Awards and festivals

Film description

The Korean War is over. A limp flute player, Woo-ryong, wanders through the country's impoverished wastelands with his sick son. They are headed for Seoul, where the boy will be examined by a doctor. They find themselves in a small, nameless village and decide to rest there for a few days. The nervous villagers hid a secret to hide, and their leader still hasn't told them the war was over. But their main problem is a pack of blood-thirsty rats boldly attacking the houses. Woo-ryong promises to eradicate them with his music, but when he does, instead of gratitude, the villagers show him their dark side. It's time for revenge - the flute will sing once again...

The Medieval story of the Piper from Hamelin was popularized by the Brothers Grimm and was later adapted by many talented artists worldwide. The debut of Kim Kwang-tae sets it in the reality of post-war Korea to find new meanings and create a universal story about the role of leaders, fear of difference, cowardice, and payback for evil deeds.

The film seduces with its hypnotic, disturbing rhythm, and its changing conventions. The story, starts off as a green-bathed fairy tale, but moves straight to its powerful, merciless, red-ridden finale.

"The Piper" is a full-blooded horror.

Marcin Krasnowolski