A Flower in Hell
(Jiokhwa)

Dong-sik travels from the countryside to Seoul, intending to take back home to his mother his eldest brother Yeong-sik, who has given them no news since he came to the capital to find work. In the big city and post-war depression, Yeong-sik lives off a group of prostitutes, among whom is the lovely Sonya (Choi Eun-hee), and wheels and deals with supplies he steals from the US army. Initially amused at Dong-sik’s naivety, Sonya sets about seducing him and falls in love. Yeong-sik discovers their affair. The melodrama announced by the two brothers’ confrontation over the same woman is heightened by the almost neorealist documentary arguments (the on-the-fly street scenes) impregnating the film shot partly in real settings. JB