The Coachman

A father is raising four children on his own. He makes his living with a horse-drawn cart. The destruction of the Korean War is behind them. The city is being rebuilt. Cars are coming into the streets. There is less and less need for a cart. His work is slipping away from him. His children have troubles of their own. The eldest son wants to be a lawyer and has failed the bar examination twice. The eldest daughter cannot speak, and her husband treats her badly. The younger daughter passes herself off as a university student to move up in the world, while the youngest boy gets into petty thieving. The film won a Silver Bear at Berlin in 1961, the first major international festival prize for a Korean film. Kim Seung-ho and Shin Young-kyun appear in the ninety eight minute film, a South Korean production Kang Dae-jin finished in 1961.