Actor Kim Ji-mee delivers her acceptance speech after receiving an achievement award on the Lovely Artist Awards ceremony, organized by the Shin Younger-kyun Arts and Tradition Basis, in Seoul, Nov. 6, 2019. Newsis
Actor Kim Ji-mee, who handed away on Dec. 7 in the USA on the age of 85, was a towering determine who outlined the blossoming golden age of Korean cinema.
Confirmed by the Federation of Korean Filmmakers on Wednesday, her passing marks a profound loss for the nation’s cultural panorama as she was a cinematic pioneer, a producer and a cultural icon whose profession spanned over 5 a long time and an estimated 700 movies.
Actor Kim Ji-mee, proper, seems with An Seok-jin in her debut movie “The Twilight Prepare” (1957). Courtesy of Korean Movie Archive
Born in 1940, she made her debut in 1957 in director Kim Ki-young’s “The Twilight Prepare” and shortly established herself because the face of recent Korean womanhood on display.
In contrast to different actors of her period, Kim introduced each type and powerful emotions to her roles, usually enjoying characters that required her to be each delicate and difficult.
Her early filmography, which incorporates movies like “The Star in My Coronary heart” (1958), “Three O’clock P.M. in a Wet Day” (1959) and “Girl Jang” (1961) outlined the type and tone of the Sixties movie scene.
Actor Kim Ji-mee, left, in 1974 movie “The Earth” / Courtesy of Korean Movie Archive
Kim’s option to function in demanding, high-quality movies gave her many awards and firmly established her standing as a extremely revered actor.
Along with her efficiency within the 1974 epic drama “The Earth,” Kim secured the Finest Actor award on the native Grand Bell Awards, and additional highlighted her world attraction by successful the Finest Actress award on the Panama Worldwide Movie Competition.
She constantly labored with Korea’s most necessary administrators, notably producing a number of masterpieces with Im Kwon-taek — who later gained the Finest Director award on the Cannes Movie Competition for “Chihwaseon” in 2002 — together with “Gilsotteum” (1985), a strong examination of postwar separation for which she gained one other Finest Actress award on the Grand Bell Awards.
Actor Kim Ji-mee in 1972 movie “Life Is On The Lonely Highway” / Courtesy of Korean Movie Archive
Kim did not simply act. She prolonged her affect past efficiency as she based her personal movie manufacturing firm in 1985. Via her firm, she produced and starred in acclaimed movies like Im’s “Ticket” (1986), proving her sharp enterprise sense and imaginative and prescient.
She additionally took on key management roles, heading main movie business associations and contributing as a council member for the Korean Movie Council. For her efforts, which helped create the fashionable construction of Korean cinema, she obtained the Eungwan Order of Cultural Benefit, the second-highest grade, in 2016.
Followers pay their respects at a memorial area at Seoul Movie Middle in Seoul, Thursday, honoring actor Kim Ji-mee who handed away on Dec. 7. Yonhap
