Korean Film Industry - Case Study Example

Korean Film Industry 1. The South Korean cinema has seen a great advancement and growth in their industry since the 1990s. This change is defined as ‘renaissance’ by Jinhee Choi in his book The South Korean Film Renaissance. The book consists of various aspects in which the cinema has changed; the reasons of the change, and the ways of change. Moreover, it talks about several films that have been a turning point in the Korean cinema. It is important to first assess the meaning of the term renaissance used by Choi. Renaissance in general refers to the time period in history when European art and literature was revived. This usually means the rebirth of art in the 16th century. Choi used it in his book to refer to the revival of Korean cinema and the new future towards which the Koreans moved without their hated government. The renaissance referred to the changes in the society as a whole influencing the art and film industry of South Korea. The society was becoming freer and filmmakers were coming with more ideas of freedom and socially conscious themes which were previously banned. Choi describes the revival of the Korean cinema where the local cinema was vanishing the films were made more commercially and globally. The barriers to the foreign imports were forced open and Hollywood entered South Korea. This rebirth of Korean cinema went a long way since the 1992 till present, and today the films are commercial, global, and have evolving production standards. Renaissance thus refers to all these changes and advancements seen in the Korean cinema since 1990s till present day. These changes were highly noticeable in the films that were made in the following decade. The Marriage Life (1992) was a romantic comedy directed by Kim Yui-Seok. The film marked the renaissance of Korean film industry with its depiction of gender roles, portraying the reality of love and sex, and attracting the younger audience towards the Korean cinema again. The movie was about Kim Tae-gyu who was a radio producer and Choi Ji-hye who was a voice actress at the radio station. The couple falls in love and gets married. They have desires for sex and fantasies for getting married just as any young couple would have despite the objections from their respected families, they get married and begin their life. Eventually they start experiencing the reality of marriage life with laundry piles and house cleaning but they still have a mutual passion for each other which makes their married life exciting and happy. The film shows the marriage a tremendous success in the beginning but eventually the couple starts to face a hectic life which becomes a nightmare (Stringer 32). Tae-gyu gets annoyed by the sound of the hair dryer and their busy lives make it difficult for them to cope with their marriage life. Tae-gyu starts reacting on Ji-hye’s busy life and adopts a chauvinist attitude when he tries to hold her back from her career. Their fantasies seem to be shattered and they begin arguing constantly. The reasons for their arguments become tasks like making dinner, squeezing the toothpaste properly, and doing the dishes. They finally decide to divorce but gradually their wounds healed and Tae-gyu returns to Ji-hye and tells her that he still loves her and wanted them to start again. However, Ji-hye is seen as strong and independent and answers that she doesn’t want to experience the nightmare again. In the end, they run into each other and get back together. The Marriage Life (1992) was released at a time when the Korean film industry was experiencing a new era. This movie is said to have signalled the start of the high-concept filmmaking which had altered the 1990s Korean cinema landscape. The Marriage Life is a film which was created to reach a variety of audience. The time period in which the film was released was one when there were emerging debates on the gender roles, feminism, values of the new generation, and the renaissance of the Korean film industry. The expectations of the audiences from the film were apparently different to what came out for them. This marked the beginning of the Korean high-concept filmmaking where concepts and themes were rather socially realistic and they broke through the expectations of the audience (Stringer 32). This film was a turning point in the love films which were made previously. The Korean love films were sentimental and emotional which had developed the viewpoints of the audience. This film depicted the views of the younger generation about love and marriage. The movie dealt frankly with the topics of married life, love, and sex which marked as a new brand of films of romantic comedy. Before this film, this genre was highly criticized but this film opened to an audience of more than 500,000 in Seoul; this was a record breaking figure of that era (Min 168). The movie not only did well with the audience, but it also marked the image of females in the society as dauntless and strong. Ji-hye was a new generation career woman who would not do the dishes alone or do the laundry unlike the traditional housewife who would quietly do all her work without help from her husband. There was also a scene in the movie in which the couple are at their workplace and they slap each other playfully and the scene where they are arguing over the toothpaste tube; these scenes show the importance and details demonstrated in romantic comedies. The Marriage Life has appeared as a high concept film and was an immense success. It was a turning point for the Korean cinema where the young audience was brought back to the movies showing a new aspect of love and marriage. This movie signalled the renaissance of South Korean cinema and established the foundation of domestic filmmaking industrialization. The Marriage Life not only served as the turning point for young audiences, but also for the genre of romantic comedy in Korean cinema and the changing gender roles of the modernized society (Min 167). 2. Contemporary South Korean film industry has changed in many aspects and has rather become more influential than ever. Despite the commercialization and the modernization of the society, the industry still comprises of filmmakers who make films focusing on social issues that are still present in the society or are rather the modern issues of the society. Two such films are Whispering Corridors (1998) and Attack the Gas Station (1999). Both these films raise the issues of teenagers which are commonly seen in the Korean society and are relatable. Both the films have been made after the renaissance of the Korean cinema and they cover the society as it was back in the late 1990s. Whispering Corridors (1998) was directed by Park Ki-Hyung. The movie is a rare type of horror movie which revived the horror world. The movie focused on many social themes and the educational system critiques which was surrounded by a story of a ghost. The movie and its sequels talk about the different high school problems among females. The movie starts with the death of a teacher who was investigating the case of a student who had died nine years ago. The teacher dies before Eun-young before being able to tell her the mystery she had discovered. The plot develops around the highly competitive educational system in high schools and the friendly ties between young girls (Choi 117). The male characters of the movie have created problems for the females which is a hidden truth of the society. Mr. Goh harasses So-young and threatens her to deal with it if she wants good grades. The arts teacher has an attitude towards female students as he gets sexually attracted to them, rewards them, and paints their portraits. These girls in high school have fully grown figures and have men surrounding them and making contact with them when they spend time with them in schools. The movie shows the social relationships of teenagers in high schools and how these relationships contribute to some of the major social issues in the educational system. The educational system is highly focused in this movie showing many social problems that generate amongst teenagers. An example is So-young’s life where she is pressurized by her teachers and parents to get good grades and admission in Seoul National University but she is least interested in studying and doesn’t even care about the major she wants to pick. On the other hand, Ji-oh loves and enjoys painting her emotions for which she receives harsh punishments. These teenagers are highly misunderstood and their troubles lie in the way their adults dehumanize them. This aggressiveness in the students makes them cruel and insensitive (Choi 117). Moreover, the disturbed minds of these students lead them to investigate the story of the ghost which wanders in their school and who was probably the reason for the mysterious death of their teacher. The movie is not entirely a ghost movie as the students are facing situations that high school students of the society usually face. The movie shows how the myths and stories of the ghost are spread across the school as students keep gossiping about it all the time. This movie was entirely different from the horror movies genre as it focused on more social issues and the educational system. This film initiated the horror cycle in the Korean film industry (Min 167). Attack the Gas Station (1999) is directed by Kim Sang-jin and is about four teenagers who rob a gas station just because they were bored. They had robbed it previously too and now when they are unable to get money, they take hostages and start supplying gas to keep the money. The film develops when these characters amuse themselves through various different ways mostly by dealing with the people who come in the gas station. However, eventually they upset the wrong people. The movie is about the teenagers who are tied up with the social norms and have the urge to simply break through these norms and rules. It is a crime comedy which challenges the traditional genre of gangster Korean movies which were serious, aggressive, and dramatic (Choi 91). The four thugs have gone too far this time with the robbing of the gas station. They are considered to be the thugs who are simply fed up and bored with the tightened rules of the society. The movie becomes character-driven and at the same time comic which makes it a funny gangster movie to watch. The comedy used in the film shows the distinction between the comedy movies of Korea and America; Korean being more subtle while American being more ‘in your face’. The movie addresses the socioeconomic and socio-political situation of Korea of the late 1990s. The movie opens up to the stories of the different characters as the mixed characters stop at the gas station. There are also flashbacks that the four thugs get when they remember the problems they faced when they were young. One of them wanted to be an artist but was degraded by his parents who thought it was pointless and a waste of time. He remembers when his father smashed his paintings and how he felt about it. Another guy was the one who wanted to be a baseball player but there was no one to support him. One of the important social issues discussed in this movie was the economic gloom in 1999 which lead many young people to lose their jobs; car manufacturers were included in sacking youngsters from their jobs. Hence these youngsters were some of those who had nothing to do and were bored which led them to attack the gas station (Choi 91). This was a silly gang culture which still exists in the society. The Korean movie highlighted these problems clearly and portrayed it in a comic way. This movie was pretty different to the gangster movies which Korean cinema was famous for as it focused more on the social problems of youngsters. Work Cited Choi, Jinhee. The South Korean Film Renaissance. NY: Wesleyan University Press, 2010 Stringer, Julian. New Korean Cinema. London: Edinburgh University Press, 2005 Min, Eungjun. Korean Film: History, Resistance, and Democratic Imagination. NJ: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003 Read More