Characteristics and Cultural Specificity Korean Movies - Essay Example

Asian Popular Culture [Name] [Professor Name] [Course] [Date] Popular Korean Movies The boom of nascent Korean cultural products across Asia and globally has been greatly bolstered by advances made in domestic movies. In the late 1990s, Korea started to export its domestic films, such as Tae Guk Gi and Silmido to Asia and in the recent year, it expanded its exports to Europe and the Americas. Both Taegukgi and Silmido were watched by an estimated 10 million people, representing nearly 25 percent of the Korean population. Silmido is a film about a secret special force. Following the 1999 success of Korean film called Shiri, Korean movies have gained popularity across the globe. Shiri is a movie about A North Korean spy who hopes to stage a coup in Seoul. The film became the first in the history of Korean film industry to have sold over 2 million tickets in Seoul alone, enabling Shiri to surpass Hollywood hits such as Star Wars and The Matrix. The movie is attributed for motivating high-budget production of Koreans films. Shiri is currently distributed globally. Among the phenomenal hits to have gained global audience include the 2000 production called Siworae, which was in 2006 remade as Lake House in Hollywood. Others include the 2001 romantic comedy production called Yeogijeogin geunyeo, which was in 2008 remade in Hollywood as My Sassy Girl. My Sassy Girl gained global acclaim even outselling best-sellers such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. Other phenomenal hits include the 2002 romantic thriller called Jungdok that was in 2008 remade in Hollywood as Possession (Shim 2011). Characteristics and cultural specificity Korean movies South Korean movies had enjoyed a golden age in the 1950s and ‘60s. However, in the 1970s, they were generally considered to be of low quality. In the 2000s, Korean began to watch more domestic films because of policies that placed limits on the number of films to be showed per theatre and emphasized on preservation of Korean cultures, a concept called Confucianism (Ciecko and Lee 2009). Korean movies such as My Sassy Girl and Lake House have been reviewed for their uniqueness since they indicate a typical growth of local creative industry (domestic films) amid neoliberal globalization. Indeed, small and peripheral Korean creative industries have continued to develop their specific local cultural film products (Sang-yong 2011). The development of films is closely associated with the cultural policies within the realm of the creative/cultural industries since the key genres and characteristics have change depending on varied Korean cultural policies (Jang and Paik 2012). The specific features of the Korean films employed newer models of scripts that focus on Korean situations, features young Korean actors and scriptwriters, the actors speak in contemporary vernacular, are within the 90-minute frame and feature limited Hollywood clichés (Ciecko and Lee 2009). Further, each of the films remade in Hollywood such as My Sassy Girl became among the most popular and export-oriented in the Korean history whose uniqueness were judged on its failure to copy Hollywood verbatim. Some researchers have observed that the Korean Wave that has managed to carry Korean movies since the 2000s has been the dialectical between Korea’s readiness to apply universal elements adapted from the Western genres and unique Korean emotional features (Shim 2011). Indeed, integration of Korean specificity and universality has been effective in enabling the movie to gain global appeal. Sang-yong (2011) argues that combining these two features have indeed made the Korean movies to gain attention at world-class international film festivals, hence drawing the attention of the Western audience. Generational change is also a vital cultural element characterising the Korean films. Garcellan and Fernandez (2013) and Sang-yong (2011) are of the view that in the past, Korea’s mainstream movies had pursued fresh and experimental genres and as they matured, they became more focused on Korean narratives and the youth, examples include Yoon Sunghyeon's “Bleak Night.” Due to these, Korean films today appear in Japanese, French and American theatres, as well as various other theatres across the globe. The Korean movies have also focused on diversification of cultural elements. In fact, viewer interest that was originally restricted to productions, which could win awards, has now been extended to a level where Western audiences are open to the leeway of having stars from Korea feature in the remakes (Shim 2011). A prime example is My Sassy Girl. Korean films have also been greatly diversified to a level that they include examples of actor-drive, director-driven films that integrate elements of global cultures to satisfy different tastes of the Korean and Western audience. An example includes “Old Boy”, a Korean film that was screened in Cannes, and which attracted Western interest because of the elements of Greek fables such as King Oedipus. The film fused Western and Korean elements of culture based on the director’s style. An important reality is that Korean movies have deeply reflected Korean cultures. Less of traditional Hollywood genres have been reflected. In sum, the common aspects of Korean movies are varied. With regard to creativity, many of the movie directors such as those who produced Lake House and My Sassy Girl have advanced their careers without restricting themselves to foreign influences from the rest of Asia or the West. Although they may tell the same story, they do so vividly when it concerns mixing genres. Indeed, one of Korea’s most successful genres is melodrama (Shim 2011). Examples of such movies include My Wife is a Gangster. In regards to using employing social cultural perspectives, Korean movie producers have sought to promote their social, political and cultural context. Such inputs have all been integrated in the films, among them including Shiri, which features a story about the Cold War between South Korea and North Korea (Sang-yong 2011). In all, government policies such as screen quote since 1967 that has restricted the number of films that can be showed in Korean cinema screens per year. Low-cost, first and affordable movies produced in natural vernacular and that have state-of-the-art cinematography have contributed to the prominence of the new wave Korean films (Jang and Paik 2012). Strong government policies that restrict piracy, bootlegging and copying have also promoted the industry. This has allowed The Korean film industry to generate many domestic films making them profitable, unique and adaptable in foreign markets (Gateward 2007). Global significance of Korean Movies Despite the fact that the Korean film industry has witnessed a sharp decline since 2006 because of reduction of screen quota of the nation’s free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, various other Korean movies are projected to gain success as they continue to find new audiences across the world. The export of Korean domestic films had upped from around US$7 million in 2000 to some US$76 million in 2005. However, in 2012, the export however plummeted to around 13.5 million. Indeed, since the 1990s, there has been an influx of Korean popular cultures across the globe facilitated by Korean popular culture products, or Hallyu (Jang and Pail 2012). This signifies that Korean movies films have contributed significantly to the influx of Korean popular cultures abroad. Indeed, it is generally agreed that Korean movies have promoted global visibility of the Korean cultures through increase DVD sales going as far back as the 1990s. Korean movies have also contributed to the competitiveness of the global film industry by diversifying the film genres. Since Koreans films have been recognised for their melodrama, a section of the Western audience has grown, a liking to this form of entertainment, away from Hollywood genres such as horrors and thrillers (Ok 2009). Korean films have also promoted global interconnectedness by creating a sense of global community. This has been through the intensified flow of such cultural products, actors and directors and capital across the globe. Jang and Paik (2012) observed that global community through cultural interconnectedness has allowed people to learn different vernacular languages, create a sense of unity with other cultures and feel a shared time and space. The movies have also led to homogenisation of culture by bringing about hybridisation and destroyed the autonomy of indigenous cultures. Indeed, because of the growing distribution of the Korean films globally, there has been a consensus among a cross-section of sociologists that flow of Korean cultures has disrupted the concept of Westernization and Americanization. Indeed, this can be argued basing on the premise that the current trend in the film industry has seen Hollywood remake Korean movies such as My Sassy Girl, Lake House among tens of others (Jang and Paik 2012; Han 2011). Although Asian cultures have gained popularity in the global sphere due to remakes of the domestic movies and the originals, the films have been criticised within the domestic sphere for playing to the global audience to gain international acclaim (Kim 2003). Reasons for Changes when transplanted into other cultures In general, the changes to the story in the remakes of the films have been welcomed by Korean film producers for several cultural reasons. Analysis of the films shows that although the films have been remade with different actors and storylines, such as My Sassy Girl and Lake House, the key themes have been consistent with the original (Sang-yong 2011). Unlike the South Korean audience, Western audiences have built their viewing experience on the South Korean films created by the art house. As with the non-Western films, they are selected and targeted to a segment audience that will appreciate certain cultures. Western films have been slow to accept such films. Indeed, this has been the case with Korean films explaining why they have had to be remade to suit the Western audience (Han 2011). Han (2011) observes that the three key avenues of information shaping appreciation and reception of films globally include distribution companies, film festivals and Western journalism. These avenues have played a role in determining the way Korean movies receive global acclaim. Currently, the film consumption in the west relies on these primary factors. This has called for the need to remake the Korean films in language and form that can be distributed, reviewed and recognised in film festivals (Ok 2009). Some film critics have been of the view that Hollywood has been in search of Korean films because of their rich cultural perspectives, which have staged a new form of competition. Indeed, given the growing competiveness of the Korean films, requests for remakes have arisen. Among the major reasons for the remakes is to expose the films to foreign audience and to make the films gain popularity globally. This is since the Korean film industry has majored on domestic films with limited foreign appeal (Ok 2009). Indeed, some film industry experts have acknowledged that the Korean film industry is still stranger to the world film cinematograph (Sang-yong 2011). In which case, the rising Korean film industry has a voice of its own and is clearly unique to the cultures of the Korean history. For instance, films such as Lake House, The Ring, My Sassy Girl and The Departed constitute some of the remakes of Korean films that were unique to the Korean cultures. There is also a conception that the remakes have been due to the American appetite for certain genres such as horrors and thrillers. For instance, the emphasis has been on horror films such as The Lake House and The Ring and Addicted have been remade into horrors and thrillers. Taking successful films and westernizing them has been motivated by the need to make them appealing for the Western market (Sang-yong 2011). Additionally, non-English films have generally been categorised by countries given their limited linguistic reach (Gateward 2007). This has been the case of Korean films, which implies that they have limited global audience. A key strategy to promote their global acclaim has been to remake them in genres, forms and language that can be appreciated globally. Most Korean movies such as My Sassy Girl, OldBoy and Lake House have been remade based on this assumption. Conclusion The Korean Wave that has managed to carry Korean movies since the 2000s has been the dialectical between Korea’s readiness to apply universal elements adapted from the Western genres and the unique Korean cultural features. Indeed, integration of Korean specificity and universality has been effective in enabling the movie to gain global appeal. Combining these two features has indeed made the Korean movies to gain attention at world-class international film festivals, hence drawing the attention of the Western audience. The consequence is that remaking the movies has led to influx of Korean cultures globally almost disrupting the concept of Westernization. Among the movies attributed to these films include Lake House, The Ring, My Sassy Girl and The Departed. References Ciecko, A & Lee, H 2009, "Visible “waves”: notes on Koreanness, pan-Asianness, and some recent Southeast Asian art films," Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media Jump Cut, No. 51, viewed 8 Nov 2013, http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc51.2009/VisibleWaves/text.html Coggings, K 2009, Made for Hollywood Remakes of Korean Film Classics, viewed 8 Nov 2011, http://voices.yahoo.com/made-hollywood-remakes-korean-film-classics-3386530.html?cat=40 Garcelan, E & Fernandez, G 2011, Korean Cinema in Ten Notes, viewed 8 Nov 2013, http://www.uba.ar/ceca/newsletters/agosto_11/nl-nota1-english.php Gateward, F 2007, Introduction, University of New York Press, viewed 8 Nov 2013, http://www.sunypress.edu/pdf/61518.pdf Han, S 2011, Globalization And Hybridity Of Korean Cinema: Critical Analysis Of Korean Blockbuster Films, University of Texas, Austin Jang, G & Paik, W 2012, "Korean Wave as Tool for Korea’s New Cultural Diplomacy," Advances in Applied Sociology, Vol.2, No.3, pp.196-202 Jin, D 2013, "Hallyu 2.0: The New Korean Wave in the Creative Industry," International Institute Journal University of Michigan, Vol. 1 Iss 1, viewed 8 Nov 2013, http://quod.lib.umich.edu/i/iij/11645653.0002.102/--hallyu-20-the-new-korean-wave-in-the-creative-industry?rgn=main;view=fulltext Kim, S 2003, Renaissance of Korean National Cinema’ as a Terrain of Negotiation and Contention between the Global and the Local: Analysing two Korean Blockbusters, Shiri (1999) and JSA (2000) , viewed 8 Nov 2013, http://www.essex.ac.uk/sociology/documents/pdf/graduate_journal/kim.pdf Ok, H 2009, "The Politics of the Korean Blockbuster: Narrating the Nation and the Spectacle of ‘Glocalisation’in 2009 Lost Memories," Spectator Vol. 29 No. 2, pp.37-47. Sang-yong, L 2011, "The Korean Film Industry Makes Waves," List, Vol. 21, viewed 8 Nov 2013, http://www.list.or.kr/articles/article_view.htm?Div1=8&Idx=794 Shim, D 2011, Growth of Korean Industries and Korean Wave, viewed 8 Nov 2013, http://cassiechoi.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/growth-of-k-cultural-industry-d-shim.pdf Read More