:Yu Hyun-mok

{{Short description|South Korean film director (1925–2009)}}

{{family name hatnote|Yu||lang=Korean}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Yu Hyun-mok

| image = Yu Hyun-mok.jpg

| caption =

| native_name = 유현목

| native_name_lang = ko

| birth_date ={{Birth date|1925|07|02}}

| birth_place = Sariwon, Korea, Empire of Japan

| death_date ={{Death date and age|2009|06|28|1925|07|02}}

| death_place = Seoul, South Korea

| occupation = Director

| years_active = 1948–2007

| awards = File:ROK_Order_of_Cultural_Merit_Geum-gwan_(1st_Class)_ribbon.PNG Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit (2009)

| module =

{{Infobox Korean name|child=yes

| hangul=유현목

| hanja=兪賢穆

| rr= Yu Hyeonmok

| mr= Yu Hyŏnmok

}}}}

Yu Hyun-mok ({{Korean|hangul=유현목}}; July 2, 1925 – June 28, 2009) was a South Korean film director. Born in Sariwon, Korea, Empire of Japan (now in North Korea), he made his film debut in 1956 with Gyocharo (Crossroads).{{cite web |url=http://www.koreanfilm.org/yuhyunmok.html|title=The Yu Hyun-mok Page|access-date=2007-05-07|work=www.koreanfilm.org}} According to the website koreanfilm.org, his 1961 film Obaltan "has repeatedly been voted the best Korean film of all time in local critics' polls." Yu attended the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1963, where Variety called Obaltan a "remarkable film", and praised Yu's "[b]rilliantly detailed camera" and the film's "probing sympathy and rich characterizations."{{Cite news |last=Judy.|title=The Aimless Bullet|newspaper=Variety|date=1963-11-13}}

His dedication to the intellectual side of film and interest in using film to deal with social and political issues led him to have difficulties both with box-office-oriented producers, and with Korea's military government during the 1960s and 1970s. Korean critics have said his directing style is "in the tradition of the Italian Neorealists," yet "the terms 'modernist' or 'expressionistic' [are] just as applicable to his works."{{cite web |last=Paquet|first=Darcy|url=http://www.koreanfilm.org/yuhm1.html|title=Yu Hyun-mok's School Excursion (1969)|access-date=2007-05-07|work=www.koreanfilm.org}}

Besides his directing activities, he has taught film, and made a significant contribution to Korean animation by producing Kim Cheong-gi's 1976 animated film, Robot Taekwon V. A retrospective of Yu's career was held at the 4th Pusan International Film Festival in 1999.

Yu died from a stroke on June 28, 2009.[http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/06/29/200906290059.asp Yu, pioneering filmmaker, passes away] The Korea Herald Retrieved on 2009-06-29.