"His Time Never Stops"... Ten Masterpieces of Ahn Sungki Stream Free Online

Korean Film Archive Hosts YouTube Memorial Retrospective
Featuring "Whale Hunting," "Gagman," "Age of Success," and More
"The Eternal Symbol of Korean Cinema"

The late actor Ahn Sungki at his retrospective exhibition

Although the "national actor" Ahn Sungki has passed away, the 70-year history he inscribed on the screen remains vividly alive. The Korean Film Archive has created an online memorial space, allowing audiences to remember his cinematic life together as they bid farewell to the late actor on his final journey.

On January 9, the Korean Film Archive announced that it would hold the "Memorial Retrospective for the Late Actor Ahn Sungki" through its official YouTube channel, "Korean Classic Film." This event was prepared to revisit the late actor's filmography, which left a significant mark on the history of Korean cinema, and to remember once again his remarkable performances that offered comfort to generations.

A total of ten films will be released, with a focus on Ahn Sungki's representative works from the 1980s and 1990s, when his acting was at its peak. The selection includes "Whale Hunting" (1984) and "Our Happy Young Days" (1987), which depict the self-portrait of wandering youth, as well as "A Small Ball Shot by a Midget" (1981) and "People of Kobang Neighborhood" (1982), which shed light on the lives of the marginalized. His wide acting spectrum, spanning comedy and historical dramas, can also be seen in works such as "Gagman" (1988), "Age of Success" (1988), "North Korean Partisan in South Korea" (1990), "The Taebaek Mountains" (1994), and "Festival" (1996). Anyone can watch these films for free through a dedicated playlist on the "Korean Classic Film" channel.

The Korean Film Archive will also release a video essay titled "Our Happy Young Days and Ahn Sungki," which offers a new perspective on the late actor's career. Rather than a chronological narrative, the video reconstructs images centered on objects, places, and Ahn Sungki's expressions in his films. It calmly traces the evolution of his "screen persona"-from a romantic lover, to a diligent young man, and then to a devoted father-leaving a lasting impression.

Video Essay 'Our Happy Young Days and Ahn Sungki' Still Cut

The name Ahn Sungki itself is a living record of Korean film history. Of the forty-one titles released through the Korean Film Archive's "Korean Film Masterpiece Blu-ray" project since 2014, as many as nine feature Ahn Sungki, including "The Housemaid" (1960). This means that over 20% of all restored works are part of his filmography. A representative from the Korean Film Archive stated, "Actor Ahn Sungki was the center and symbol of Korean cinema," and added, "We hope this memorial retrospective will be a time for everyone to remember his warm smile and performances that have been with us for so long."