Though not a box-office hit (only attracting 73,751 people in theatres), the film is remembered as a major step towards freedom of expression in South Korean cinema.

[2] Chilsu and Mansu was the directorial debut of Park Kwang-su, who went on to become not only an accomplished director in his own right, but an influential role model for a new generation of socially conscious filmmakers.

Bae Jong-ok, who plays Chil-su's girlfriend, continues to make her mark on contemporary cinema, taking on an acclaimed role in the award-winning Jealousy Is My Middle Name (2003).

Government censors, wielding an iron grip over the film industry, ensured that the slightest hint of social criticism was clipped in the screenplay or in the editing room before reaching audiences.

First, the film begins with a civil defense drill, which is used by the government to condition citizens to deal with a North Korean attack and as a form of control to keep the populace on edge.

Second, a newscast makes a vague reference to the working-class tale A Dwarf Launches a Little Ball in reporting about a man climbing down an apartment chimney to look for his wife.

Chilsu and Mansu's anger symbolizes the working class's frustration of being marginalized from the nation's economic miracle and the standoff near the end represents society's inability to understand their plight.

It was not a box-office hit, but in reflecting the frustrations of a generation growing up under social inequality and authoritarian rule, Chilsu and Mansu has become one of the best-remembered Korean films of its era.