Humanity, society put to the test

Over the last decade writer-director Lee Chang-dong has emerged not only as a major force in the revitalized Korean cinema landscape but also as a world-class filmmaker who puts his characters through profoundly harrowing experiences that reveal the workings of human nature and society.

His four features will be the subject of a spotlight at LACMA this weekend, beginning tonight with a screening of 2000’s “Peppermint Candy” and concluding Saturday with a presentation of his latest film, “Secret Sunshine,” South Korea’s official entry for the Oscar’s foreign-language film category, hosted by Quentin Tarantino. The novelist-turned-filmmaker will appear for a Q&A after the 7:30 p.m. screening Saturday.

Jeon Do-yeon was named best actress at last year’s Cannes Film Festival for her starring work in “Sunshine,” in which she plays the recently widowed Shin-ae. Just as she is settling in and establishing herself as a piano teacher, her life suddenly turns into a nightmare, and she embarks on a long odyssey to cope with what fate has dealt her.

Filled with twists and turns and sharp implicit commentary, “Secret Sunshine” is filmmaking at its most compelling.

But Lee’s earlier work is just as remarkable – “Green Fish” (1997) and “Peppermint Candy” are both outstanding, venturesome films of deep feeling and commitment. In “Green Fish,” Han Suk-kyu stars as a handsome young man, freshly discharged from the army, whose chance encounter with a gangster’s lover alters the direction of his life.

Lee brilliantly employs temporal displacement for “Peppermint Candy,” centering on Sol Kyung-gu as a man whose increasingly erratic behavior triggers a series of seven flashbacks spanning 20 years.

The director retains that biting, topical edge even in “Oasis,” a remarkable love story between a young woman severely disabled by cerebral palsy and a reckless young man with a troubled past who is able to see beyond her disability.

“The Films of Lee Chang-dong” runs tonight through Saturday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., (323) 857-6000.