초록
During the 2000s, the Korean cinema rose to prominence as one of the hot spots in the global film industry. Along with the U.S., India and Japan, the Korean cinema has now taken its place as one of the strongest local film industries. The contemporary Korean cinema embraces arthouse as well as commercial cinema, producing a variety of genre films based on Hollywood and other film conventions. Nonetheless, the Korean cinema has developed a hybrid entity of its own that mixes the local and the global (mainly Hollywood) through dynamic cultural and artistic processes of assimilating, modifying and re-creating. What we have come to call the ‘New Korean Cinema,’ with its real origins in the late 1980s, has reached maturity, and its exponents take pleasure in manipulating what they have learned from Hollywood. As such, this article analyzes the historical development of a confidence and willingness to take on creative challenges. The genre-bending practice found in the Korean Cinema, however, has its historical connection to the 1960s, which is best represented by a hybrid genre-bending quality unique to Korea’s film history, indeed, one that is characterized by the 1960s anticommunist film.
키워드
Golden Age Korean Cinema, genre-bending, New Korean Cinema, film history, anticommunist film, Park Chung-hee media policy
INTRODUCTION
In the 2000s, Korean cinema rose to prominence as one of the hot spots of the world film market, backed by impressive local box office returns and an enhanced reputation on the international film festival circuit. Along with the U.S., India and Japan, Korean cinema has now taken its place as one of the world’s strongest local film industries. Directors such as Kim Jee-woon (Kim Chi-un), Park Chanwook(Pak Ch’an-uk), Kim Ki-duk (Kim Ki-dŏk) and Lee Chang-dong (Yi Ch’angdong), to name a few, frequent invitees to international film festivals, have become internationally renowned auteurs; between them, they are responsible for greatly enlarging the spectrum of Korean cinema. Films such as
In 2000, when Korean cinema began seriously attracting the attention of the world film market, Korean film critic and reporter Darcy Paquet expressed pleasant surprise at the arrival of a new stream of filmmaking—one marked by its willingness to experiment with Hollywood genre conventions—freely mixing and matching—and predicted that this trend would continue (6 July 2000 Koreafilm. org). Since then, Korean directors such as Bong Joon-ho (Pong Chun-ho), Kim Jee-woon, Jang Jun-hwan (Chang Chun-hwan) and Lee Muung-se (Yi Mung-se) have become iconic ‘genre-benders,’ inspiring film-makers in other countries in their turn.
In his discussion of genre-bending in American films of the 1970s, Todd Berliner emphasized the ability of these films to wrong-foot the audience: ‘A genre bender relies on viewers’ habitual responses to generic codes, thereby misleading them to expect a conventional outcome. The film seems true to form at first, then, like a booby trap, it catches the spectator off guard’ (2001: 25). These films constituted an attempt to rebel against a set of genre conventions and formulae established in the past. For film critic Kim Young-jin (Kim Yŏng-jin), contemporary Korean cinema is following in the footsteps of Hollywood’s New American Cinema of the 1970s in this respect (
In an interview, director Bong Joon-ho took Berliner’s definition of cinematic genre-bending a stage further. Bong avoids basing his storytelling on a particular genre because ‘in this way, a chasm definitely opens up. Genre is something that has been constructed to fit the Hollywood version of reality and the formulae established by Hollywood, and Korean characters, situations and realities are of course very different from them. I take an interest in chasms of this kind’ (
In her discussion of the new Korean blockbusters, Kim Soyoung (Kim So-yŏng) asserts that this category of film is conceived as a ‘compromise between foreign forms and local materials,’ and is a response to the industry’s ‘voluntary mimicry of, as well as resistance to, large Hollywood productions’ (2001: 11).
However the terms of the discussion are precisely framed, Korean cinema is undoubtedly a hybrid entity mixing the local and the global (mainly Hollywood) through the cultural and artistic processes of assimilating, modifying and recreating. What we have come to call the ‘New Korean Cinema,’ with its origins in the mid-1990s, has now reached maturity, and its exponents take pleasure in manipulating what they have learned from Hollywood, showing a confidence and willingness to take on the creative challenges involved. This process has had broader cultural ramifications. According to Sun Jung, the hybrid character of this contemporary cinema has enabled Korean popular culture to move out beyond its traditional boundaries, creating multi-directional transcultural flows (2011: 16). For Klein, this cinematic hybridity has been historically constructed through ‘the embeddedness of Hollywood’ in Korean cultural life since the post-war period, citing works produced in the golden age of Korean cinema in the 1950s and 1960s as evidence (2008: 891). Klein further claims that the genre-bending proclivities of contemporary directors such as Bong Joon-ho see him ‘following in the footsteps of his commercially minded Korean forerunners such as Kim Kiyoung (Kim Ki-yŏng) and Han Hyeong-mo (Han Hyŏng-mo) (2008: 894). While his analysis is unexceptionable, one type of film overlooked by Klein is a hybrid unique to Korea’s film history, indeed, one that is characterized by its genre-bending quality—the anticommunist film
ANTICOMMUNIST FILMS AND GENRE-BENDING
The Korean film industry has long used the backdrop of the nation’s bitter civil war to engage both young and older audiences, with the added elements of ‘spectacle’ fighting scenes and emotionally charged drama. Political rhetoric has always been a very prominent component of these productions. In the post-war period, war films quickly gained popularity, largely due to the government’s support for them as a propaganda tool bolstering the national policy of anticommunism (Yu 1997; Lee 2001;
As the name suggests, the anticommunist genre encouraged a sense of nationalism and positioned the nation in opposition to communist North Korea. Thus, films in this category became defined by their ideological bias rather than by elements such as setting, style or plot. In other words, anticommunist films encompassed a variety of types (genres) of films that were united by their polemical subject matter. As David Scott Diffrient puts it, these films show ‘a level of genre intermixing rarely attempted in Hollywood movies about the war’ (2005: 23). As such, the anticommunist genre encompasses conventional narrative forms associated with various genres such as war, melodrama, comedy, horror and spy action films. As we will see, this filmmaking phenomenon arose as a direct outcome of the industry’s efforts to negotiate two closely linked political and commercial agendas.
From their beginnings in the late 1940s, anticommunist films were identified by their overt political messages. One of the earliest examples is
Split families, partisans, spies and armed infiltrators to the South, as well as the war itself, provided material for a variety of narratives. Lee Kang-cheon’s (Yi Kang-ch’ŏn)
These themes ran their course in the cinema, and the production of overtly anticommunist films had almost ceased by the end of the 1950s.
This renewed ideological emphasis made its mark in both official and private filmmaking circles. The National Film Production Centre (NFPC) produced newsreels and cultural films about the new government and its military revolution, and private industry was called on to make ‘revolutionary films (
For Thomas Schatz, a film genre is created on the basis of a formula characterized as a ‘coherent, value-laden narrative system’ (1981: 16). As
However, these conventional factors are inadequate to explain the longevity of the anticommunist genre in Korea, because the ‘reciprocal’ relationship between the audience, filmmakers and cinematic entrepreneurs (producers and exhibitors)—which Schatz regards as key to the success of a particular genre (1981: 5)—is missing.
As an article in the trade journal
The crossing of conventional genre boundaries in this way has been characterized as ‘parasitism (
This conceit, along with the idea of an ‘umbrella genre’ (
Aware that they had to please the government as well as audiences, the decision to meld genre boundaries was made deliberately by producers and directors, taking into account artistic considerations and the popular genres of the time. In the 1960s film funding did not come from the government; financial support was raised from provincial exhibitors, who had to please their patrons. Under these complex circumstances, a director had to strike a balance between supporting the official ideology and delivering a commercially viable product to local audiences. Producers pursued anticommunist filmmaking projects as long as they resulted in either an import license—a subsidy given by the government—or box office success.
Among the popular genres cannibalized as a result of this filmmaking activity were (in addition to war films) espionage, melodrama, literary adaptation, comedy and horror. Straight war films such as
5 The film tells the story of two brothers who escape from the impoverished North and find a new life in the South. One brother becomes a soldier and the other a policeman, each working to eradicate communism. The ideological split between South and North was soon embraced on a wider, popular scale by the film industry.
6 The film was released in October 1954, two months after
7 The final scene of
8 In the late 1950s anticommunist film productions were minimal: none in 1957 and one apiece in 1958, 1959 and 1960
9 The transformation of the anticommunist genre was largely supported by direct government pressure as well as financial support from the Import License Reward System (ILRS). That is, the primary demand for anticommunist film came from the government.
10 For this reason, film scholar
REMEMBERING THE WAR THROUGH SPECTACLE: FIVE MARINES (1961)
Anticommunist films generally depicted the brutal nature of communism by stirring up recent memories of the Korean War and creating a continuous reminder of the threat from the North. Because the war had not only destroyed millions of lives but had also ‘left its scars on an entire generation of survivors, a legacy of fear and insecurity that continues even now’ (
The early adaptation of the conventions of the war film was a response to two factors. First, it was a simple way for producers to show their support for government policy. Second, cinema audiences would be attracted to war films for their entertainment and spectacle value. It seems that, from the beginning, producers perceived the anticommunist film as a commercially attractive form. As
Some directors of war films appeared to sidestep the ideological demands of the government and dealt directly with issues such as recent history and social reality. As the following analysis of
The story of
Despite the foregrounding of the protagonists’ personal lives and relationships, the film’s military subject matter meant that the narrative was nonetheless permeated with anticommunist sentiment. The gallant commandos are portrayed as strong and affectionate male heroes and role models, helping their compatriots recover from their memories of defeat and carrying out a dramatic escape under the noses of the North Korean military. They had volunteered for their dangerous mission in order to protect loving wives, mothers and family members at home. The passionate images of self-sacrifice and courage presented by
Despite the commercial appeal, making a war film was a financially difficult decision for producers. In general, war film production involved bigger budgets than other genre films such as melodramas and comedies as they involved special effects and additional extras for the combat scenes. Yet, as the success of
In the intensifying Cold War environment that culminated in the Vietnam War (1962–1975), the South Korean government’s ideological focus was more acute than ever. In his address to the National Assembly in early 1965, Park Chung Hee once again emphasized the importance of strengthening the national defense system, particularly in the light of renewed fears of an invasion by North Korea. Korean combat soldiers were dispatched to Vietnam in 1965. These fast-moving political developments added a new and urgent dimension to the production of anticommunist war films.
11 One sub-plot depicts a father-son relationship: Second Lieutenant O craves the love and approval of his father, the battalion commander. Another squad member, Yŏng-sun, is missing his newly-wed wife, and writes long letters to her every night. A third marine, Hŭng-gu, is missing his elderly mother, and trying his best to be a good soldier for her sake.
12 The influence of Hollywood on Korean films is explained by Korea’s historical relationship with American cinema since the beginning of the 20th century.
13 While Park’s assistance to the U.S. in the Vietnam War was mainly ideological, there was also an economic rationale behind it. Many commentators have suggested that the war was a significant factor in the eventual rise of the South Korean economy.
SEPARATION MELODRAMA AND EMOTIONAL TENDERNESS: SOUTH AND NORTH (1965)
While most anticommunist films from the early 1960s were war films, some directors had begun engaging the conventions of melodrama as a way of adding complexity to understanding the civil war. Melodrama first made its appearance in Korean films in the late 1950s, and quickly became the most popular cinematic genre. In the 1960s melodrama accounted for over half of all film productions, dealing mostly with themes of family, love and sacrifice.
The original score composed by Park Chun-seok (Pak Ch’un-sŏk), with its haunting theme tune ‘Has anyone seen this person?’, enhances the movie’s themes with its tender lyrics and sad melodies. Screenwriter Han Un-sa wrote the lyrics, which encapsulate Chang’s desperate quest for his lover.
Almost 100,000 people turned out to see the film in Seoul alone and, according to a review published in the
Separation melodramas have had a continuing afterlife beyond the 1960s; notable examples include
14 For more information on melodrama and its formation as a genre in Korea, see “A Study of Korean Melodrama as the Pivotal Point of a Hybrid Genre”
15 Scholars such as
16 This song later became the theme song for the national campaign to re-unite separated families launched in 1983, and was also used in another separation drama,
COLD WAR POLITICS AND SPIES: CORRESPONDENT IN TOKYO (1967)
In 1966 the government increased its support for anticommunist filmmaking by revising the Motion Picture Law (MPL), which strengthened the Import License Reward System (ILRS).
Since the mid-1960s foreign films had become more popular than domestic films in Korea, and spy action films, represented by the James Bond series, were no exception. In 1965,
Films such as
17 The MPI distributed import licenses in accordance with the Import License Reward System (ILRS), which was designed to be a financial subsidy for registered producers. Import licenses were distributed on the basis of four main factors: 1) production results; 2) export achievements; 3) international film festival awards; and 4) government-sponsored film awards.
18 Spy action films were produced as early as 1962 as part of revolutionary filmmaking efforts. These included
19 Director
20 Overseas travel including immigration was difficult for most Koreans until the late 1980s, following the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988.
GENRE-BENDING AS A KEY TO SURVIVAL
As the result of the intensified Cold War situation represented by two political incidents that occurred in early 1968, Park Chung Hee reinforced the regime’s anticommunist policy as well as Korea’s defense system. First, on 21 January 1968, 31 North Korean commandos attempted to assassinate President Park. Although the mission failed, the fact that they reached within 500 meters of the Blue House, Korea’s presidential residence, shocked the public.
Anticommunist education at school level was also expanded, and the Ministry of Education encouraged primary schools to hold anticommunist speech competitions and devise political posters and slogans.
While the quantity of anticommunist films increased, and other genres such as horror and comedy were also harnessed to the cause, their quality decreased: many films were ‘quota quickies’ tailored to receive the coveted import license rather than to pursue box office success, and they failed to win approval from audiences (
In the 1970s, with the help of the Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corporation (KMPPC), under the aegis of the MPI, the anticommunist film was given the chance to re-invent itself. Between 1974 and 1975, the KMPPC produced five large-scale anticommunist war films:
Within this historical context, a notable gap existed between the propaganda agenda of the Park regime and the kinds of films that producers and directors wanted to make for public consumption. For the government, the anticommunist genre needed to inform audiences that communism was an evil ideology. For producers, anticommunist filmmaking was about making money, either by box office returns or by winning the government subsidies given to make this kind of film. For film directors, it was a chance to apply their artistry on the big screen in a variety of forms and find ways of overcoming the limitations inherent in restricted narratives and polemical subject matter. The genre-bending potentialities of the anticommunist film enabled producers to make films that satisfied the government as well as audience tastes, leading the genre to flourish over a thirty-year span.
Anticommunist film production was not unique to Korea. Such films were also produced in Taiwan, which shared similarities with Korea as a result of its ideological and geographical split from Mainland China. Hollywood also produced anticommunist films under the name of the ‘anti-Red’ and the ‘Communist-asgangster’ movies of the 1950s and 1960s. However, Korea is one of the few countries where the genre flourished for over a decade. This phenomenon is not surprising given that the making of genre films in other countries under military control, such as Taiwan, Greece and Brazil, was not as heavily influenced by the government as in the case of Korea. In Korea, the government provided systemic support, including financial subsidies and censorship shortcuts, encouraging the production of an increasing flow of anticommunist films. This level of state assistance eventually inspired Korean filmmakers to transform the anticommunist film into a dynamic genre-bending form, enabling films of this type to overcome the limits placed on all other genre categories and conventions. For these filmmakers, ‘anticommunism’ was the magic password to success.
Hence, the genre progressed rapidly in the beginning, driven by the friction generated between the government and filmmakers as a result of their varying agendas. However, these disparate energies and the complexities and nuances that they had generated in films like
In the 1960s, many filmmakers worked on anticommunist productions dressed in a variety of guises inspired by Hollywood. In pursuit of the propaganda task laid on them by the state, they willingly crossed genre boundaries and, in so doing, created a new norm of filmmaking in which genre-bending played an essential role. Given this background, it is little wonder that Korea’s new generation of filmmakers has so readily adopted similar techniques as pathways for expressing local stories. Through the process of appropriating and modifying Hollywood genre conventions, Korean cinema—which up to now has flourished at the local, regional and national levels—has been re-invented as a ‘glocalized’ cinema, exemplifying the contemporary nature of intercultural flows and the positive outcomes they can produce.
21 For more information, see
22 The Charter for National Education was implemented in December 1968, setting primaryeducational objectives that included anticommunist values. It includes the ringing assertion: “The love of country and fellow countrymen, together with a firm belief in democracy against communism, is the way we will prosper and the basis for realizing the ideals of the free world” (
23 In particular, director Yu Hyun-mok (Yu Hyŏn-mok) argued at the seminar that there wasalready an oversupply of anticommunist films, audiences were bored with them, and censorship pressures on directors were high. Other complaints raised during the seminar included a lack of information about the North. The MPI officials present apparently made no suggestions on solving these problems (
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1 A recent article inVariety magazine ,”New-gen of Genre Benders,” reported that new wave filmmakers in Morocco claim inspiration from Korea’s genre films (Jan 3 2011: 3). In another Variety piece, director Kim Jee-woon is characterized as a ‘genre-bending helmer’ for his continued pursuit of genre-mixing since his debut film, the gothic-horror-comedy The Quiet Family (Choyonghan kajok, 1997) (Elley Variety 24 May 2008). Film scholar David Bordwell has called director Bong Joon-ho a ‘genre-hopper who’s hard to pin down’, referring particularly to Bong’s dexterous technique of mixing comedy, horror and social commentary (www.davidbordwell.net 29 September 2009).
2 In a similar vein, Darcy Paquet refers to these directors as ‘commercial auteurs’ (2009: 93).
3 In an article on blockbusters in China and Korea, Chris Berry declared that ‘the blockbuster is no longer American owned’ (2003: 218). Berry defines the Korean blockbuster as ‘a small-scale emulation of Hollywood’s deployment of big-budget entertainment to win international audiences (224)’, using the form ‘as a site to speak to local Korean issues’ (226). For further discussion of the Korean blockbuster, seeBlockbusters, Korean Style (Choi 2010: 31–59).
4 Klein further suggests that the dominant notion of globalization as led by America is being challenged by Hollywood’s exploitation as ‘an object rather than an agent of globalization, a reservoir of symbolic resources from which Korean filmmakers draw as they navigate their way through their own globalized cultural economy’ (2008: 783).