoe, Bang Eun-hee as Hwa-ja, Kim Seung-woo as Ssang-kal (Twin Blade), and Kim Hyung-il as Eom Dong-uk.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10521) Two future prominent figures appear in small capacities: [Hwang Jung-min](https://www.edgepedia.org/hwang-jung-min) in his first screen role as a bar manager, and the stunt choreographer Jung Doo-hong as a stunt double flipping over tables and down staircases in the climactic fights.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/view/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601018&category=IN_FOCUS&seq=276)
## Action style
The film is credited with opening a new horizon in Korean action cinematography. Cinematographer Jung Il-sung had described his earlier fist-fighting films as imitations of Hong Kong cinema; in *The General's Son* he instead matched each character's distinctive movement, from bare-handed kicks and punches to swordsmanship and judo-based martial arts, with the breathing of the camera.[6](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_009925) Critics have noted the film's emphatic genre styling, from trilby hats and black leather jackets to hard top lighting, and its staging of bloody fight sequences as a local alternative to imported Hong Kong and Western action cinema.[8](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/generals-son-the-1990/)
## Box office and significance
The film set the highest box-office record for a Korean film up to that point. Cine21 records 678,946 admissions in Seoul[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10521), and the Korean Film Archive's history series rounds this to 680,000[9](https://world.kbs.co.kr/service/contents_view.htm?board_code=&board_seq=3851&id=&lang=k&menu_cate=history&page=8); a 2008 Sports Kyunghyang report instead gives 750,000 Seoul admissions[10](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/200811010700006/amp). The record had been held since 1976 by *Winter Woman*.[11](https://www.modernkoreancinema.com/2011/12/jopok-week-generals-son-janggunui-adeul.html)
Its success had industrial consequences. The film industry designated 1991 the "Year of Film," and the film is regarded as laying the groundwork for the Korean cinema revival of the 1990s.[9](https://world.kbs.co.kr/service/contents_view.htm?board_code=&board_seq=3851&id=&lang=k&menu_cate=history&page=8) In 1989 the top Korean box-office draws had been erotic films; in 1990 the top Korean film was this action picture.[12](https://dl.nanet.go.kr/detail/MONO12023000007440) It also broke a taboo: before 2015 the colonial era (1910–1945) was widely considered box-office poison as a setting, decades before hits such as *Assassination* (2015) and *The Handmaiden* (2016).[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/view/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601018&category=IN_FOCUS&seq=276)
For Im Kwon-taek, who by 1990 had made 93 features and had not directed an action film in 18 years and 40 films, the movie was his first number-one hit and a brief return to genre before the more contemplative *Seopyeonje* (1993), which broke his own box-office record.[4](https://www.viennale.at/en/film/janggun-ui-adeul) • [11](https://www.modernkoreancinema.com/2011/12/jopok-week-generals-son-janggunui-adeul.html)
## The trilogy and after
Sequels followed in quick succession, all directed by Im: *The General's Son II* opened on July 20, 1991 at the [Piccadilly](https://www.edgepedia.org/piccadilly) theater with 357,697 Seoul admissions, and *The General's Son III* opened on July 11, 1992 at Dansungsa with 162,600.[3](https://namu.moe/w/%EC%9E%A5%EA%B5%B0%EC%9D%98%20%EC%95%84%EB%93%A4) The trilogy revived the Korean gangster film after it had disappeared during the censorship of the [Chun Doo-hwan](https://www.edgepedia.org/chun-doo-hwan) administration (1980–88), and it spawned countless imitations of its stylistic codes.[11](https://www.modernkoreancinema.com/2011/12/jopok-week-generals-son-janggunui-adeul.html) • [8](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/generals-son-the-1990/)
In 2008 a producer, Kim Kyung-min, a son of Kim Du-han, announced plans for *The General's Son 4*, with a completed screenplay. The director Kim Young-bin, the first film's assistant director, engaged lawyers to block the use of the title, saying that while a film about Kim Du-han himself could not be prevented, using the title was unacceptable; Kim Du-han's daughter, the politician Kim Eul-dong, also publicly opposed the production.[10](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/200811010700006/amp)
The Korean Film Archive screened a newly remastered 4K version at Cinematheque KOFA in late 2024, alongside an exhibition of production stills, in a program devoted to the cinematographer Jung Il-sung.[6](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_009925)
## References
1. [장군의 아들 (The General's Son, 1990) 상세정보, Cine21](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=10521)
2. [The General's Son: In Focus, Korean Film Council / KOFA](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/view/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601018&category=IN_FOCUS&seq=276)
3. [장군의 아들, Namu wiki](https://namu.moe/w/%EC%9E%A5%EA%B5%B0%EC%9D%98%20%EC%95%84%EB%93%A4)
4. [Janggun-ui adeul (The General's Son), Viennale program note by Gerwin Tamsma](https://www.viennale.at/en/film/janggun-ui-adeul)
5. [The General's Son (1990), KOFA English film database](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?cdKind=014001&indexChar=A&mode=INDEX_PEOPLE_VIEW&movieCd=19900042&newsRownum=3&pageIndex=1&peopleCd=10006345&photoRownum=7&photoSeq=9&photoType=films&refCd=20137048&strMenuId=010402)
6. [장군의 아들 (4K), 시네마테크KOFA](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_009925)
7. [‘장군의 아들’ 박상민, 오디션 통과한 한방, Dong-A Ilbo (2008)](https://www.donga.com/news/Culture/article/all/20081118/8659551/9)
8. [Review: The General's Son (1990), Heroic Cinema](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/generals-son-the-1990/)
9. [제 38부: 대한민국 영화, 또 한 번의 도약, KBS World (2015)](https://world.kbs.co.kr/service/contents_view.htm?board_code=&board_seq=3851&id=&lang=k&menu_cate=history&page=8)
10. [‘장군의 아들 4’ 제작 급제동, Sports Kyunghyang (2008)](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/200811010700006/amp)
11. [Jopok Week: Im Kwon-taek's The General's Son, Modern Korean Cinema (2011)](https://www.modernkoreancinema.com/2011/12/jopok-week-generals-son-janggunui-adeul.html)
12. [1990년대 한국영화: 우리가 알고 있는 한국영화의 모든 것, National Assembly Library](https://dl.nanet.go.kr/detail/MONO12023000007440)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action thrillers, 1980s and 1990s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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