Koreana Winter 1989 (English)

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- ~ '': .: Cifiema ,City.for Kpreil: A c·o~emment P9licy ~kim bongcho 45~ .• " 4 •• • . !' · : · ,: ~esth~tics In' Kor~an Cine~~ ~ Ahn B~ung Sup_.. ~7· .~.. · ;; .~· . ;, ."' Cinema, i!l sovtb ·Kon;a;T&?.ay: P.r Glory B.ef<?re"Twilight? " .. . ,. ... ' .. "'·· • -:.. .

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IN PRAISE OF HUMANISM Cinema in South Korea 60

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Vol.3 No. 4 1989 KOREANA is published quarterly by INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL SOCIETY OF KOREA. 526, 5-ga, Namdaemunno, Chung-gu, Seoul 100-095, C.P.O. Box 2 147, Seoul, Korea Telex: INCULKO K27738 Fax: 757-2049 Tel: 752-6 170, 753-3463/7 KOREANA was registered as a quarterly magazine with the Ministry of Cu lture and Information, Republic of Korea. on August 8, 1987 Registration No. Ma- 1033

PUBLISHER/PRESIDENT: Kim Seong-jin EDITOR IN CHIEF: S. Chang EDITORIAL BOARD: Choe Chungho , Hahn Man-young, Rhee Sang-woo, Yoo Young-ik ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Oh-seok Hwang TEXT EDITOR: Tim Groves CIRCUlATION: Overseas/C.P.O. ~147, Seoul. Korea Tel: 752-6 170, 753-3463, 753-3464 Fax: 757-2049 Domestic/C.P.O. Box 7852, Seoul. Korea Tel: 274-5443, 269-2209 U.S. Subscriber Service: KOREANA P.O. Box 3 12 Hartsdale, New York I 0530 Tel: (9 14) 472-4587 Fax: (914) 472-1195 Advertising inquires should be addressed to: AD Seoul. RM 60 I , Lions Bldg.

50. 2ga, Chungmuro, Chung-gu, Seoul, Korea Tel: 274-8336, Fax: (02) 274-8337 IJ\YOUT: IMC Incorporated TYPESETTING: IMC Incorporated PRINTING: Dong-a Publishing & Printing Co.

Price per copy: US$5 (W3.500)

at once, south Korean movies have begun snapping up awards at international film festivals - in Moscow, Tokyo, Montreal, Locarno. What has happened? Much of this issue of Koreana is dedicated to giving answers from top flight Korean critics, experts and professors. A dose of foreign input is also provided from two other centers of filmmaking: Los Angeles and Tokyo.

The first Korean film I saw was Deep Blue Night by director Bae Chang-ho. I no longer recall which year it was. .One thing remains fresh and green in my memory. The film took my breath away. Finally I caught up with . him for an interview for Time last year. Again I met him this year for a question-and-answer session which is featured in this issue.

One thing is striking in particular about Bae and the best of his fellow film directors in south Korea is the the depth of their humanism, a brand of humanism that is peculiarly reminiscent of that great British master, David Lean. "What moves me is the question about the problems of mind," Bae says.

"Not the problems of politics."

Though the current flood of porn films might prove misleading, the path followed by the best of Korean cineastes since way back before World War II has seldom been anything so easy.

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ANATOMY OF THE KOREAN FILM INDUSTRY

Emotion Commands the Greatest Commercial Value Huh Chang

I. Shortage of Capital

The Korean film industl)' is handicapped by a number of blind spots and weaknesses. While the industl)' boasts a 70~year histol)' since its birth in 1919, a closer look at its internal structure reveals a persistent inability to rid itself of the vestiges of an antiquated cottage industry.

Successful development of the film industry is only possible where a large number of people, machines and resources are effectively mobilized on the basis of a set budget and where the film is distributed through an efficient distribution network. There is really no difference between the production process in the manufacturing industry and that of the film industl)' except that in the film industry, the model and content of each product is different.

Over the course of its 70~year histol)', however, the Korean film industry has not established a systematic or organized industrial structure for itself. There has never been a major film company in Korea which has operated an organized distribution network as well as a good studio.

In addition, production expenses are not met with funds saved for that purpose, but rather are raised on an impromptu basis for each indMdual film to be produced. Generally speaking, most film companies in Korea are legal corporations in keeping with commercial law. But in fact. these firms tend to be little more than one~man shows.

In order to rein in the haphazard and disorderly expansion of the local film industry which occurred following the Korean War and up into the 1960s, the Motion Picture Law was revised in 1973, establishing strict standards regarding the founding of film companies, studio facilities, production funds, etc. As a result, the total number of film studios was drastically reduced to around 20 in number. But beyond permitting these companies to monopolize both local production and the import of foreign films, the law did little to solve the problem of production expenses or local production organization.

Tite writer of this article, Huh Chang, is a dee pi !I respected ;ournalist who served long as columnist and editorial chief for Pusan Ilbo, a leading dail!l in the southern cit!l of Pusan. He has studied Korean cinema, about which he has written a long series of articles.

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ANATOMY OF THE KOREAN FILM INDUSTRY

Following the second revision of the Motion Picture Law in 1986, a move aimed at opening up the the local film industry and promoting the liberalization of foreign film imports, the number of domestic production companies has ballooned to 90-plus. But the majority of these companies fall into the categmy of personal production companies which I have mentioned above.

The slow development and general lack of vitality in the Korean film industry as well as the present retrogressive trend are the results of a reluctance on the part of big-time financiers to invest in the industry because of the small size of the domestic market and the Korean filmmarkers' inability to make inroads in overseas movie markets.

In addition, the rapid growth of both television and video have undercut the growth of the film industry.

On top of this, the flood of foreign films following the liberalization of film imports has taken a heavy toll on local filmmarkers. Prior to liberalization in 1986, approximately 30 foreign films were imported annually. But at present, some 200 films inundate the local market every year.

Because moviegoers seeking change and entertainment prefer the diverse content and varied expression found in foreign films, the audience for Korean films has dropped off in size significantly. But while the trite content and general lack of creatMty charcteristic of Korean film are one cause for the decline of the local film industry, a more basic cause of this condition lies in the financial destitution of the industry.

The foreign films which are presently attracting such a large audience in local theaters boast production expenses, at the very least, I0 times; and at the most, 200 times as high as their Korean competitors. Considering this vast budget gap, one can hardly expect competition on an equal basis. Thus, the fact that the local film industry manages to produce approximately 80 films a year and attract as many viewers as it does is truly a testimony to the tenacity and potential of Korean filmmarkers.

In summary, one must realize that the single greatest weakness of the Korean film industry is its shortage of production capital and its general financial poverty.

II. Raising Funds

The production costs for a film made in Korea can run anywhere from I00 million won (approximately $150,000) to 300 million won (approximately $450,000). While large-scale productions have been known to require more than 300 million won, these cases are fairly uncommon, because it is hard to cover such expenses through box office receipts on the relatively small local market. When compared with American film production expenditures which often exceed $45 million, the poverty of the Korean film industry becomes all too clear.

The methods used to acquire financing for Korean films is unique. Production expenses, whether I00 million won or 300 million won, are not taken out of the accumulated resources of the

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production company, but rather are raised from entertainment promoters and theater owners in regional areas other than Seoul. since no single financier is willing to lay out a substantial sum of money at one shot. Thus, the regional promoters set appropriate shares for a particular film and supply production funds accordingly.

This "pre-production sale system" is actually called iptosonmae, the term used to refer to the pre-harvest sale by impoverished rice farmers and has characterized the financial destitution of the Korean film industry since the 1950s. Even the most well-heeled film financiers rely on the preproduction sale system because they do not want the possible failure of a single production to impinge on their other assets.

Generally speaking, the pre-production sale system is administered by the collection of equal shares from five regional blocks, excluding the Seoul metropolitan area: Kyonggido and Kangwondo Provinces, Chungchongnamdo and Chungchongbukdo Provincess, the Homan region which includes Chollabukdo and Chollanamdo Provinces, and the Yongnam region comprising the cities of Taegu and Pusan and Kyongsangnamdo and Kyongsangbukdo Provinces. Each block contributes an equal share to the funds collected for the production of any one particular movie.

It is important to note that the total collected from the five blocks must be the exact equivalent to the production costs of the film. For example, if a film is budgeted at I00 million won, the total raised from the five regional blocks must equal I00 million won. As a result, the box office collected in theaters in Seoul is net profit.

However, the system does not always run as smoothly as these simple calculations. First of all, the general slump in the Korean film industry means that local entertainment promoters and theater owners are often not willing to lay out cash for domestically produced films. While they may offer their support to producers or directors with strong box office records, minor directors or younger artists often get the cold shoulder from promoters. As a result. directors are often forced to cut production costs in order to sell their films to promoters, and so the final product suffers from production delays or slipshod direction. It is not uncommon for production on a film to be abandoned because of the producer's failure to sell it through the pre-production sale system.

Regional promoters usually do not pay cash in advance when they buy a film through the preproduction sale system. Generally, funds are exchanged in the form of three-month or five-month promissory notes. Promoters expect the film to be completed during this three- to fiye-month period. One could call this a grace period observed until the film is turned over to the regional promoter. The film producer exchange the promissory note for cash, at a high rate of interest, and produce his or her film with that cash.

In recent years, regional promoters' interest in participating in the pre-production sale system has cooled. As a result, Korea's filmmarkers are scrambling for financial support. Film producers scour the country for financing, but there are very few entrepreneurs willing to invest in this risky business. In addition, Korean banks would never provide financing to a production company without substantial collateral. As a result of the irrationality and inefficiencies of this financing system, the Korean film industry has been unable to establish a firm commercial foundation or cast off its cottage industry mentality.

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ANATOMY OF THE KOREAN FILM INDUSTRY

AHN SEONG-KI (LEFT) AND HWANG SHIN-HYE IN DREAM BY BAE CHANG-HO

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Ill. Decline in Box Office

Despite the financial difficulties facing the Korean film industry, approximately 80 films have been produced annually over the last ten years or so. While this is only a drop in the bucket compared to the 200 films produced every year during the heyday of Korean film in the I 960s, the local industry ranks among the most productive national film industries.

Of these 80 or so films produced every year, however, only around 10 percent are truly successful at the box office. If we add to this figure the number of films which manage to just barely recoup their production expenses, we are talking about a total of 20 percent of the films produced annually. The remaining 80 percent end up in the red. The industry's consistent production of such a large number of films despite this discouraging success record is mysterious indeed. But this actually reflects a unique feature of the Korean film industry:the fact that money for the production of local films can be raised through the import and screening of foreigri films. For this reason, Korean film producers all are active in the import of foreign films.

Foreign films rarely run at a loss when screened in Korea so they serve as an effective fund~ raising device for Korean filmmarkers. During the I 970s and early I 980s when the Korean film industry was reduced to 20 companies, the box office receipts from foreign films were the sole source of financing for the production of local films. Korea's filmmarkers are vehemently opposed to the direct distribution of foreign films by major international distributors such as United International Pictures (UIP) because they are afraid that the new system will dry up their main source of financing.

With this in mind, let us tum to the question of how much a creative Korean film director can make annually. Some I 50 film directors are presently registered with the Korean authorities.

Approximately 60 of these are actively involved in the production of films, while the remainder have gone to work in other fields or are waiting for an opportunity to work in film. This statistic clearly reflects the recession currently facing the Korean film industry.

At the present time, active film directors receive anywhere from an upper figure of 25 million won (approximately $37,200) to a low of 5 million won ($7,400) for a single film. So~lled class "A" directors receive 20 to 25 million won while dass "B" directors receive I 0 to I 5 million won !$22,300) and class "C" dlrectors receive 5 to 8 million won ($5,300).

A class "A" director can therefore receive the equivalent of approximately I 0 percent of the total production costs of the film, a significantly higher percentage than his counterparts in Japan or the United States. However, since overcall budgets are so much smaller in Korea, Korean directors' incomes can hardly be compared to those of foreign directors. In addition, since the fees paid to the director constitute the total director's budget, including pay for assistant directors, the main director's real salary is substantially reduced. For example, if a director is paid 25 million won for a particular film and employs two assistant directors in the production, his personal share would be reduced by 5 million won ($7,400) at the very least.

At present price levels in Korea, an annual salary of 20 million won ($29,700) barely covers the living expenses of a middle class family. And so even the most highly paid Korean director would

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ANATOMY OF THE KOREAN FILM INDUSTRY

have trouble making a decent IMng on one film per year. This is to say nothing, of course, of class "B" or "C'' directors. These lesser directors must make at least two films annually in order to eke out a IMng for themselves, but that in itself is a rare feat indeed. For class "C" directors making their debut or with no substantial box office record, any sort of IMng wage is impossible. ' The present qualitative decline in the Korean film industry is the direct result of this failure to provide a positive environment in which directors can immerse themselves in their creative enterprise. Nevertheless, there are a few class "A" directors who are receMng a share of the profits from their productions, thanks to their past record of box office successes.

In addition, in recent years a number of class "A" directors have gone independent, founding their own production companies and handling both production and direction. This trend reflects their desire to boost both their artistic status and profits from their films.

Actors and actresses, on the other hand, enjoy relatively high incomes. Top stars receive 30 million won ($44,600) per picture while class "A" performers receive 20 to 25 million won, class "B" from I0 to I 5 million won, and class "C" from 5 to 8 million won. Supporting actors and actresses receive anywhere from 2 to 5 million depending on the size of their part and their own experience.

In a film where the overall production budget is only 150 million won ($223,200) and a class "A" star is cast in a leading role, that one actor's wages sometimes exceeds 10 percent of the total budget. The 1988 film Songya (Sacred Night) is a prime example of this phenomenon: the leading actress, Chang Mi-hui, received 30 million won for her performance in the 150 million won production. This film was a complete flop at the box office despite Ms. Chang's high fees. Rather than attributing this to an error in casting, however, we would best blame this kind of failure on the lack of effective planning in the Korean film industry.

Generally speaking, the fees paid to actors and actresses in Korean films are relatively high compared to the total film budget. For example, if class "A" performers are cast in a 250 million won film, then the male and female leads account for 40 million won ($59,200). Three supporting actors and actresses at 4 million won ($5,900) each add up to 12 million won. If an additional6 million won ($8,900) is budgeted for the remaining members of the cast, then the costs for hiring actors and actresses alone totals 58 million won, nearly 30 percent of the total budget for the film.

Statistics from nations more advanced in film production show that total fees for actors and extras add up to approximately I0 pereent of the total film budget. There is no denying that something is amiss in the Korean film industry as guaranties to performers restrict expenditures in other areas of production, undercutting the quality of the final product.

Korean performers command these high fees regardless of the success of the film . In addition, many of the more popular actors and actresses make as many as three or four films a year on top of television performances. enabling them to enjoy lifestyles unimaginable to even the most celebrated film directors.

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IV. Quality Films Play to Large Audience

The top money-marking film of 1989 has been director Kim Hosang's Soul Muiigae (Seoul

Rainbow). This film has swept up a number of awards including the "Grand Bell Prize," Korea's most prestigious film award, the Hanguk Ilbo award for best film, and the first prize from the Korean Association of Film Critics, reflecting the respect it has earned artistically as well as Commercially.

With a total budget of 200 million won ($297,600), this film raked in approximately 500 million won ($744,000) in screenings around the country, breaking box office records by attracting 270,000 viewers to theaters in Seoul and 100,000 in Pusan. Similar records were set in theaters throughout the country.

The story focuses on the life of a young actress whose fledgling career is destroyed by the overwhelming forces of the dictatorial regime which permeates all levels of society including the entertainment business.

'

OSEAM BY DIRECTOR PARK CHUL-SOO (CENTER) WITH ACTRESS KIM HYE-SOO (RIGHT) IN NUN'S COSTUME

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ANATOMY OF THE KOREAN FILM INDUSTRY

Many believe that the key to the unprecedented commercial success of this film has been its exposure of the sex scandals of the ruling elite. But if we look deeper, we find that element is little more than an advertising tease for the film. What has really appealed to the Korean audience is the realistic perspective and innovative idiom found in this film, elements previously untested in the history of Korean cinema.

The film presents a sensitive investigation of the oppressive practices of Korea's political regimes, delicately weaving the thread of these political misdeeds through the personal drama.

Infiltrating the very core of Korea's political rule, an area which has never truly been handled by local filmmarkers, this film deserves special praise for its director's clear-eyed approach which never sinks to the level of rhetorical criticism.

This film also realistically portrays the bone~wrenching pain felt by those who live under the shadow of an oppressive regime, eloquently depicting the cyclical pattern of human life which has been so often ignored in other Korean films. Rather than raising its voice to condemn reality, this film serves as a light illuminating our society through the common pain of humanity Seoul Rainbow is also worthy of note for its superb consolidation of realism and romanticism. While the work lacks depth in places, the director grabs the audience's interest with the innovative conclusion which sublimates the somewhat thin realistic elements with a touching romanticism.

Perhaps the most charming element of this film lies in its graceful and humorous depiction of the flickering dreams and loves, the pain and frustration which run throughout human life; there is certainly no question why Korean audiences gravitated to this fresh approach after so many years of hackneyed love stories and preposterous melodramas.

Perhaps the most extraordinary event on the Korean film scene this year, however, has been the exceptional commercial success of Bae Yong~kyun's Why Bondhi Drama Went to the Orienf? the grand prize winner at the 42nd Locamo Film Festival held in Switzerland this year. This film is "exceptional" in that it represents a complete reversal of what is generally considered a commercially successful model.

Strictly speaking, this film is an experimental "author's film " which depicts the conceptual world of the director. Bae Yong~Kyun, an art professor, handled not only the script writing and direction, but also the filming and editing. Amateur actors and actresses were used in the film which took four years to complete. Bae's work clearly negates the idea that films are 4nique as a group effort combining the labors of a scriptwriter and film technicians.

In addition, this film completely overturns the stereotypical film format, throwing out conventions such as introductions, development, conversion and conclusion, and focusing instead on a meandering film depiction ofthe director's conception of the meditative world of Buddhism. If one were forced to describe the story depicted in this film, one could simply say that it is a chronicle of a young man who, frustrated with his life in the real world, enters a Buddhist monastery in the mountains and engages in a never-ending query about nature and humanity, devoted to the world of Zen. The most intense image found in this film is the confirmation of humanity and the verification of the truth of existence realized by this young man through his conversations with nature cut off from his fellow man. This film is also significant for its use of images, rather than language, as the

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basic tool for expression. It is truly remarkable that a film like this, so completely lacking in even the slightest hint of commercialism, has been so popular with the Korean public, attracting 150,000 moviegoers since its premiere in Seoul. With the film still in the theaters, we can only expect more to flock to the theaters to experience this unique film.

This irony, a commercial success recorded by a film which negates the very idea of commercialism itself, is truly a first in the 70-year history of Korean film. Nevertheless, the Korean film community still may not truly understand the tastes of the domestic moviegoing public.

V . The Changing Tastes

Modern film must always stay ahead of its viewers, satisfying both their tastes and demands.

It is precisely for this reason that film is always changing and developing.

The pace of change in Korean cinema is nevertheless painfully slow. The tear-jerking melodramas which enjoyed such wonderful box-office during the heyday of Korean film in the 1960s remain a persistent staple of the domestic industry today. Clearly the Korean film industry has not been able to keep up with the level of consciousness of its audience.

There are two ways to create a successful film considering that the fact that the media would get nowhere without an audience.

First is the pure entertainment film which depends on visual appeal. vividly depicting a shocking or exciting incident. American entertainment films are a good example of this genre, offering consistant sensational interest, surprise and stimulation.

The second genre is characterized by serious works which evoke emotion through a penetrating portrayal of a social problem or human experience.

Of course, the ideal film would be a combination of these two elements, but such films are hard to find.

The entertainment films I mentioned above are not as simple as they used to be, however, because people's lives are becoming increasingly complicated and their emotions m6~ and more sensitive. In addition, our everyday lives in modern society are filled with so mariy shocking incidents. We live in an age when reality is stranger and more shocking than drama, and therefore, it is becoming more and more difficult to provide excitement and thrills to moviegoers. For this reason, the budgets for American entertainment films today are ballooning in order to dish out the effects which will truly impress an increasingly sophisticated audience.

There are two reasons why Americans have dominated this genre of film: first, the incredibly high production costs of action/entertainment films; and second, the creatMty of American film producers. Today's movie-goers have become accustomed to these high levels of creatMty and will put up with little that does not measure up to the standards of American filmmarkers.

Korean films, of course, can not compete with American films when it comes to budget. In

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ANATOMY OF THE KOREAN FILM INDUSTRY

addition, Korean filmmarkers lag behind their American counterparts in terms of creatMty as well.

For this reason, the Koreans must focus on the second genre of movies I mentioned above: serious films which address social problems or human experience. Korean filmmarkers have yet to fully develop their skills in this area, however.

The most serious obstacle facing Korean filmmarkers in terms of qualitative advancement is their inability to effectively portray human experience realistically. Most of the characters which appear in melodramas which make up the bulk of Korean films resemble one-dimensional puppets designed to pull the story forward. They move along by remote control, loving and happy here, uniting and separating automatically as the story requires. The story does not grow out of the characters; rather the characters are inserted into the frame of the story. On top of this, the stories themselves are filled with coincidence and stifling artificiality. The castration of the Korean film is the result of these dehumanized stories so permeated by inevitability. These films do not even come close to the genre of "serious" film.

A film which is created through the accurate gaze of a camera simply recording its subject is like a mirror calmly reflecting the times and reality of that subject. A film which ignores this reality will only be ignored by the moviegoers themselves, because today's audience is most interested in portrayals of the reality in which they are IMng. Korean audiences are no exception. Their tastes have been refined through not only film, but also a wide range of visual media, including television and photograph, and so they reject artificiality or insincerity and demand realistic works which reflect the world in which they are IMng, full of life and humanity. This is only natural. This is why films which have achieved new qualitative heights, such as Bodhi Drama and Rainbow have received such enthusiastic responses from their audiences in Korea.

VI. The Response to Foreign Films

This refinement in the tastes and awareness of Korean movie fans has been vividly apparent in their response to foreign films. The top grossing foreign films in the last few years have included works such as Milos Foreman's Amadeus and Bernardo Bertolucci's The LAst Emperor, films which have swept the Academy Awards including that for Best Picture. Amadeus is of particular note in that it does not fit the typical mold of entertainment film given its artistic portrayal of the intricacies of human existence. The importers of the film could hardly have expected the box office success it generated considering how alien the subject may have been to the average Korean moviegoer.

Nevertheless, the film drew approximately 800,000 viewers during its run in Seoul.

The LAst Emperor was somewhat more typical of an "entertainment" film. But director Bertolucci's analytical vision of the life of the last emperor of the Ching dynasty, himself a hostage to the tides of history, was truly a work of art. This film also enjoyed a long run with some 800,000

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tickets sold.

In addition to these films, a number of movies which have earned awards at other respected film festivals, including those at Cannes and Berlin, have registered impressive box office records in Korea. While some sectors of the Korean filmmaking community have shown new interest in such prize-winning works, they are still out of touch with the rapidly changing tastes of the Korean audience.

Today's audience chooses films after meticulous study in accordance with their own level of consciousness. They are not swayed by loud posters or advertisements. They are not attracted to a film because it won an award at a famous film festival, but nevertheless they do choose to see such films because they believe that a prize-winning film must be of high quality. This proves that Korean moviegoers are moving in the direction of a preference for artistic films.

On the other hand, American action entertainment films are on a decline in Korea. This trend was made painfully clear by the miserable box office failure of the movie Rambo Ill which was imported for more than$ I million on the basis of high expectations on the Korean market. Recently, all American "entertainment" movies, from action films to science fiction and horror films, have fallen into a rut on the Korean market. Kung fu movies from Hong Kong have, however, gained new strength at box offices in Korea.

With the exception of the film Die Hard, all American films have fared poorly this year. Indiana Jones - The Final Adventure, Beverly Hills Cop II, and the most recent James Bond film have all failed to meet expectations. Rainman, a sensitive portrayal of the depth and beauty of human emotion, on the other hand, scored big with local audiences, underscoring again the newest trend in Korean film tastes.

Other foreign films which have been successful in Korea this year include the Chinese film Red Sorghun ,the Swedish Production of My Life as a Dog,and the Russian film Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears, all pictures arousing emotion rather than laughs with their fresh depictions of existence and humanity.

This trend is a clear reflection of the Korean audience's preference for movies which touch their hearts emotionally, rather than offering visual stimulation alone. Indeed today's moviegoers are proving that emotion commands the greatest commercial value in today's film market.

MANDARA WITH ACTORS JEON MOO-SONG (FRONT) , AHN SEONG-KI. DIRECTOR: VIM KWON-TAEK. THIS FILM WON JURY AWARD FROM THE 32TH BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

14

ANATOMY OF THE KOREAN FILM INDUSTRY

HUH CHANG

15

A COUNTRY SO FULL OF GOOD STORIES

Interview with Bae Chang~ho

If some people were born with silver spoons in their mouths, south Korea's cineaste Bae Chang-ho could have been born with a movie director's megaphone in his mouth. Having graduated from Yonsei University, he was posted in Nairobi, Kenya, as a representative of Korea's giant Hyundai Crop., Bae ;ust couldn't sit still. " I was dying to make movies," he reminisces. So overwhelming was the cinematographic urge that overriding obiections from his parents and friends, he packed up in 1978 and headed straight back home to do what was, and still is, close to his heart- working in Seopu/'s filmmakers.

That was the point of kickoff for his brilliant career. Bae attributes the cinematographic grip on him to his mother. For almost a year before she gave birth to him, Mother nearly daily went to see a film in Seoul.

Home from Africa, Bae in no time won a top prize for a screenplay he wrote. The up-and-coming aspirant made his directorial debut with People in a Slum, a penetrating study of humanism in the lower depths of today's Korea.

Since then Bae, now 39, has made a dozen films to solidify his position as a champion cineaste of his generation in south Korea. Hearty and articulate, Bae not long ago made himself available for an interview by EditorS. Chang in Tokyo. Excerpts from that session follow.

Question: What's so great about Korean cinema?

Bae: In the history of our cinema no such masters like John Ford or Akira Kurosawa exist. Though 70 years of age, cinema in our country for once came into big time only at the onset of the 1980s. In other words, we're still very, very young. But youthfulness is by no means a hindrance to sound development in filmmaking. We have tons of energy and what most of all might count in cinema: compassion. These are the commodities that as far as I'm concerned, are essential for making good films.

Besides, today might be the finest hours in the annals of our cinema. You see, we Koreans today are in the throes of a heady and drastic process called modernization. Against the background of this kind of fast-changing society, so many people are presenting so many real-life comedies and tragedies almost daily. This, in other words, is a country so full of good stories for

16

A COUNTRY SO FULL OF GOOD STORIES

cinema. This is what makes the circumstances surrounding the motion picture industry in south Korea today so great.

Whether or not. south Korean cineastes are fully taking advantage of this wealth of materials is a question that posterity could determine. I can say at least one thing for sure. We directors in the industry are doing our utmost. No matter what posterity might have to say, I personally can offer no apologies to what I have been doing as a film director.

0: What's so weak about if?

8: So many things about it are. We're short of nearly everything except the ardor to do good films.

For instance we're so short of funds that we are compelled to make a full-length film on the basis of what in Hollywood will be immediately categorized as a shoestring budget - on the average around $300,000 per film. This kind of money is something that most American film producers would cover under such a heading as Miscellaneous expenses in their budget.

We're short of good cameras, lighting and sound recording equipment. When it comes right down to it, our facilities for processing and printing films are not exactly what they should be. And the amount of time we're given in making a film is, on the average again, only about one fifth of what my confreres would be using in most of the advanced countries.

Then again we know that a mountain of cash and fine equipment are not necessarily the conditions needed for producing a good film. Consider Roberto Rossellini. Italy was in a shambles in the wake of war when under conditions that could only be called pitiful in terms of funds and equipment, he came out with that memorable film: Paisan. (One of the best Rossellini works, the film was produced in 1946. - Editor).

0: What then characterize the best of Korean films in your eyes?

8: It's hard to say. But if Hollywood were characterized by commercialism in its products - like Ghosthuster and the Indiana Jones trilogy, south Korea then would have to be noted for the obsession with humanism among some of its filmmakers.

Personally I often wonder what modernization might mean. We seem paying qearly for it.

Old arrangements are crumbling down in our family as well in our community. Only a decade and a half ago, our parents used to tell their sons "choun saram doera (be a good man)." Now the message for the youngsters from their parents often is "chat sara bose (Jive an easy life).

We're placing so much emphasis on material well-being and forgetting so much about our time-honored value system. In most communities, people until only recently were "yiwoodsachon (neighborhood cousins)." Now even in a small apartment building, its dwellers are strangers to each other. I'm not at all sure if this all-out battle for economy-firstism is really in the interest of our country today.

What then is vitally important in filmmaking? To sing in praise of human values or humanism. Our endless concern about this might in the end be what characterizes Korean cinema.

BAE CHANG-HO

17

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DIRECTOR BAE CHANG-HO AT WORK

0: What do you have to say about this

ffood of soft-porn ff/ms?

8: It's another reflection of our youthfulness. If from it the industry suffered, that could be growing pains. Once there was a great deal of restrictions on filmmaking. With that lid removed suddenly, all manner of films has come bursting forth in our country. Porn films were banned outright before. What we're seeing today is a reaction to that ban. Curiosity drives so many o7 3 to see them. Sooner than later, most moviegoers are going to get sick of it.

These porn films remind me of the currtmt the video boom in Korea. There's so much difference between what you see on your TV screen at home and what you see on the full-sized screen in theaters. By necessity, people will be bored with it - porno films as well as video and return to theaters to enjoy the true glories of cinema.

18

A COUNTRY SO FULL OF GOOD STORIES

BAE CHANG-HO

19

0: What do you have to say about government support for the domestic fflm industry?

8: Bach and Mozart thrived, thanks to support from the aristocracy. Consider also Australia. Until not long ago, few had heard of Aussie films. Now, thanks to government support, Australian films are among the finest in the world today.

But to give a definitive yes or no to your question would be difficult. It depends on inclinations and tastes of individual directors. As to me, it wouldn't make any difference. Fine cinema after all is possible even where there is no government support. Perhaps it's a good thing to have a government support. Then again perhaps not. It doesn't matter, as far as I'm concerned.

0: Why is there a han on Japanese fflms in Korea while there exist no such restrictions against Korean ff/ms in Japan?

8: What Japan did during colonial days in Korea is within living memory in this country. That memory dies hard. Still, you have to realize that among a fast-growing number of our youngsters, Japanese rock music is exceedingly popular. Once their generation takes over in our country, that problem will become only a memory.

0: What does cinema means to south Korea?

8: In the end it might be a reflection of the total sum of what Koreans are doing. As economy has come to grow and political actualities have improved, so has cinema in south Korea. Just as the country has come to be known around the world, its films have begun winning awards at a succession of motion picture festivals overseas. Just as south Korea has a lot to expect from the future, so does its cinema. As I've said, the potentials of our cinema are truly great.

20

A COUNTRY SO FULL OF GOOD STORIES

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11_ WINDOW ON KOREA New Korean Cinema Geoffrey Gilmore

he Korean cinema re-emerged in the 1980s as a genuine "cinema of quality," with a burgeoning international reputation and critical appraisals and plaudits to match. Since its inception, some 70 years ago, the continuous upheavals that have afflicted Korean history have had a corresponding disruption on cultural life. Thus despite periods of prolific output and rich quality, the general understanding abroad of Korean cinema has been both vague and obscure - a sense of a mix of genre exploitation and overt sentimentality.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the appearance in international festivals of films that were both aesthetically complex and striking, complete with treatments of subjects ranging from sexual oppression to religious persecution, were a genuine revelation to audiences in the west. The internationalization of what had been heretofore a more narrowly focused "national" cinema continues to characterize the Korean film industry today. In the U.S., the primary mode ofappreciation and appraisal of almost all foreign cinema has been through the analysis of auteurs - of directors of exceptional capability and widespread critical acclaim. Many of the countries in Asia,

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The writer of this article, Geoffrey Gilmore is the Head of Programming at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

His activity there as curator since 1979 has included programming over 700 national and intermational, classic and contemporary ~lm screenings each year.

He has coordinated innumerable national n!m tours including French , Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Soviet, Spanish, Swedish, Vietnamese, and Preservation programs. ln addition, he has ;uried and consulted for many n!m festivals, award committees and cinemateques including the Los Angeles lnt'l Film Exposition (FILMEX), San Francisco lnternatiolnal Film Festival, Hawaii Film Festival, Festival dei Popoli, Mill Valley Film Festival and others, and has sat on review panels for the California Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and National State County Partnership.

He has travelled extensively in search of ~lms and works regularly with many of the world's ma;or cinematheques including the Museum fo Modem Art, Paci~c Film Archive, British Film Institute, Cinemateque Francaise and others. He is also afflliated and has worked extensively with numerous ~lm and television organizations including, among others, tfte National Alliance of Media Arts Centers (NAMAC), International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), Independent Feature Pro;ect/West (IFP/Westl, American Film lnstitute(AFll, International Documentary Association (IDA) and Women in Film(WIF).

Prior to his curatorship he taught nlm criticism and n!m history in UCLA's Film Department.

He is the Director of UCLA Film and Television Archive's Festival of Preservation and is currently the primary consultant for The Los Angeles Festival, for media programming.

GEOFFREY GILMORE

21

most particularly Japan, have already witnessed the growth or singling out of major directors by U.S. critics and journalists, be it Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Ozu in the past or more recently Taiwan's Hou Hsia-hsien, China's Chen Kaige of the Philippine's Lino Brocka. Despite the existence of such outstanding directors as Vim Kwon-taek, Lee Doo-yong of younger directors of major significance including Lee Chang-ho and Bae Chang-ho, this focus of attention on a Korean director has never occurred.

Certainly, part of the reason for this lies in the basic ignorance and parochialism that almost all American filmgoers and critics alike suffer from. But it also speaks towards the problems of accessibility, indeed of specific national characteristics that have prevented this level of recognition.

As might be expected, there are certain similarities of themes and narrative style between Korean and other Asian cinemas. The subjugation of women, both as a story line and as a metaphor, the frequent focus on history and its analogy to present situations, the effects of modernization, and the changing roles within the family are ongoing patterns of narrative discourse. Moreover, certain aesthetic qualities are often comparable, including the importance of

ACTRESS CHANGE MI-HEE (LEFT) WITH AHN SEONG-KIIN DEEP BLUE NIGHT: BEST PICTURE, BEST SCREENPLAY AWARDS FROM THE 30TH ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL

22

WINDOW ON KOREA

color and composition characteristic of common artistic heritages.

The Korean cinema, however, is differentiated by its emotional overtness and at times its "excess." If the average American filmgoer/critic were to see much of Korean cinema, it would strike them as most Asian cinema does -exceedingly sentimental and melodramatic. Indeed, it's an appreciation of the fine~tuned emotional qualities of the story lines and screen relationships that has underscored the reception of the very best f Japanese melodramas and contemporary historical dramas from China or the Philippines.

The plots of many of the Korean films I have seen are choc~full of violence and sexuality, although not necessarily graphic (particularly in regards to sex). And not only in the genre work, as might be expected, but also in films by major directors such as Surrogate Womb, Deep Blue Night, Mulle Ya, Eunuch, and Pong, in which the assemblage of melodramatic devices reaches a level of overkill or "excess." But this "excess" in Korean cinema is not merely histrionics. Frequently its overtness is also a source of great emotional depth. In the hands of directors of skill it takes on a character reflective of Korean history. It is thus tempestuous and contemplative, violent and passionate, without losing the dynamic character of the story as might happen in films which function only as catharsis.

It is, however, this very uniqueness which has limited Korean film's accessibility to a more international audience. And while, of course, this level of generalization does not apply to all films (most notable art films such as The Man With Three Co(fiins or Why Bodhi~Dharma Went to the Orient?) produced in Korea, it is symptomatic of a more general nature. The explanation for a sophisticated cinematic vision whose very existence is in contradiction with with economic constraints including reduced availability of production funds, limited distribution with foreign imports and the inherent difficulties of struggling for quality in the face of commercial demands - is never ending.

Thus, the remarkable fact that directors like Vim Kwon~taek, Bae Chan~ho and Lee Chang~ho have been able to create works that touch both Korean and Western sensibilities and tastes despite all these obstacles is indicative of their talents as cineastes. The future for Korean productions, though fraught with difficulty, will continue to provide a window on Korea and, ideally, into one of the universal quests for all cinema - the capturing on screen of an elemental humanism. The attainment of this is at least one of the benchmarks by which we will be able to judge the accomplishments both as individuals and as nations.

Certainly, I have admired those attainments as have already occurred and I would be remiss if by implication it seemed that Iwas being too negative towards Korean cinema or was attempting to dismiss it categorically. Instead I would hope that the recent acclaim and critical recognition would encourage "independent" production on subjects and themes deemed "non~ommercial" and perhaps lead the way to a cinema of truly international stature.

The talents and capabilities of the 3forementioned directors, as well as firsHime filmmakers like Bae Yong~kyun, are indisputable. But they need the opportunities and the resources which will allow for aesthetic and cinematic decisions to be made outside of the context of the marketplace, and allow for the fulfillment of their inspirations.

GEOFFREY GILMORE

23

KOREAN FILMS

In Search of Humanism Tadao Sato

he 1980s have seen the Asian cinema take off for a vertical climb in artistic qualities. I have in particular been impressed by films from China, south Korea, Taiwan and India. By the same token, Srilanka, Hong Kong, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia have come out with some really good movies.

One thing common with many of these Asian films is a clear-cur reflection of the filmmakers' positive faith in humanity and their notable brand of optimism for the future. I would say that this laudable stance on filmmakling has helped a great deal in elevating the velocity of cinema in Asia.

And yes, all this forms a study in contrast with films in Europe, the U.S. and Japan that all too often are on the decadent side.

I personally have spent much of these past ten years studying Asian films, but not out of any sense of curiosity but because I have long come to be convinced that today's cinama in Asia holds the keys of tomorrow for the filmdom around the world.

When it comes to films from south Korea, I have been carefully following their evolution since way back in the 1960. Initially I must admit that their artistic aspects left me cold. Nevertheless, I kept right on seeing motion pictures made in south Korea for an excellent reason: they taught me so much about the subject of Japanese aggression in Korea.

The turning point came in 1981 when I ran into a film made by director Yim Kwon~taek. It made me realize for the first time that I had to pay keen attention to the artistry of south Korean motion pictures. This film by Yim is indeed a masterwork- Mandara. It deals with the absorbing theme of ascetic life among Zen monks. I was struck by a haunting inner beauty achieved by the director in the process of probing the depths of the altogether human sufferings in priesthood. My respect for him only deepened when I subsequently saw Kilsottum, a film that took up the excruciating problems that haunt those dispersed families in a peninsula divided against itself. I took off my hat too to him for his Aje, Aje, Para Aje, a work that copped the best actress kudos at the latest Moscow Film Festival.

Surprises continued. I was astounded by Declaration of Fools by director Lee Chang-ho. Totally illogical and Rabelaisian, this gripping film contain elements not unknown to the Japanese underground theater. But the film is not exactly of the same kind. It most of all is marked by a singular pang of anguish seldom found in Japanese dramas of absurdity. lnsted, the nonsensical in

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24

KOREAN FILMS

this work eventually provides the audience with a moving experience. A similar experience is offered by his Children of the Darliness, though the form of it was melodrama, and even by Travelers Rest Not, an out~and~out avant~garde exercise.

I remember some of my Korean friends were helplessly baffled when I went all out praising Widow's Dance by the same director Lee, a work that did not necessarily rate a rave review in south Korea. What has left me so impressed about this work? A penetrating surge of compassion for the impoverished as registered in the film. Still, the director would not allowed himself to resort to the

TAE HEU NG FILM CO.

AJE AJE PARA AJE WITH ACTRESSES KANG SU-YON (LEFT) , )IN YOUNG-MEE: BEST ACTRESS AWARD FOR KANG SU-YON FROM THE 16TH MOSCOW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (1989)

TADAO SATO

25

convenient device of sentimentalism. Then by a stunning tour de force, he transforms it all into a fierce laughter. That took my breath away.

I of course have to talk of another director who has left a mark of actMty through the 1980s Bae Chang-ho. If director Yim Kwon-taek is memorable for his penchant towards a symmetry in aesthetics and if director Lee Chang-ho distinguishes himself with his dazzlingly styles, Bae Changho, a junior to both of them, is a technician par excellence whose forte lies in his amazingly deft touches, the reason behind his altogether enjoyable films.

But Bae is never content with well-made films of his own. Consider his Whale Hunting, a wonderful guide for those youths who have lost both his faith in today and hope too for tomorrow.

His Deep Blue Night, shot entirely on location in the U.S., is a telling analysis of the exploding waves of Korean energy that have left the floodgate all but shattered. Let's talk also of his Hwang Jin-i, a costume piece that captures the pride of womanhood in Korea with a style at once somber and captivating. With all his youthful imagery, Bae too is dedicated to facing up squarely to all manner of angst shared by his people in their unstoppable march called progress. ¡ I have come to perceived a common denominator among these excellent Korean movies.

Yes, it's the profundity of their spirituality. With it the best of Korean cineastes seem endlessly engaged in an agonizing search for humanism.

Sure enough, south Korea never monopolizes films of this kind. Rare as it is, cinema in this genre does also exist elsewhere around the world. But what is unique with the Korean films in question is a brand of frankness and seriousness that to me always evokes the portrait of an unabashed young man in his selfimposed search for that elusive truth in human existence. And that, as far as I'm concerned, is what makes these motion pictures from south Korea always refreshing.

Yes, some other south Korea directors are eminently capable of making meaningless films.

Alas, such films are only too many in many countries. In the case of south Korea, the worst of films are typified by an excessive sentimentalism, an overkill dose of realism (often in depicting women abused under feudalism) and among other deficiencies, a glaring absence of subtlety (in exploring eroticism).

But nobody should brush them aside as utterly hopeless. There have been works in which these shortcomings prove a blessing in disguise -a catalyst for spanking metamorphosis.. Witness Seagull of Blue Plumage by director Chung }in-woo. Its screenplay is filled with scenes seemingly tailormade for a sentimental melodrama. But the director throughout maintains a taut and even brilliant control. In the end his film reaches an almost impossible level of radiance. Mulberry Leaves (Pong) by director Lee Doo-yong is still another instance in point. It might have stuck some moviegoers as a mere merry-go-round in ribaldry. Magically and quizzically, it refuses to be banal but brims suddenly with all the healthy signs of elan vital.

Dear readers, let me briefly talk of a book I have been working on in collaboration with Lee Young-il. an able south Korean film critic. This will shortly be published in Japan under this title: Annals of Korean Cinema (Kankoku EigashO. While working on the manuscript with Mr. Lee, I have learned much about the merciless path of hardship that Korean motion picture artists have had to walk all the way from the dark days of Japanese colonial rule. Something now tells me that their Herculean struggles are in fruit.

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KOREAN FILMS

KOREAN CINEMA Still Young at Age 70 Ho Hyun-chan

orea's earliest recorded exposure to motion picture occurred in 1903. In order to promote the sale of its cigarettes, the Youngmi tobacco company screened just under 100 feet of film - free to the public. Motion pictures back those days were generally thought of as simply promotion devices used in order to promote products. Then in 1909 an American businessman named Gollbran charged admissions to see films he screened in a warehouse of his electric company in Seoul. At this point of history the fascinating world of film entertainment began to excite the curiosity and interest of Koreans.

In 1919, the first film made by Koreans was shown. The year 1919 was memorable not only for this fact alone. That was the year of the March I Independence Movement which started in Seoul and spread throughout the country in opposition to the Japanese colonial rule over Korea. On October 27 of that year, at the Dansongse Theater located in Chong-no in the heart of Seoul. a I0minute kino-drama (a combination motion pictures interspersed with a live drama on stage) was shown. Thus the production of korean motion pictures came approximately 20 years behind the invention of photography by the French Lumiere brothers in 1895.

In the light of the Korean tradition, when one reaches one's 70th birthday it means the completion of a full life and cause for great celebrations. On October 27, 1989 Korea's film industry celebrated its 70th anniversary. A look atthe past seventy years will show that the history of cinema in Korea has traveled a varied and often arduous path.

A brief study of the history of Korea's motion picture industry shows thatthe era of silent films lasted untill934. In 1935 first "talkies" were screened, while color movies did not make their debut until the end of the 1950s.

K

The writer of this article, Ho Hyun-clian, is among the best known film critics in south Korea/ He lias been writing about cinema for almost 40 years. He was once on the staff of Dong-a Ilbo, a leading_Seoul daily, and in I 987 became president of Korean Film Critics Association. ln spite of his tight writing schedules, lie still finds time to serve as a councilor of the Korea Public Performance Ethics Committee and as a consultant for the Korea Broadcasting Commission, a watchdog over TV programs in his country.

HO HYUN-CHAN

27

Despite the fact that these events roughly paralleled those in other countries, it must be noted that Korea's film industry has often suffered from one bouleversement after another in the country's modem history. Until the end of 1945 the Japanese, as part of their effort to colonize Korea, did their best to obliterate much of the country's traditional culture. During this period such movie directors as Na Un-kyu used his films to subtly portray resistance attempts against the Japanese and create feelings of Korean nationalism.

On August 15, 1945 Korea was liberated the Japanese. Imbued with this spirit of independence, for the first time Korean films began to have an impact an the country's cultural and artistic scene. But this period of activity was brutally cut short by the Korean War. The war ended in 1953 It is actually only after 1954 that the Korean film industry obtained both the full citizenship and resources to begin its growth. One irony was there. Then while the motion picture industry in advanced countries like the U.S., France, Italy and Great Britain began to suffer from the shock waves touched off by the advent of television, Korea just started to enjoy a golden era, that lasted until the early 1970s.

The year 1969 was, quantitatively speaking, Korea's greatest motion picture year. All told, 230 films were produced. The year's total of moviegoers: 17 million. During the entire decade of the 1960s a total of I ,372 films were produced and screened in Korea. The industry commanded the position as Korea's most popular form of entertainment. Even television, which cams to Korea in 1960, proved to be no threat to the allure of movies.

Tremendous Economic Growth

In the next decade, however, the situation changed radically. Through the 1970s, Korea experienced a tremendous economic growth. The fast-increasing GNP meant that people had more money to spend for buying television sets and for engaging in other leisure activities. The Korean film industry which had enjoyed successive years of growth, now suddenly began to experience just the opposite.

Unlike the U.S. film industry with its firm bases of financial support, the Korean film industry operated like a small- or medium-sized enterprise. With its exceedingly limited capital investment capability, the industry had had hardly any resource to cope with the rapidly changing climate of economy.

That was not alone. What proved to be a far more serious blow was the change in the political weather. After a military coup that took place May 16, 1961, freedom of expression was severely curtailed in Korea. The Korean film industry was reduced almost to a state of monopoly. In it only a few companies were allowed to exist.

28

KOREAN CINEMA

PI MAK (1981) WITH ACTRESS YOO lEE-IN (FRONT) BY DIRECTOR LEE DOO-YONG : ISDAP AWARD FROM THE 38TH VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

In 1962 a Motion Picture Law was enacted. More than anything else, proponent of this law had evidently felt that a strong system had to be instituted to regulate the industry. This law stipulated that all film companies be registered with the government. Strict conditions were placed on those who wished to register. It became mandatory for each of the registering companies to have studios of a certain size with sound recording facilities, a film laboratory, a full set of lighting systems, more than three cameras and more than a set number of employees. In addition, these company had to produce at least 15 films each.

One outcome was inevitable. Film companies that had numbered 71 before the law was enacted dropped down in number to a mere 16 in the worst year. Among some companies, merger took place to meet the requirements. In many cases, the firms just simply went out of business. The next year, faced with the prohibitive clause that one company must produce at least 15 films per year, another 12 companies went out of sight. Almost once every year after that, the law was amended. On the other hand, those companies which had the right to import highly profitable foreign films flourished. The singular state of affairs remained unchanged until the mid~ 1980s.

The most distinctive of characteristics among films made during the 70s was the fact that they went all out catering to the taste of the masses because understandably the most important consideration among these companies was the profit margin. The moviegoing population and the number of theaters nevertheless declined each year. By 1980, the Korean film industry was producing an average of only 80 films a year. The total audience that consisted of 17 million paying moviegoers in 1969 had dropped by 1980 to a mere third of it.

HO HYUN-CHAN

29

Even so, Korea was not alone in undergoing a struggle to cope with the changes in the desires and tastes of moviegoers. It was the same story all over again with many foreign countries. However, with their accumulation of technology and experience, the more advanced of foreign countries seemed to do far better in coping with this situation.

There were two ways that foreign film producers have found to compete with the threat from television. The first were technical innovations such as the widescreenin theaters and the special visual and sound effects that made going to the movie theaters a much greater fun than watching TV at home. The second was to deal with topics that could not be dealt with on television like presenting more explicit sex and violence. In some countries, there existed even a state of comfortable coexistence between motion picture and television.

In Korea no such countermeasures were possible. Once a television set was placed in the living room it exerted an extremely strong attraction which theaters found virtually impossible to compete with. Films also failed to attract a wide spectrum of people. One important group that now stayed away from movie theaters consisted of men above the age of 30 who, when they were not busy with work, went out mountaineering, fishing, traveling or golfing. Therefore theaters were only able to draw audiences consisting of young working women and teenagers looking for a cheap form of entertainment.

With the change in in the categories of moviegoers, there was a corresponding change in the subject matters and themes of Korean films. Melodramas about the lives of struggling bar hostesses, "kung fu" variations and campus romances were now made to appeal to these kinds of audience. The general impression that the this state of the industry provided was plain. It posed no threat to any type of cultural actMty. This situation meant a far cry from the 60s when movies were adapted from the best Korean novels, expected to deal with weighty subjects and to embrace a higher concept of art.

Furthermore, even if writers had hoped to rise above these trivial themes, a system for regulating the industry's outputs from 1970 until 1980 put a brake on cineastes' creative impulses.

Writers opted instead for lucrative work with television. Investors, too, showed little desire to support innovative productions. Interestingly enough, the owners of theaters in the countryside exerted the greatest influence when it came to the selection of stories for movies. They would agree to buy a picture before it was produced if they decided that its story line would be o( the kind appealing to folks back in their provinces. These countryside businessmen at times seemed control the entire movie industry.

Without any alternative sources of revenue, without any creative license, without any competent writers, the industry could not break away from that old vicious circles about low-budget films. Sure enough, the public was far more interested in foreign films - especially imports from the U.S. During this period, imported films numbered approximately 30 a year. And these outstripped locally-made films 2 to I in the size of audience they attracted. To make money from films, it was considered imperative to import and show foreign films.

Finally, the government was forced to take action. Regulations placed quotas on imports and restriction on how long their runs could last. And measures were instituted thereby profits earned from foreign films would be partially used to finance the production of Korean films. One outcome

30

KOREAN CINEMA

was that many more films accordingly made in Korea. By necessity, these local films at times had to be tools for goverment propaganda.

Another Irony

Another irony was that with the limitations placed on imports, interest in them on the part of Korean moviegoers grew much stronger than before. And what the exhibitors had to pay the foreign producers turned accordingly greater. Some 80% of imported films were American. And they fully captivated Korean moviegoers.

By 1980 demands for reform in all aspects of the industry became too loud to be ignored. The movements for democratic reform that had been sweeping the country reached the film world also.

The industry which in the 1960s and 1970s had been carefully regulated by law was now to undergo drastic changes.

First, motion picture production companies and motion picture import companies were now to operate as separate entities. Next, those strict requirements for the incorporation of a company (film studio, film cameras, and other facilities) were eliminated. When the old law died, there were only 20 film companies. But with the revisions, an additional 57 companies came all at once into existence. By 1987, there also were 60 companies licensed to import foreign films.

Unfortunately, the removal of the old motion picture law did not mean the disappearance of the industry's old ills. The 1980s in Korea were a period of political upheaval. The Public Performance Ethics Committee, an watchdog outfit, being a semi-governmental body, went ahead and imposed a code of ethics of its own on films. It was a droll situation. On the one hand, calls for democracy and human rights were sweeping the country while on the other, the freedom of expression in films was more and more curtailed. The inevitable conflicts between the film industry and the watchdog committee in no time reached the boiling point.

More fuel was added to the fire when the introduction of video and the skyrocketing leisure market siphoned off more segments of the moviegoing public. Eventually, though, the number of film production companies has risen threefold from what it was in 1980. Everyone wanted to get in on the act. They included provincial promoters, theater owners, even directors and actors who were establishing film companies of their own. It was not surprising that the film market now underwent another crises, with even established companies left struggling with insufficient production facilities, staff and actors.

By the end of 1988 there were I00 motion picture companies and about as many firms doing business in importing foreign films. However, it is difficult to forecast what it is going to be in the korean marketplace. For example, although many new suburban communities have sprung up in the past decade, most movie theaters remain located in older, urban centers. And the number of these theaters is dropping every year. Increase seems confined to the number of small theaters

HO HYUN-CHAN

31

MULLE YA, MULLE YA (1984) WITH WON MI-KYONG (LEFT) AND SHIN IL-RYONG. DIRECTOR: LEE DOO-YONG. SI LVER PLAQUE FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD FROM THE 20TH CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

(seating 300 to 400 people) during the same time period.

Another interesting phenomenon which has occurred since the revision of the motion picture law. The newer production companies seem to be more interested in making movies than the older companies which existed under the old monopoly system. The older companies, instead of experimenting with new films, remained content to specialize in the importation of foreign films.

Problems never end. In the new rule, there is one clause stipulating that foreign film could now be distributed directly by foreign distributor (UIP-Universallntemational Pictures) rather than having to go through a korean company. This naturally would cause the Korean film industry to atrophy. It has aroused opposition from many of those concerned with filmmaking. Denouncing the government's position of complete market liberalization, opponents of the new law now claim that it is a violation of free democratic process by a heartless foreign monolith.

32

KOREAN CINEMA

Foreign Films

Critics charge that the reason for allowing direct distribution of foreign films was the 1988 Seoul Olympics. While the situation in Korea can in some ways be compared to that of Japan at the time of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics when their market was opened, it has been pointed out that there are still some major differences in the situations between the two countries.

Even at that time Japan had a fully established system of capitalization. Japanese films had entered, albeit to a limited scale, the international market and had a margin of competitiveness there. Finally, Japanese films enjoyed a relatively firm base of support from Japanese moviegoers, though their number has steadily been on the decline.

Korea's film industry had none of these advantages going for it when the market was opened. At a time when the industry needed, more than anything else, firm support domestically UIP's entrance into the market, these critics say, touched off a severe shock.

Further, Korea is not the only country to have opposed UIP. Among the 90-odd countries worldwide which import American films, some 50 have a direct distributorship system each.

However, resistance to this system, especially in countries whose won film production is no match for the United States', does exist.

The Korean film industry feels that it is hopeless to even think of competing with the massive production budgets of Hollywood-made films. Calling it a "David-Golith battle," members of the Korean film community have dramatized their opposition to UIP by being arrested for illicit demonstrations and engaging in hunger strikes.

As the Korean film community moves into the last years of this century, the industry is not merely tom by external pressures. Internally the continuing democratization of Korea has exerted its own powerful influences.

Until the end of 1988, the Korea Public Performance Ethics Committee was a semigovernmental organization. Now the job of reviewing is the private hands of industry experts and professionals. Directly connected with the problem of review is that of subject matters and contents of films. Previously restricted topics, such as realistic thematic matter like the wretched living conditions of poor workers and the abuse of political power, today are problems ~ommonly dealt with in Korean films.

However, not all the changes in the movie industry have been above criticism. Perhaps the most striking example is that of the impact of the sexual revolution upon Korea's traditionally Confucian ethic pattern.

Many of the mores of western society, especially sexual ones, have been introduced through the media. While the Korean public opinion is still strongly against the production of pornographic movies, producers have taken advantage of the public's awareness and interest in erotic movies.

Recent examples include the period dramas Er Woo Dong The Entertainer by director Lee Chang-ho, and Madame Amma by director Chung In-yup. There even was one titled just simply Prostitution.

The box-office success of these movies has encouraged a crop of erotic movies, which more than anything else seems to be taking advantage of the film review board's liberal policies. Still, the public opinion has not been quiet, with bitter criticisms coming from educational authorities, HO HYUN-CHAN

33

religious leaders and women's groups. The Korean film industry itself is undergoing a period of self-examination. Proposals for self~regulation have been made by film producers themselves. Yet, within the industry there is the realization that it must go through this.period of adjustment in order to move away from its old conditioned reflex caused by the motion picture Jaw. The industry's attempt at self~regulation by reducing the amount of money spent on the soft~ porn production may be a valid method. However, they have also discovered that moviegoers are losing interest in films that are strictly erotic in nature.

Another interesting fact is that Korea, unlike some other countries, does not have the problem of violence in its movies. Kung~fu movies produced in Southeast Asia had a brief flurry of popularity at one time. No more.

One explanation of this particular Jack of interest in violence is that because the actual violence and destruction witnessed in the Korean War are still in the living memory of many people. There is an extremely negative feeling about violence when shown on the screen in south Korea. It anything, "Rambo," mafia gang movies and Hong kong thrillers are merely regarded a daydream~like catharsis. Finally, just as violence is relatively rare in Korean society, so too is there relatively little interest in it in movies.

Perhaps the greatest change in Korea has been the introduction of movies from communist and socialist countries. When shown in the Seoul Olympic Art Festival, movies from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Hungary enjoyed a fine reception in Seoul. while Korean audiences did not rate them as Hollywood~liberfilms, during the Olympics the Soviet Union's War and Peace, Moscow Does Not Believe Tea~. and Tschaikovsky were considered stimulating.

Films from China or those filmed on location in China, like the tremendously successful The Last Emperor, Fu Long ;in and Red Sorghum have received positive critical responses from Korean audiences, In addition, a film from Turkey, Youl, and one from South America, Salbatro, have been screened.

Reciprocating this interest has been the almost previously unimaginable showing of Korean films in socialist countries. This opportunity arose after the Olympics and the Korean government's encouragement of exchanges with China and the East European countries. Another reason behind it is the new international acknowledgment that Korean films are receiving.

Overseas Kudos

In the spring of I 989 at the Moscow Film Festival a Korean film with Buddhist themes titled Aje Aje, Para Aje by director Yim Kwon~taek was very well received with Korean actress Kang Su~yon honored as the Best Actress. A promise has been made by the Soviet government that it will allow the film to be shown in Tashkent which is home to many Koreans in that country.

These positive events are signs of great encouragement to the industry. In 1987 at the Venice

34

KOREAN CINEMA

International Film Festival. Kang Su-yon won her first best actress award for her performance in

Surrogate Womb also directed by Yim Kwon-taek. The film in general was well received by critics.

In 1988 at the Montreal Film Festival. a new face Shin Hye-su won the award for best actress for her performance in Adada. In 1989 in Switzerland's Locamo International Film Festival a relatively unknown newcomer, Bae Yong-kyun swept the Grand Prix, best director, best filming, and the critics award for Whlj Bodhi Dharma Went to the Orient?

Bae, a university professor, studied western painting in college and in Paris. He spent the past eight years putting his film together, singlehandedly producing, writing, directing, filming, and lighting. Another film, Chilsu and Mansu by director Park Kwang-soo was also well received by critics at the same film festival.

One of the most effective ways for a film from a developing country to get international recognition is receiving awards at international film festivals. A prime example is Japanese film Rashomon by director Akira Kurosawa which won the 1951 Grand Prix at the Venice Film Festival. This award proved to be the impetus for international acceptance of Japanese films after world war II. Critics have commented that Korean films, unlike those of developed countries, contain a certain freshness. Especially films which deal with traditional themes or which have a distinctive Korean background and feelings show a great deal of the kind of humanism which often seems all but forgotten elsewhere. Even though Korea is widely known as one of the rapidly developing four dragons of Asia, its films are often the only way that other countries see Korea's traditional culture.

Indeed the way Korean films are made or should be made is the next issue. Until the end of World War II, Korean filmmakers were influenced by Japan. After the war, American films became the greatest source of influence. But the thought that Korean film could or should imitate bigbudget American films is ridiculous. Much closer to the Korea taste might be the realism of the postwar Italian kind.

In addition, Korea naturally has many traditional values quite different from those of the west. Long a feudalistic, class-conscious society with a strong Confucian influence and infused with Buddhist spiritualism, Korea places women to a position of below that of men. Within a large, allencompassing family structure, the individual down the ages was virtually indistinguishable. In the 20th century alone, Korea has endured a 36-year occupation by the Japanese as well as a major war.

Frequently the word han is used to deseribe this accumulation of sorrows, frustrations. and anger.

For these reasons it is not difficult to find movies with historical or sociological backgrounds.

One of the earliest and most enduring themes in Korean films has been the conflicts between the mother-in-law and the young wife or the brutal treatment that wives receive from their husbands.

The sorrows of women or of common people remain highly popular subjects even today.

Films about those heroes who fought against the Japanese oppression and the trials of life among bar hostesses as well as the changes that the heady process of economic development has brought about have caused Korean films to be generally tragic in nature. A review of the themes of Korea films over the past 70 years supports this impression.

Other notable subjects include the contrast between indigenous religious beliefs as portrayed in films about shamanistic practice and the influx of foreign religions especially Protestantism.

HO HVUN-CHAN

35

Belief in Buddhism and the maintenance of traditional belief patterns still remains strong in Korea. Although these practices are not as obvious as the church-going of city dwellers, many films have attempted to rediscover traditional folkways and belief.

In the late 80s there has also been an emergence of a type of "people's culture" that is both an attempt to return to what its proponents feel are Korean values and anti-government activity.

While the "people's culture" is generally expressed in poetry, literature and fine arts, the very frank way that they evaluate the contemporary Korean society has also been absorbed by filmmakers.

This genre of film has yet to achieve any remarkable commercial success. Yet these films signal an important change in the entire world of Korean cinemas. The emergence of new directors in the last few years has effected an almost complete turnover in personnel. Most of the directors who were active until the end of the 70s have been replaced.

Among these new faces are of course those who worked in the recent past as assistant directors. They also include those who participated in filmmaking as part of extracurricular school activities or studied filmmaking techniques by taking advantage of films shown in the French and German culture centers in Seoul. A few of the most influential young directors started out underground, making low-budget "protest" films.

With the freedom of expression that has come in the late 80s these new filmmakers have used the opportunity to take on an important role in the 90s. The pool of talent of this new generation is perhaps the most encouraging single ray of hope for the future of Korean movies.

Currently several important issues remain to be fully resolved. The most urgent question concerns the direct distribution of foreign motion pictures in Korea. Opponents of it believe that if this issue is resolved in favor of Korean distributorship, then many of the financial ills that plague the industry will be solved.

Government Help

Other issues include the change from government to private control of the Korea Motion Picture Promotion Corp. and the mandatory screening of certain films. These issues are still at dispute. Perhaps the most important problem at this time, however, is that of the Film Review Board.

It is very difficult on the one hand to encourage openness and freedom of expression and to avoid some of the not too pleasant side effects that liberalization can produce.

In 1989 the government subsidized the Korea Motion Picture Promotion Corp. with 2,500 million won (equivalent to US$3,580,oo0). In ¡addition, the Corporation receives a percentage on all box office receipts. With this funding, the Corporation selects 20 outstanding films and provides them with financial support.

36

KOREAN CINEMA

HAPPY. OU R YOU NG DAYS (1987) WITH HWANG SHIN-HYE (LEFT) AND AHN SEONG-KI BY BAE CHANG-HO. BEST ACTOR (AHN SEONG-KI) FROM THE 32TH ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL

Aside from this, the Corporation encourages the development of scenario writing, the continuing education of those associated with filmmaking and research activity.

The government is in the process of establishing a I0-year Culture Development Plan which includes a major increase in funding for films. One of the industry's most cherished dreams will be realized when a long awaited unified production studio begins construction on the outskirts of Seoul (see page 45).

One of the most difficult issues that the industry must deal with is that of the importation of films from Japan. In order to understand why this is such a sensitive issue, one must understand the nature of the relationship between Korea and Japan. From long ago, Korea, Japan and China exchanged political systems and culture. At times, these countries were allies and at other times enemies. with one another. But the beginning of the 20th century saw the definite emergence of Japan as a military power and its attempt to control Asia centered first on its efforts to colonize and annex Korea. Korea was not liberated from Japanese control until the end of World war II. The generation that endured the Japanese occupation and the ones who grew up under the anti-Japanese education system of former presidents Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee have little reason to think of seeing a Japanese film while other forms of exchange such as sports or trade took years to reach the current point of activity. Cultural exchanges still lag far behind. Japanese films still cannot be shown in Korea. But Japanese satellite broadcasts, publications and fashions do directly touch the lives of Koreans.

HO HYUN-CHAN

37

A survey of modem Korean cinema would not be complete without a look at the list of brilliant directors who contributed to the development of the genre. In the pre-1970 period these include Yoo Hyun-mok, Kim Su-yong, Chung Jin-woo, Lee Man-hee, Kim ki-young, and Shin Sang-ok.

-The story of Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee is perhaps the most widely known. The director and his wife were kidnaped by north Korean government agents and had to make subsequently a daring ~scape to freedom. His work during the 1960s produced lighthearted, topical hits; he is considered to have made important contributions to the industry as a whole.

In contrast, the work of Yoo Hyun-mok is considered to have been more along the lines of classic filmmaking technique. He is regarded as one director with a great deal of artistic sense. Lee Man-hee is remembered for his superb camerawork, while the films by Kim Su-yong and Chung }inwoo are still worth viewing Finally the pictures of Kim Ki-young are remembered for their wit and offbeat portrayal of women.

Today's most representative director is Vim Kwon-taek from his beginnings at the end of the 1970s, he has crafted highly problematic pictures. He has developed a distinctive style of direction which incorporates uniquely Korean personality and background. He commands international respect at the same time.

Directors such as Lee Doo-yong, Lee Chang-ho, and others emerged at the end of the 70s as spokesmen of the early 80s. More recently, the work of Park Chul-soo, Chang Gil-sao, Song Youngsao, Shin Sung-su and the outstanding efforts by Park Kwang-su, Chang Sun-woo and Bae Yongkyun promise a great deal of achievement into the next century.

In the 1980s 20 or more directors have made their contributions to Korean filmmaking. But the future of the industry looks to be fraught with as much change and difficulty as in the past. The coming years will bring as increase in the number of home videos and cable television as well as satellite broadcasting.

As of now statistics show that there are 1.2 television sets in every home in Korea. Of this total 80% are color. Some 30% of households have video decks. The purchase of videos is pressing hard on the total film market with estimates showing that by 1995 the current I 00 billion won (equivalent to 143 million US dollars) market wilt increase to a market worth 500 billion won (equivalent to 715 million US dollars). And so, as the hardware market continues to grow, so too will th~ software market. Films will provide a natural source of suppuy here also. Still, the Korean film industry has yet to accomplish a firm tie-up with high technology industries. This effort will be one of the major problems of the 1990s.

38

KOREAN CINEMA

LATE AUTUMN WITH KIM HYE-JA (LEFT), CHUNG DONG-HWAN . DIRECTOR: KIM SOO-YONG. THIS FILM WON BEST ACTRESS AWARD (KIM HYE-IAI FROM THE 2ND MANILA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

CH ILSU AND MANS U WITH PARK JOONG-HOON (LEFT), AHN SEONG-KI. DIRECTOR: PARK KWANG-SOO. JURY DES JEUNES PRIZE FROM THE 42TH LOCARNO INT ERNATIONAL FILM FEST IVAL

HO HYUN-CHAN

39

Television

From 1990 the first cable television experimental broadcasts will begin, with regular programming scheduled to start in the mid-90s. The event means that it is not a question whether or not the various electronic media wish to cooperate. It means that they must. The Korean film industry seems to be waiting only for the signal to start.

The problems of opening the market to foreign films, the development of actors, increasing the product value of films and challenging the international market would daunt most countries.

Fortunately Korea has a young and vigorous group of talented directors to cope with these challenges. Even the government looks like it will lend its support since it has come to realize that films have a positive sociological and educational function.

Although the number of Korean films produced is relatively small, they have received a good critical evaluation internationally. Now is the time to look for new approaches in the Korean art of filmmaking. Films must look for the audiences they have lost in Korea and regain their support as well as continuing their quest for worldwide recognition.

Korea has only a 70-year-old movie history. But in those years countless sufferings and adversities have not left permanent scars. The fact that a small country like Korea has over I00 productions companies might make the industry somewhat weak financially. But my personal opinion is that it would be difficult to find a country with as much desire to make films as Korea.

There are few large filmmakers in Korea. In general there are many independent production companies, making it much easier for a director to find one that suits his personality and his project. And while the problem of foreign films presents many difficulties at the present time, the outlook is bright for the future. As suburban communities expand, so too will the number of theaters. And theater complexes have even started opening in the larger cities.

With government project for the I0-year Culture Development Plan, the film industry should benefit from a much needed infusion of energy. Private investors are also starting to take notice of the possible benefits that an investment in motion pictures can bring.

Finally Korea must make progress on two minor but potentially important issues. The first is the fact that Korea lags far behind other countries in the production of documentaries. Ttte reason is simple. There is really no market for them in Korea. Once the general public develops more of an (lppreciation of the value of documentaries and interest in their production, more actMty will be generated here. The second is the fact that Korea's two television networks do all of their own production. In the future, this work wifl be commissioned out to independent production companies. With the increase in television channels scheduled for 1990, the workload in this area should increase dramatically.

In evaluating the past, present and future of the motion picture industry in Korea, one cannot help but think that in spite of a great deal of adversity there have been some remarkable achievements. Motion pictures, as a form of artistic expression, haves as yet found no rivals. For Korea, too, the future in this enduring field holds a great promise.

40

KOREAN CINEMA

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orean cinema, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. has entered a new chapter of its history marked by unprecedented hope. The hope seems to have come mainly from the latest recognition of the potential of Korean motion picture industry by the world's cinematic community: for a few outstanding examples, Korean artists won the best actress awards in the 1'987 Venice International Film Festival. the I 988 Montreal Film Festival and the 1989 Moscow Film Festival. and again the grand prix in this year's Locamo International Film Festival.

There also has been the darker side of the story, however. The serious conflict with United International Pictures and other overseas organizations surrounding the opening of Korean film markets and direct distribution of foreign films has caused a social problem. In the midst of foreign films flooding over the domestic market, Korean cinema is compelled to seek the means for its survival.

The government's motion picture promotion policy in recent years, therefore, has been directed primarily toward cultivating the competitiveness of Korean cinema against foreign films, creating the environments conducive to the production of films with high artistic value, and acquiring the basis to explore the overseas markets for Korean films.

With a view to fostering the motion picture industry, a total of 2.5 billion won (equivalent to 3.6 million US dollars), of subsidies have been granted from the national treasury during 1989. The amount will double next year. At the same time, the Culture and Arts Promotion fund, which is collected through the ticket sales at theaters, allocated four billion won (5.8 million US dollars), for subsidizing motion pictures in 1989. The amount has been increased to five billion won (7.3 million US dollars), for next year, and is likely to be further increased in 1991.

More than one billion won ( 1.5 million US dollars), will be spent annually to obtain up~to~date facilities and equipment to enable the production of high~quality pictures and sounds on a phased

Writer of tfris article, Kim Don~fro, is president of tfre semigovernmental Korea Motion Picture Promotion Corp. He served for long as an official at tfre Ministry of Culture and Information before being appointed to fread tfre corp{Jration in April I988. Tfris corporation operates entirely on tfre strength of public funds.

KIM DONG-HO

45

basis. The ground was already broken this year to construct a Cinema City, a large-scale integrated studio to lead a new are of Korea's cinematic culture in the 2000s. The studio, which is scheduled to be completed in 1992 at a cost of 30 billion won (43 million US dollars), will be equipped with large shooting lots, updated tape-recording, editing and developing facilities, open sets, educational facilities, a dnema museum and a library on an estate of some 1.5 million square meters (370 acres).

The studio will also have various auxiliary equipment and facilities for movie production as well as Korean traditional structures to serve as a popular tourist spot for both Koreans and foreigners.

Theaters exclusively for showing Korean films will be gradually increased as part of a policy to activate the production, distribution and exhibition of Korean movies, and to strength their autonomous control of demand and supply. Financial and other assistance will concentrate on prominent films in order to help Korean cinema to secure a more distinct position in the international arena. The overseas introduction of Korean films will be further expanded and consolidated through various assistance.

In the meantime, education programs for training specialized man¡power will be developed and implemented on a wider scope. For the purpose of enhancing the practical affect of assistances, legislation of laws related with motion picture is being considered to work out all-out institutional improvements through reduction of taxes on the motion picture production equiments and facilities and encouragement of the merits of cinema as an industry.

THE BLAZING SUN (1984) : ACTOR HA MYONG-JOONG (LFET), CHO YONG-WON. DIRECTOR: HA MYONG-JOONG .

THIS FILM WON SILVER PLAQUE FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY FROM THE 21ST CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AND BEST MUSIC AWARD FROM THE 12TH GENEVA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

46

CINEMA CITY FOR KOREA

WHY BO DHI DHARMA WENT TO THE OR IENT? (1989) WITH HWANG HAE-JIN . DIRECTOR BAE VONG-KVUN: GOLDEN LEOPARD FROM 42TH LOCARNO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL JURY DES JEUNES SECOND PRIX

AESTHETICS IN KOREAN CINEMA Ahn Byung Sup

T

he motion picture industry of Korea turned 70 years on October 27, I 989. This auspicious year has been blessed with the best picture award of the Locamo film festival on Why Bodhi Dharma Went to the Orient? directed by Bae Yong-Kyun, preceded by Ms. Kang Su-yon's capture of the best actress award of the Moscow film festival, where Korea entered with Aje Aje Para Aje directed by Yim Kwon-taek. Some foreign critics who have been watching Korean movies closely point out that a New Wave is rising in the Korean moviedom that has been beset with many aesthetic and technical problems.

Korean motion picture has been blamed largely for its low quality resulting from mass production of low-brow films in a hasty and slovenly manner, smacking of blue films. Direct distribution of American films by the United International Pictures network poses fresh difficulties in the local motion picture market.

At this juncture, it may be a meaningful endeavor to attempt to review some of the major productions credited with positive aesthetic characteristics and technical excellence through the 70-year history of the Korean cinema art and industry.

Ahn Bijung-sup. the writer of this article. is a well-known film critic in south Korea and professor at the Seou l Institute of Arts.

AHN BVUNG SUP

47

Korean cinema and its debut with a work of kino-drama under the title of A Debt of Revenge in 1919. Kino-drama refers to dramatic performance interspersed with projection of outdoor scenes or sights of "action" on a screen dropped in front of the stage. The mixture of stage and film presentations had been popular in Japan and introduced into Korea. This peculiar mode of performance lasted for a few years. But it was accepted unfavorably as way of unsophisticated sentimentalism in bad taste.

A Debt used about I ,000 feet of film. Another kino-drama movie entitled Acquaintance produced by Lee Ki-se in 1924 was among the few successful ones of the kino variety. Most of the rest were severely repudiated by critics of the time.

The arrival of Arirang made by Na Un Kyu in 1926 sparked the artistic self-awakening of Korean motion picture. Na started as an actor and emerged as the first and foremost director of Korean silent movies through his diverse roles of writing the script, producing, editing and playing the leading parts for 19 motion pictures including Arirang. His first and greatest work that was Arirang has since been highly estimated as the masterpiece of the eriod of silent movers in Korean.

Under Japanese Rule

The leading male character Yonggon who was insane stabs to death a Japanese police agent attempting to rape his sister. The violent encounter restores his sanity but results in his arrest and imprisonment by Japanese gendarmes. This pathetic last scene had a healthy appeal to the then Korean audience deprived of their independence and identity, provoking them into singing the popular folk song of Arirang in unison. The film gave vent to the suffering and frustration of the Koreans under Japanese rule.

The high caliber of Na as producer succeeded in presenting the fate of a Korea colonized by japan realistically. The arrest of the male hero by the Japanese authorities spotlighted the sadness of the helpless Koreans. The flashback of a fantastic scene of desert at the close of the filf!1 marked a symbolic birth of the Korean art of motion picture.

Copies of all films produced prior to Korea's liberation from Japan in 1945 have been lost. It is most unfortunate that students and lovers of korean movies are unable to see any of them at present. In that period a total of 156 motion pictures were made. It no doubt is a small number compared with 1960s when over 200 films were produced in one year.

In the early years japanese financiers and technicians were primarily responsible for most productions. Gradually local Koreans took over. The narrative structure of Korean movies at the time was characteristic of the oppressive¡reality of Korean under Japanese control. In Arirang a Korean woman was about to be raped by a Japanese police operative. Another highly acclaimed picture made in the japanese colonial period by Lee Kyu-hwan, A Ferry Without An Owner ( 1932). featured the daughter of a ferryman who was saved from rape attempted by a railroad technicians

48

AESTHETICS IN KOREAN CINEMA

PONG BY DIRECTOR LEE 000-YONG. ACTRESS: LEE MI-SUK

and an agent of the Japanese authorities when her father kills the bad guy on the spot. The harassed and helpless sister or daughter of Koreans represented the agonizing fate of the Korean people at that time.

The Korean movies during the Japanese colonial period were dominated by the Korean bent for sentimentalism. Some analysts attributes the sentimental tendency of Koreans to the deprivation of national independence and the influx of the plaintive Japanese folk songs and films which, they claim, led to the conversion of the formerly jolly and comic Korean character to sentimentalism.

A Traveler by Lee Kyu-hwan( 1937) was a work of the realistic school. portraying the life of rural community on the river flowing through Milyang in southern Korea. The realistic touch of Lee reached its zenith in this film that was exported to and well received in Japan.

Realism forms the mainstream of Korean motion pictures. It, however, is heavily permeated with a distorted sentimentalism generated by the sad historical destiny of Korea. In the period of 1929-31, the so-called tendentious school of films appeared to promote proletarian and tendentious outlooks and values. But these works, subject to severe censorship and repression, also lacked in artistic excellence and failed to appeal to the general audiences. They were mostly inspired by Communists who tri~d to wage a campaign for independence through a socialist movement.

Young students of motion pictures in Korea are making serious attempts at re-evaluating and

AHN BYUNG SUP

49

reading important meanings into those tendentious works. The films touched off heated polemics in the newspapers of the time, bringing about a most vigorous period of motion picture criticism in Korea. Our inability to se~ them today is very regrettable.

In the arly 1940s Korean movie makers were heavily censored, suppressed and forced to merge and work on pro-Japanese themes. It was the Dark Age of Korean filmdom. On the basis of the limited literature available now (newspaper and magazines) and accounts given by some surviving elders of the Korean film industry through the period since 1919 up to 1945, we might choose some superior pictures. Among them are Na Wun-Kyoo's Arirang and Omongnyo (1937). Lee Kyu-hwan's A Ferryboat Without An Owner and A Traveler, and Choi ln-Kyu's Tuition Fees (1941). a heartwarming portrayal of the world of children.

All these works belong in the school of realism, dealing with nationalistic resistance. Lyrical undertones reinforce realism in such work as Tuitioin. It os most frustrating for students of Korean movies of the period that there is no alternative but to rely on the remaining scanty literature and recollections of a few eyewitnesses who lived through the Japanese colonial period.

ADADA (1988) WITH SHIN HYE-SOO (RIGHT). DIRECTOR : VIM KWON-TAEK BEST ACTRESS AWARD (SHIN HYE-SOO) FROM THE 1988 MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL

50

AESTHETICS IN KOREAN CINEMA

After Uberation

Conflict between the right-wingers and the leftists was rampant in the immediate postliberation ( 1945) years. The period saw a large number of dramatic feature films depicting the struggle of Koreans for independence and freedom - a taboo under the Japanese rule. Manse (Hurrah) for Libert!) by Choe ln-Kyu ( 1946) was typical of those "Liberation Movies". Most of them were sentimental and propagandistic, leaving much to desired in aesthetic quality.

As the initial excitement wore out and cool-headedness began to prevaiL artistic selfawareness emerged in the Korean moviedom. Typical of the shift were Yoon Yong-Kyu 's The Home of the Heart (1949) and The Seaside Market ( 1949) by Choi ln-Kyu. Poetic lyricism overflows The Home of the Heart which tells the story of an orphan who becomes a priestling at a mountain temple, longing to see his mother. It abounds in a Buddhist atmosphere reflecting upon a young mind.

The Seaside Market gives a realistic account of the life of women who ¡descend upon the remote southern island of Huksan-do. It may be cited as an example of a zealous endeavor to get out of the stricture of sentimental realism which overwhelmed the period under Japanese colonial rule.

Korean motion picture art had scarcely entered the stage of maturing when the Korean War broke out in 1950. Korean moviedom floundered in stagnation until the armistice was signed in 1953. President Syngman Rhee's act to exempt cinema and theaters from taxation provided a major incentive to the motion picture industry, accelerating the production of movies. The Golden Era of Korean movies between late 1950s and the mid-1960s produced many films. They included Kim Ki-yong's A Rehel ofTeens ( 1959). Yu Hyon-mok's A Stra!J Bullet ( 1960). Shin Sang-ok's The Guest and Mother( 1961) and PrinceYonsan ( 1961) and other works by Kim Su-yong, Lee Man-hee and Park Sangho.

They challenged the vitality of the new Korean cinema. The challenge took another tum in late 1960s. The period introduced into the Korean movies new elements to project the response of the Korean people to the external conditions on their social consciousness - the trauma of the devastating and fratricidal Korean War, conflict of ideologies and the oppressive dictatorship and economic distress during the First Republic years.

The author would like to identify the characteristic of the period as social realism .. The Stra!J Bullet which illuminated the political and social disorientation of the nation that led to the loss of moral direction of the modem man. It attained a height in movie aesthetics by means of pursuing a depth of field through long shot and juxtaposing the visual with the audio into effective cinematic expression.

However, the verbosity of dialogue and an overdose of sentimentalism in that film are part of the dismal legacy of Korean cinema. Kim Ki-yong and Shin Sang-ok started with realism reinforced by a strong social consciousness. Soon their interest turned to human instincts, passions and the liabilities of power.

With a grotesque fancy for horror and phlegmatic associations Kim Ki-yong described human impulses while Shin Sang-ok proved himself to be the most commercially successful director lavishing refined pictorial presentation.

AHN BYUNG SUP

51

Differences of opm1on exist among young people in assessing the aesthetic accomplishments of the Korean cinema in early 1960s. Some of them try to find the aesthetic advance in the development of Korean movies in the 1980s on the basis of evolving national identity. The polemics mightwell be left up to critics and students of Korean motion picture. We need to tum our attention to the transformation of Korean realism since late 1960s. The lyricism demonstrated by Kim Su-yong and Lee Man-hi served to lift Korean cinema out of the old- guard realism.

Lee Man-hee's Late Autumn ( 1966) depicts a brief encounter of a woman criminal out of prison on leave with a vagrant youth. Lee's lyricism is evident in the long shots of a bench in old palace garden covered with fallen leaves in autumn and the woman prisoner trudging along the extended wall of the reformatory. The portrayal of the life of widows residing in a southern coastal village with ripening crops as its backdrop and their resignation to destiny makes Tlie Coastal Village of Kim Suyong a decisive attempt at adding lyricism and forgoing sentimentalism to transform the realism of Korean cinema.

Lee Man-hee presented a real picture of the robust life of the common man in his Market ( 1967); Kim Su-yong focuses on the image of a lonely and alienated man longing for home against the backdrop of the misty milieu of a rural vilage in his Mist ( 1966). The two added a new aesthetic dimension to the cinema of Korea with the rise of social consciousness divested of the social realism of 1960s.

In 1970s the Park Chung-hee administration was at the peak of its power. Human rights were endangered in the course of fast economic growth and industrialization. The prevailing atmosphere heavily threatened the freedom of expression. Younger members of the "third generation" of directors played the leading role in Korea's motion picture industry in this period.

Chief among them were Ha Kil-jong who returned from studies in the United States; Lee Jeng-ho and Kim Ho-son who had gone through apprenticeship under "second generation" directors and Lee Won-se. They were active in that period of brisk commercialism. A series of their productions includingTiie Home of Stars (1974), Tlie Matcli of Fools (1975), Tlie Golden Age ofYong ;a ( 1975) and Tlie Winter Woman ( 1977) were devoted to the description of women struggling in vain to survive through the contemporary age, challenging the volatile sex morals and the strain of industrialized, urban lifestyle after having come up to town from the countryside aimlessly.

The woinen got lost and consumed in the process. Their fate was reflective of the dominant aspect of the time -of the agony shared by the younger generation and college students. However, its cinematographic version did not show special aesthetic features but sought to appeal to the peripheral sensuality of free-wheeling young men and women.

Those pictures spoke for the frustrations and tribulations of the wandering youth in the transition period Sandwiched between the early 1960s and the late 1980s but failed to carry special cinematographic significance in spite of their popularity among the young audience.

Worthy of meritorious mention among movie directors active in that period was Lee Won-se who put out good films in the early 1980s. His capacity for direction and keen interest in society were demonstrated in A Love Song Inside tlie Peanut Sliell ( 1978) and Tlie Ball Sliot up tlie Midget ( 1981 ).

Around 1975 when the wave of commercialism, spearheaded by the young generation, was

52

AESTHETICS IN KOREAN CINEMA

THE MAN WITH THREE COFFINS ( 1987) WITH LEE BO-HEE (LEFT), KIM MVONG-KWON. DIRECTOR: LEE CHANG-HO. FIPRESCI AWARD FROM TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AND THE GALIGALI AWARD FROM THE 38TH BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (FORUM OF NEW CINEMA)

running high a few established directors attempted to tum the tide. One of the them was Vim Kwon-taek who had been active since 1962 and produced a number of action pictures and melodramas; another was Lee Doo-yong who distinguished himself with action films in early 1970s.

By virtue of solid experiences gained in the meantime, the two began to take on fresh faces to do justice to profound and serious professionalism as cinematographic creators.

Aesthetic Maturity

Vim Kwon-taek's Wangsfrim-ri ( 1976) and Tfre Family Pedigree Tree ( 1978) exhibited aesthetic maturity of his professionally conscious directorship. Mandara produced in 1981 marked the zenith of his artistic ingenuity which did hardly decline ever afterward.

The work was adapted from a novel. It was rated as the best product of Vim and praised as one of the masterpieces of the Korean cinema by a leading Japanese movie critic, Tadao Sato. This tale of an apostate bonze related by his priest fridens, accompanied by an account of the path to enlightenment they tread , found superb photographic rendition in the cinema of Korea's top-line photographer Chung 11-song, who used long shots profusely to achieve a balanced treatment of time

AHN BYUNG SUP

53

and space.

As could be noted in his subsequent work Aie Aie Para Aie (1988), Vim has been adroit at showing the image of Korea by means of his unique arrangement of such traditional Korean objects as house. palace and temple in the composition of his cinematographic space in his films. Vim's pursuit of a Korean identity in his pictures should be the part and parcel of the current ryorientation of the Korean art of motion picture. It often borrows the form of Buddhist belief. Confucian rituals or shamanism.

In Kilsottum (1985) Vim focused on the agonizing state of divided Korea's dispersed families in his characteristic layout of time; Saibaii or Surrogate womb (1986) describes the resistance of the victims of the old Korean notion of the life after death and a traditional preference for male issue as expressed in some ritual forms. Ms. Kang Su-yon who was cast as the heroine of the film was honored with the best actress award at the Venice international film festival.

Through the aberrant orgies of the king who came to know the tragic death of his mother. the original affliction of man is dwelt upon in The Diary ofKingVonsan (1987); Adtida (1987) portrays the sad love affair of a dumb woman; Aie Aie (1988) tried to apply the theme of Mandara. the world of a celibate nun. The consistency in his pursuit of style and theme notable in these works thrust Vim into prominence as a leading auteur. The aesthetic trait of Vim, moving away from artisanship into aristry, added to his international recognition. Vim's achievement could be called a triumph of the Korean cinema in 1980s, putting it several notches above its status in the 1960s. He might be credited with having presented a style working toward a refined beauty of cinematographic forms.

With a dynamic touch of direction Lee Doo-yong dealt with the ritual of death and shamanism in his Pimak (1980); in Muele Va, Muele Va ( 1983) he traced how human passions transformed through conventions and Confucian ideas drove a woman into the depth of tragedy. Lee is inferior to Vim as far as the consistency of themes and styles are concerned.

Polemics over the relevance of the existing social institutions and morals marked 1980s as represented by The Declaration of a Fool (1983). a product of a junior director Lee Chang ho who was active in the middle of 1970s, and The Man with Three coffins (1987). The former approximates a pantomime amply exuding social and class consciousness while the latter was a work of surrealism with a mixture of shamanistic elements and the tragic ingredients of Korea's division. On account of the discomposure and ambiguity of the narrative of the latter, the controversial element of the film is left to be a mystery despite of positive estimation of Lee Chong-ho by some young criticS of Japan.

The role of Bae Chang-ho who had been trained as assistant director under Lee and active since the beginning of 1980s was most remarkable.

It was quite epochal for him to have introduced new "fun" and "enjoyment" into the narrative structure or cinematographic expression of the new generation of Korean movies. Those wellmade films contributing to the spread of commercialism included People in a Slum (1982). Tropical Flowers (1983). Whale Hunting (1984) and Deep Blue Night (1984). These pictures succeeded in attracting youthful audiences with their new variety of fun.

In either Hwang Chin-ee (1985) or Hello, God? (1987) he attempted to enhance the aesthetic standard of Korean movies by using the technique of long take to shorten the time span of a film an exeriment rarely seen in Korean moviedom.

54

AESTHETICS IN KOREAN CINEMA

He carried on the attempt by virtue of his fresh sensibility to make himself one of the leading directors of the 1980s. The Korean New Wave was started by the emergence and continued growth of such directors as Park Chol-su through his The Mother (1985). Jang son-wro through his Age of Success ( 1987) and Park Kwang-soo through his Chi/su, Mansu (1988). They offered a main source of youthful energy, embracing those late-comer directors of the rising generation- Chung Ji-young, Chong Gilsoo Shin Sung-soo and Kwak Ji-kyun.

In the meantime, symptoms have been evident of changes taking place in the social realism that couched the realism of the Korean cinema in dominant social consciousness in the wake of Korea's political liberalization that extended the scope of the freedom of expression.

Symptoms of Change

A most important change in the Korean moviedom was brought about by an independent filmmaker abruptly, not by any members of the established cinema community proper. Director Bae Yong-kyun took charge of the eight aspects of the entire film production including script. direction, editing and art all by himself and completed his first work WhiJ Bodhi Dharma Went to the Orient? (1989) in four years. It gave a great impact on the Korean cinema.

It was first presented at the noncompetitive "un certain regara" division of the Cannes international film festival of 1989 and then grabbed the best feature film award at the Locarno international film festival to a pleasant surprise of the Korean motion picture circles.

The victory was won at a place rather removed from the main arena of Korean movie industry.

It could serve to provoke a refreshing new wave in Korean moviedom, all the more so for the coveted international recognition.

The creation by Bae Yong-kyun turned cinema into a personal art just like individual painters, writers and musicians do their respective artistic work all alone. Bae's production gives an account of three generations of Buddhist devotees - a high priest who attained the enlightenm~nt that all things begin in the heart of man as Zen Buddhism advocates, a junior monk, Kibong, who observes the elder priest with detachment. and a young apprentice bonze of his subsequent generation.

The story centers around the observation of monk Kibong. Bae's photography relying heavily on natural light succeeded in producing outstanding pictorial beauty and special effects unprecedented in the Korean art of motion picture.

Symbolic treatment of the images of water and fire does justice to the training of the producer-director who specialized fine art. Bae stands out in presenting the beauty of forms more vigorously than any other director of Korea. He infuses the profound Zen thoughts into nature and things, and ruminates over the meaning of the life of man through the invisible substance hidden in the visible reality.

His disposition of time and space and handling of music combined to reach a height in the

AHN BYUNG SUP

55

original aesthetics of Korean movies that had rarely been attained thus far. Bae says that he was searching for the lost home and the lost spiritual realm of modem man. He suggested the theme through both forms and contents. The independent film, made by a single person away from the center of the Korean cinema art, provided a major stimulus and sensation to the Korean movies.

In sum, the New Wave in Korea has been touched off by Vim Kwon-taek, Lee Doo-yong, Lee chang-ho, Bae Chang-ho, Park Chul-soo, Chung Ji-yong, Chang Gil-soo, Shin Sung-soo, Kwak )i-kyun, Chung Son-woo, Park Kwang-soo Bae Yong-kyun.

They share the common characteristics as follows: I. endeavor to search for Korean identity; 2. a quest for a genuine realism in Korea; 3. promotion of the aesthetic beauty of forms.

Their output demonstrates that I 0 percent of the Korean cinema has moved ahead toward sophistication and performed fairly well in spite of adverse conditions, although 90 percent stayed below par in quality.

In many countries a few individual directors brought up their respective national cinema to worldwide recognition as have been the case with Kurosawa Akira , Satyojit Ray or lngmar Bergman.

In Korea also new and talented directors might emerge to widen the horizon of its moviedom and uplift its standing.

Growth of those fledgling directors into eminent auteurs will enable the New Wave of the Korean cinema to gain solid foothold and favorable appreciation in the world. Higher expectations are to be staked on the "fourth generation" of motion picture artists as an increasing number of youthful members of the filmdom become inspired by greater enthusiasm and professionalism with some of them turning to the genre of independent films. The degree of their box office success is questionable in Korea as in any other country. There are good reasons for having an optimistic outlook on the future of Korean motion picture art and industry. .(;}-: Oj

KJLSOTTUM WITH SHIN SEONG-IL (LEFT), KIM 11-MEE. DIRECTOR : YIM KWON-TAEK

56

AESTHETICS IN KOREAN CINEMA

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CINEMA IN SOUTH KOREA TODAY

or Glory Before Twilight?

Lee Seung Koo

"National fflm industries around tne world have been hit hard by tne growing popularity of video and television programming, but tne Korean film industry, on tne otner hand, is entering a period of prosperity in terms of botn tne growing number of movie tneaters and statistical growtn in production expenditures."

Korean film industry data, such as production figures, numbers of moviegoers, per capita annual attendance, and the total number of movie theaters nationwide, indicate that the hypothesis quoted above is not valid.

Korean film experienced its post-liberation heyday in the 1960s, compiling its all-time record, both qualitatively and quantitatively, during that decade. Moving into the 1970s, however, the industry began to stagnate. More than 200 films were produced annually during the 1960s, but this figure dropped to about 120 in the 1970s, and the number of movie theaters around the country dropped from 700-plus to approximately 600 over the same period.

Over 170 million Koreans flocked to the nation's movie theaters each year during the 1960s.

This figure dwindled to 120 million in the early 1970s and ultimately 90 million by 1974. This drastic decline continued into the 1980s and came down to an all-time low of 50 million, one-third of the level recorded during the golden days of Korean film in the 1960s.

Annual per-capita attendance also decreased from a high point of 5. 7 times in the 1960s to 3.5 in the 1970s and down to a miserable 1.7 rate by the end of that decade.

Lee Seung-ku , writer of this article, is professor of at Chung-ang University. He has been extensively writing about cinema in various publications in Seoul. Currently member of the Korean Film Academy, the professor won his M.A. from Columbia University in 1980.

LEE SEUNG KOO

59

This downward spiral showed no signs of abating throughout the 1970s and, in fact. has persisted in the 1980s as well. A total of 96 films was produced in 1979. The figure fell to 73 in 1986.

Although Korean 89 films were released in 1987, the industry remains on shaky grounds.

Following an all~time low in annual per~pita attendance in 1986 of 1.1, the figure rose to 1.2 in 1987. But given the fact that this statistic includes all films screened in Korea, both domestic productions and imports, it is of only relative significance. In 1986, a grand total of 15,617,000 people paid to see Korean films, a figure which plummeted to 13,106,000 in 1987. The statistics gives ample evidence of the decline in Korean cinema.

Although it is true that 16 more films were produced in 1987 than the previous year, there's no ignoring the simple fact that the number of imported foreign films jumped from 51 to 84 over the same pe riod, reflecting the incredible growth of foreign movies. In particular, when one considers Koreans' overwhelming preference for foreign films , the fact that annual per~pita attendance rose from 1.1 in 1986 to 1.2 in 1987 becomes meaningless, because the statistics do not distinguish between domestic films and foreign films.

In 1971, there were 717 movie theaters in Korea, an all~time high, but this figure came down to a mere 404 in 1982. If we consider the advent of smaller theaters in 1982 (eleven such theaters already existed that year), the actual number of full~cale theaters declines even further. That is to say, the total number of movie theaters continued to decline after 1982, and the relative number of smaller theaters began to increase from that time. In 1988, precisely 262 of the existing theaters remained and a total of 434 smaller theaters were in operation. Although the total figure of 696 theaters comes close to the all~time high of 717 in 1971, one can hardly maintain that the smaller theaters are comparable to their traditional counterparts, and when we take factors such as irregular business practices, the tendency for these theaters to show second~run, if not third~run, films and the relatively number of seats in the smaller theaters, it is clear that the number of movie theaters has declined drastically in real terms.

In the last two or three years, a good many second~run theaters have been upgraded to first~ run establishments. But we must realize that this is not so much an indicator of a new boom in the Korean film industry as a move to take advantage of the rapid increase in the import of foreign films.

These sets of statistics all point to a substantive decline in the Korean film industry despite the modest improvement in figures recorded since 1986, the all~time low point for Korean film, and reflect an irrevocable decline in the industry in real terms.

In addition, the liberalization of film imports as a result of pressure from the U.S. has resulted in a flood of foreign films onto the Korean market, placing Korean cinema in an increasingly difficult position. If the final stronghold of Korean cinema, the screen quota system, is eliminated, the domestic industry may collapse. Nevertheless, Korean movie theaters most probably will enjoy a boom in business if there are no restrictions on the screening of Korean and foreign films. A boom in business for theaters showing foreign films will not. however, help the Korean film industry, and with the gradual expansion of the direct distribution of American films through large~le distribution systems, such as United International Pictures (UIP). the future of the domestic industry looks dark indeed. We must therefore try to understand the position of Korean filmmakers who are trying to block direct distribution of American films from this perspective.

60

CINEMA IN SOUTH KOREA TODAY

------··

•••••••••••• ••••• •• •••• ••••

DIRECTOR LEE CHANG-HO (RIGHT)

II

The Korean fflm industry is presently undergoing a quanlittdive expansion, albeit through the production of a large number of semi-pornographic fflms. It is nevertheless in the midst of an expanding trend. Is this a result of President Roh Tae-woo' s June 29, I 98 7 Declaration (which cleared the way for some political liberalization including the revival of freedom of speech and the press)? If so, is the Korean fflm industry undergoing a reflex action to this new freedom from suppression - much like Japan and Italy following the Second World War? · As I have mentioned earlier in this article, I believe that the idea that the Korean film industry is undergoing a quantitative expansion is erroneous. In fact, I would assert that the industry has suffered a drastic quantitative decline relative to the I960s and I970s. Although the number of films produced has increased slightly (from 73 in I986 to 89 in I987 and 87 in I988), this phenomenon must be viewed from another angle.

In the early I980s the import of foreign films was limited to 20, local film companies who were permitted to import a total of around 25 films per year. In return, these companies were expected to reinvest their profits from the imports in the production of Korean films. These firms did not, however, reinvest in Korean films but rather concentrated solely on pocketing the profits. This

LEE SEUNG KOO

61

aroused the ire of legitimate filmmakers around the country By 1985, the Korean government could no longer defy American demands for an opening of the local film market and agreed to revise the existing law and abolish the foreign film import and distribution system. According to the new law, there are no restrictions on the establishment of film production companies, thus permitting even foreigners to produce films on the local market. As a result, film production and import companies have sprouted up like mushrooms after a heavy rain, with more than I00 firms on the registration books at this time. As a result of import liberalization, the imports outnumbered locally made films two to one. New regulations authorizing the establishment of film companies by foreigners has permitted direct distribution by UIP. The year 1986 witnessed a whirlwind of change and concern about what lay ahead for cinema in Korea. Naturally, 1986 was also a year of little interest in local products and heightened attention to foreign films. Only 73 films were produced in Korea that year while the number of imports of foreign films grew to 51.

Seventy~three. The number of local films made in 1986 can hardly be called normal. considering what was going on that year, and so the claim that 89 films were locally made in 1987 and that another 87 were produced the following year is hardly credible.

The Seoul Olympics were held in 1988. Under the banner of harmony transcending all national and ideological barriers among all countries from around the world, including those from the Eastern Bloc, participated in the Games. While a heartfelt longing for unification of the two Koreas and for democratization certainly underlay President Roh's June 29 Declaration, the desire for a successful Olympics was also undoubtedly an important factor.

Regardless of the reason, the sweet breeze of democratization blew throughout the country around the time of the Olympic Gemes in 1988, and it would not be inappropriate to say that the June 29 Declaration was the catalyst for this change.

The trend toward democratization affected the communist world including Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. Films from these countries were screened at the international film festival which was part of the Olympic Art Festival in Seoul. After the Games, several films from the Soviet Union, Poland, China and other foreign countries were imported and shown at local theaters.

These developments had, of course, an enormous influence on the local film industry. Films critical of social trends, the kind banned before, were now shown without censorship. In addition, films depicting the wealthy and powerful and the women they exploited were shown for the first time. Such films were unimaginable prior to the June 29 Declaration.

The freedom of expression permitted by the June 29 Declaration is, of course, an invaluable asset and a sign of a positive development for the local film industry. But it is definitely not the cause of a quantitative boom in Korean film production. This expansion is closely linked to the box office. There are not many films which contain what was previously banned by the censors, and these films are not always popular at the box office. Of the four or five films of this genre, only two were hits and the remainder fell into relative obscurity.

It has been just over a year since the completion of the Seoul Olympics and the rise of democratization which followed the June 29 Declaration. It would be very difficult to produce high~ quality films. Perhaps Korean filmmakers are still unaccustomed to the sudden freedom of 62

CINEMA IN SOUTH KOREA TODAY

expression.

The fact that many soft-porn Korean films were produced in 1988 and 1989 is no doubt the result of removal censorship. Undoubtedly local film producers are attracted to this style of film as a quick way to attract moviegoers to the theaters.

Ill

Some Korean observers have suggested that recent developments in the Korean fflm industry amounts to a temporary phenomenon foreshadowing the beginning of adecline in the Korean fflm industry as a result of a flood of video and television programming.

As I have noted earlier, the contemporary Korean film industry is confronted with a most unfavorable predicament. If one believes that the present situation is a favorable, then the future of Korean film will look dark indeed. Although this argument may seem extremely paradoxical. the rationale behind it is very simple. It would be no exaggeration to say that the Korean film industry today has its back up against the wall with little chance of escape. Can the industry move ahead or is it doomed to annihilation? The pressures from without are great: import liberalization, the expansion of UIP's direct distribution, and the chaos caused by the introduction of the new laws

PONG BY DIRECTOR LEE 000-YONG (RIGHTl WITH ACTRESS LEE Ml-SUK

LEE SEUNG KOO

63

governing film production. The import of foreign films has grown geometrically since the revision of these laws. and Korean moviegoers continue to prefer foreign films. Their view of Korean films is at an all-time low. Moviegoers in their 30s gave up on Korean films long ago, and the teen market is only interested in satisfying their curiosity. Violent action films from Hong Kong are the first choice of teen viewers who only opt for Korean films when there is nothing else to see. What is ahead for the Korean film industry?

The Korean film industry is faced with the most serious crisis it has ever experienced in its 70year history. The Korean film industry must recognize that it is in a very difficult situation and then figure out how to get out of that predicament.

The era when television is a threat to the world's movie industries is over. There are three commercial television networks in Korea as well as one educational network. Two more television networks are expected in the future, and analysts also expect the launching of several cable and UHF broadcast systems as well. There is no question that television is expanding at an impressive rate. But it will be hard for television to encroach on the territory of film, because the public will soon grow sick of the excessive expansion of television. Television is simply a tool for the acquisition of information and nothing more than an entertainment media to be used to pass time.

Because the public, fed-up with the empty diversion of television, will always look to the movies for true art and entertainment, the film medium will not be eclipsed by television for long. On the contrary, television will become a partner to cinema, providing important information on movies and the film industry.

Video which has expanding in recent years has not been able to break out of the television category either. This is because video is nothing without the movie industry.

Many observers have wrongly suggested that the development of HDTV and big-screen television would make inroads on the film market as well. But no matter how clear or big the picture, these televisions represent nothing more than a technological development and can not replace movies. Even if video tape were ultimately to replace film, it would merely be a difference in the material used to record the work of art and would not change the nature of movies in any way.

MS. RH INOCEROS MR. KORAN DO WITH DIRECTOR LEE CHANG-HO

64

CINEMA IN SOUTH KOREA TODAY

DIRECTOR SHIN SEUNG-SOO

SURROGATE WOMB (1986) BY DIRECTOR VIM KWON-TAEK WITH KANG SU-YON. SHE WON THE BEST ACTRESS AWARD AT THE VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

LEE SEUNG KOO

65

REVIEW Art

THE WORLD OF LEE JONG-SANG Lee Jong-sang Exhibition (Sept.20- October 19, 1989) Park Young-sook

To better understand the world of artist Lee Jong.-sang, one needs to know what the literati painting is and what significance it holds for contemporary Korean painters. Why? Because Lee's artistic career may be summed up as a succession of attempts at reviving that very particular genre: the literati painting. So let me try to sum up the background of the literati painting as briefly as possible in the first chapter. I dwell on Lee in the second chapter.

It is well known that for members of the ruling literati class (sadaebu) of the Chason period (I 392-1910), the literati painting was a means of refining their unique cultural penchants, c;tlthough its importance was secondary to reading Chinese classics and writing. It was in this context that the Chinese thought that ink painting, or literati painting, being a mere hobby of the literati it should be different from the styles of professional painters. A secondary means to express one's feelings and thoughts being hard get itself understood by the public, the literati painting could hardly stand comparison with professional painting.

In fact, the perceptions of the literati painting as a "hobby" or "unprofessional" endeavor were common among the literati. They knew they were not professional painters. Nor were they interested in becoming professional painters. Instead, they prided in sharing among themselves the essence of the Confucian culture. The literati painting was essentially a language system understood by the literati alone. Faithful to Nee-confucianism and its outlook on the world and life, the literati painting amounted to pictorial idioms meaningful only to the literati.

In the past, users of Chinese drawing paper and Chinese ink were automatically identified as the literati who devoted themselves to reading and writing in order to study and understand NeeConfucianism, which was not entirely unlike theosophy for the ancient. Developed by the literati who were engrossed with the Classics of Changes and the Seven Chinese Classics, the language of the literati painting functioned only in the magnetic field of the Confucian culture.

Suppose a literati painter did a figure with a long beard fishing from a forlorn small boat or the

The writer of this article, Park Young-sook, is one of the best art critics at work in Seoul today. He also lias been professor at Dongduk Woman's College since 1979. For three years unti/1978, lie served as top editor of the well-known Space magazine, a monthly on various cultural aspects of Korea.

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same figure , now seated with his back against a pine tree and gazing at the sky absent-mindedly. If you are well versed in the Seven Chinese Classics and Taoist doctrines of Laotzu and Chuangtzu, you immediately recognize the two paintings as embodiment the thought on playing in ancient Chinese classics and will identify the fishing figure as one with a lofty ambition and the figure sitting under a pine tree as one who has attained truth, pine tree being symbol of eternal truth. A pine tree, small boat. hut or boy all tells a set story with the metalanguage of the literati painting. The ambiguity of expression when it comes to the subjects of the literati painting, often explained as the aesthetics of lffe-filled atmosphere, is understood to stand for the yang and ying, the basic idea of NeoConfucianism.

To those not fully initiated in the Chinese principles of creation of the universe, pictorial expressions by ink spread of varying tones or bold omissions in the literati painting may appear to be meaningless graffiti or talismans.

Not to members of the literati class. which in a way was an exclusive fraternity of intellectual elitists who had passed kwago, the ancient state test for hihg-ranking bureaucrats.

The Chinese ink being primarily for writing Chinese characters, literati painting that used it often appears to be extension of Chinese writing. Because of the ideographic nature of Chinese characters, the literati painting, executed with Chinese ink and writing brushes, is bound to generate ambiguity.

Seven years ago when the Chason dynasty ended and the kwago testing system was abolished, the metalanguage of the literati painting was all but forgotten.

Of course, it has since become quite possible to become ranking government officials or make social advancements without ever reading the Seven Chinese Classics or studying the philosophy of Laotzu or Chuangtzu. At times, the knowledge of such classics was even regarded as a remnant of reactionary conseiVative thought of the feudal society. The Western cMiization has been dominating the whole world, increasingly influencing our attitudes towards the world and life.

Living in this age where more and more people find it more meaningful to struggle for a daily meal than to attempt at discovering secrets of the creation of the universe, the literati painting has seemed destined to die away too.

II

During the past decade or so, for reasons unknown to me, Lee Jong-sang painted only intermittently The few works he did during this period were either experimental or of a stop-gap nature. Lee's recent one-man exhibition in Hoam Art Gallery convinced me that this obseiVation of mine was not without substance. His decade of silence proved to be a period of conception preceding a birth, and I find his latest works worthy of close attention.

Lee's latest works were an unmistakable departure form the established literati painting, breaking away from the time-honored rules. This kind of rule-breaking or departure from the established styles would a rebirth achieved through the discarding of one's old self, much like a silkworm moth casting off its skin. While it is an artistic recklessness. rule-breaking, when viewed broadly, may be rightly defined as an act of rebirth to identify problems with confidence and seek their solution.

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I describe Lee as a rule-breaker because I have seen in his latest works a sudden shift in concept to landscape painting in the spirit of the Practical Learning School from the conventional literati painting. As a matter of fact, like paintings of his fellow Korean literati painters, his works for long had been in the tradition of conventional Confucian literati painting. The fact that Lee heavily uses geomantic themes for his works suggests that his ink landscape painting has its origin in geomancy. (It is well known that geomancy had its roots in Taoism and later became the basis of Neo-Confucianism.) That air of vitality or life-filled atmosphere was the most important feature of landscape painting, proves that there existed deep relations between landscape painting and geomantic theory. Therefore, it was not a mere coincidence that Chinese landscape paintings of the early fourth century looked like maps.

In his book on Buddhist Monk Toson, Koengin of Koryo said that the principles of the landscape painting were very similar to those of energy and system of the veins of human body.

When Toson showed a map of Korea to a prominent Tang Chinese Buddhist monk, the latter observed that, like human body whose illness was treated by acupuncture or moxibustion, land could also be "treated" by erecting Buddhist temples, pagodas and statues at proper sites. His comment sums up one of the reasons why our ancestors did landscape paintings. And it also explains why Lee is "reviving" in his large murals the maps of auspicious sites which old geomancers would carry with them. In the murals he is meeting with original landscape painting and bringing back to life our long-dormant ancient soul. His motivation to painting may be viewed in this light.

Many of his works from the I960s and I970s were entitled ki, although the term ki he used appears to mean the spiritual concentration or symbol of transendence as understood by the Choson-period literati.

Lee's latest works, however, are departure from his earlier paintings. They resemble murals and show unmistakably professional styles. They are large enough to be cave murals. The animals and hunting scenes reinforce our impression that they are reminiscent of prehistoric cave murals.

Painting and inlaying cloisonne on copper plates set Lee's latest works apart from the traditional literati paintings. It appears that he now paints landscape not so much out of habit but as from his desire to express ki more forcefully.

To express it effectively, his geomantic paintings, which resemble geomancers' bird's-eyeview maps, had to be more than maps. The spreads and flows of Chinese ink and rhythmi~ lines of red dots on his paintings are another indication of his desire and determination to convey the universal energy of ki.

In his paintings Lee appears to be trying to describe conditions of auspicious sites to emanate the ki energy and unsuccessfully tries to convince his viewers of the power of the ki energy. His use of the five directional colors (black, blue, red, white and yellow) and the geomantic symmetry indicate that his understanding of the basics of ki philosophy is considerable. Despite his remarkable metamorphosis, we, who recall that arts for ancient peoples was fundamentally technique rather than aesthetics, are anxious to know how his ki philosophy will be expressed by his paintings in the years to come, for ki has long been regarded as something which defies description by painting or word. (Translator: Han Chul-mo, International Programs Curator at the National Museum of Korea)

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REVIEW Art

LEE JONG-SANG'S WORLD A French View Pierre Restany

0

ne can find the artist Lee Jong-sang engrossed in his work in a studio which is unconventionally located on the third floor of a building alongside a biliards room and supermarket.

As soon as one steps inside the studio one immediately feels as if he or she is entering another world, another dimension. Here one can find several rooms, one transformed into a studio, another a storage room and yet another a setting for manufacture of paper and prints. The abrupt change in environment one feels when entering this habitat reveals how totally unlike it is to the world we know.

I have come to the workplace of Lee Jong-sang whose dreams and ideas become tangible, and it is here that fragmentarily one can see from a cosmic point of view the perfection of a Korean framework.

He is the practical illusionist who pays careful attention to medium of expression, mode of technique and eastern and western culture. This master of the brush and inkstone incorporates natural dyes and minerals prepared by his own hands and even more surprisingly produces the stiff and dense paper on which he works.

One can observe a startling intensity in coloration exemplified in one of his recent serial works Round Figures. The strong images which are suggested to us are perhaps similiar to what one would think of when the universe was first created in which the artist makes use of geological rudimentary materials such as incandescent magma, charcoal deposit and sulphorous paper moulds. These shapes and forms which appear before us are fluid~like in nature and are reminiscent of his serial works with Indian ink in 1986 in which shades from the inkstone¡ are finely engraved upon a golden background.

In the 1960's Lee Jong-sang worked to perfect his technique with murals on plaster and arouses vivid illusionary scenes with his work portraying man in battle, mystical animal figures nd bullfights akin to the Lascaux and Altamira cave murals. One also feels as if one is going back in time to witness genesis in which the earth is a tumultous ball of fire from which emanates a

Pierre Restany, writer of this article, is a renowned French art critic. He has known the artist for long.

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yellowish, blackish and brownish precipitate escaping above into thin air. I am forever indebted to my close friend Young Woo Lee who has remained at Chong Sang Lee's side during his twenty years or so as an artist. Chong Sang Lee has and continues to captivate his audience and is an artist in the true sense of the word.

The impression one receives of his workplace today is quite different from that of September of I988 in that one can now see copperplated cloisonne ~!1d new work with mural paintings. Lee is an artist totally obsessed with the concept of the origin of man. Geology which gives us a glimpse into the past and where history is layer by layer crystallized in the form of accumulated strata perhaps clarifies his reasons for working with crude and rudimentary matelials.

The artist in his quest for truth about the origin of man on earth invites the viewer to focus on a fascinating aspect of our past with such images as the dinosaur, bison in battle and our ancestors hovering in caves to escape the burning rays of the sun. The viewer feels very much the same way when Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon on July 20, I 969. Lee's experimentation with ancient mural paintings can be likened to be of the same era. The two are similiar yet quite different in what they have to offer as an astronaut and artist respectively.

Armstrong merely confirms for us about the moon what we have already hypothesized. Lee on the other hand before granting us his perception of the origin of man makes a stoic effort to focus on the environment from which man first evolved. In his paintings is revealed a more abstract and spontaneous form and within this framework is a total absorption with Eastern lyricism.

One can sense a deliberate plan to give us a new taste of boundlessness in his works which emit yellow brown red flashes and lines of blue oxidized copper. Man and his origin are a persistent theme in his diverse array of works including murals, Indian ink paintings, chromatic paintings and prints.

It is my hope in the near future that those people who are appreciative of the Lee Jong sang works will provide an opportunity for an exhibition to display his talent in its entirety.

Modem art i.e. informal art of Paris, abstract art expressionism of New York and modernists of the west seem to be the current focus of attention in artistic circles in Korea. For these people an introduction to his work would, to say the least. be a revelation.

Lee possesses the innate ability and talent to have his ideals and dreams materialize. His art is in essence honest and true in nature. The fruits of his labor are being recognized in his neverending pursuit to find the truth in his illusionary and visual works dealing with "man's first glance on earth."

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REVIEW Theater

AN INSIGHT INTO A WHOLE NEW WORLD Shimchong Goes to Eastern Europe Park Jeong-yeop

o successful was the tour that a friend of mine would still describe it with that old Caesarian phrase:veni, vidi, vici. In a way it's no exaggeration. Consider: presented to theatergoers in Eastern Europe, of all the remote places from south Korea - and for the very first time was something that could have been downright esoteric to them. It's deeply Confucian in story leitmotif and strictly Korean in musicological characteristics - chang-kuk. Yes, I talk of this fall's visit to Hungary and Yugo slavia by the Korean Folk Opera Company.

Indeed the audience reactions were invariably gratifying to me. The premiere was, if I may use the theatrical cliche, a smashing hit. It continued to be a hit right through the Korea Week: September 4 through 22. When the company performed at Belgrade's prestigious Sava Center (capacity: 4,000), the troupers from Seoul rated as many as five thunderous curtain calls. Moved visibly, some members of the audience were even misty-eyed. So too were our artists. And this kind of reception, to be perfectly honest, was not exactly what we had anticipated when we took off from Kimpo, Seoul. on a long haul for Eastern Europe. The flight's destination, to most of the company's 31 members, then amounted to but one thing: terra incognita.

Two issues ago, Koreana (last summer's special chang-kuk issue) tells all about this traditional form of Korean folk opera. Selected for the latest tour was The Tale of Shimchong, one of the greastest pieces in the repertoire. It is, as the special issue said, a saga spun on the touching theme of filial piety, the trials and triumphs of a girl named Shimchong and how, with tons of help from god, she manages in the grand finale to get her father's eyesight miraculously restored.

Small wonder. The more the company rehearsed last summer in Seoul. the more heavily did one question weigh down in the minds of not a few of its members: would Eastern Europeans understand -let alone appreciate- it all? Among the most worried, of course, were officials of the International Cultural Society of Korea (ICSK). They themselves had organized the company with artists hand-picked from three top companies in Seoul: seven musicians and 24 performers.

The reply given by local experts to that question was split. Some said that to expect Eastern

S

The writer of this article, Park Jeong-yeop, is Executive Director of the International Cultural Society of Korea. He accompanied the Korean Folk Opera Company on its tour of Hungary and Yugoslavia. He also took part in a succession of seminars held in both countries on the subiect of Korea and its relations with Eastern Europe.

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Europeans to love the performance was out of the question. "Ridiculous," one of them snapped.

Others, though, were more encouraging. They insisted that the sturdiness of the original story, coupled with the blaze of color in staging and choreography, was bound to bring the house down even in Eastern Europe. Neither of the arguments seemed convincing enough to our troupers.

Instead, both seemed only to add fuel to their anxiety. But then all too soon had come time for takeoff from Seoul.

Once in Eastern Europe, the troupe performed first in a reposeful Hungarian city named Debrecen. Have you ever heard of it? The city is located hard by the border with Rumania- in the easternmost portion of Hungary. I've said reposeful. Having come from a city with a population in excess of I0 million, members of our company could have found it, at first, anything but exciting. Its pO'pulation: a mere 250,000. In fact, I could easily see that their anxiety further deepened after a first look at Debrecen.

Very initial developments were even ominous. So small was a theater picked for the opening in Eastern Europe that of the five stage sets shipped from Seoul, only one could be used. And then there was even a "coat hanger crisis." You see, the company with about 800 pieces of costume needs about as many coat hangers. Backstage at the Debrecen theater there were dressing rooms -but hardly any coat hangers. A hunt immediately was organized to comb the shops and stores for enough coat hangers. But the attempt ended in a dismal disappointment. Then as all members of the company breathed hard, the curtain went up.

That moment of truth, as it transpired, proved in fact the point of no return. As the performance progressed, the audience reaction was increasingly encouraging. The applause, to begin with, was but a ripple. Soon it began making a vertical climb in acoustics. By the time the finale was reached and the cast as well as the musicians took a bow, it was in fact nothing less than deafening. A standing ovation followed. It was pierced by the booming cries of bravo emitted from almost innumerable mouths in the audience.

Indeed it was a stunning success. The outcome was inevitable. That old anxiety was all but gone. Now the company, to the last member, brimmed instead with self-confidence. And that sense of confidence kept soaring right through the tour. All told, the company gave eight performances in six cities: Debrecen, Budapest and Szeged in Hungary and Belgrade, Ljubljana and Zagreb in Yugoslavia.

Back home to Seoul after the tour, we have time and again asked ourselves the inescapable question. Why was the tour so successful? The sturdiness of the chang-kuk, as those critics had pointed out last summer, was one obvious reason. Then again the hosts - the International Cultural Institute of Hungary and the Yugoslavian Chamber of Economy in Belgrade, Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana and Vastroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zabreb - did well indeed in promoting our show. We also were thoroughgoing in our preparation. In Yugoslavia for instance the synopsis was printed in three languages, including English, to make sure that everybody in the theater had a good knowledge of the story of Shimchong in advance.

Behind it was a fast-rising Eastern European interest in south Korea in the wake of the 1988 Olympics and the opening of the relations with Hungary last February. By the time we returned home, the instrument for normalizing relations with Poland was all but finished and awaiting to be signed. Those people I ran into in the two countries knew far more about Korea than I had thought 72

AN INSIGHT INTO A WHOLE NEW WORLD

YUGOSLAV POSTER FOR KOREAN FOLK OPERA COMPANY

it possible before leaving Seoul.

In the end, of course the credit for the success must rest with company and its devoted members. The towering, even Gargantuan, styles of performance by the leading man Cho Sanghyon stopped the show time and again. Rave reviews were given to the imaginative staging and superb choreography. One player, Choi Hyung-kil. made his presence felt not only on stage but also off stage. Whenever European stage hands were at a loss in putting together the mise en scene, he showed them how by instantly turning into a carpenter par excellence.

With all these visitors, Eastern Europe did not fail to provide a dose of culture shock. In some of the cities they visited, people worked from 7.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. By the time the crepuscul came in the evening, the streets were all but deserted. After the performance, the hungry players often found no restaurants open. Nothing of the kind happens where they come from. Seoul in fact is a city that never sleeps. One consequence was that they as often had to do with the packages of instant noodles they had brought along from home.

Clear too is another thing. Many of those exposed to chang-kuk seemed to have a case of cultural shock of their own. The final performance was given in the storied city of Zagreb. A local theater critic was deeply impressed. Said he in the city's newspaper: "The Tale of Shimchong offers an insight into a whole new world to which we are yet to be accustomed."

PARK JEONG-YEOP

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REVIEW Music

17TH PAN MUSIC FESTIVAL (Sept. 27 - Oct. 8, 1989) Yi Man~bang

T

he 17th Pan Music Festival can be said to have taken its place in the international festival scene, For the first time¡ it was held in Korea, overcoming many of the geographical. social. economic and even cultural barriers of the past. Nineteen events were held at this year's festival two of which were lectures and the remaining seventeen were performances.

From 1983 on, the festivals which normally spanned one week each time were instead conducted for two weeks. In the process the contents of the programs have been expanded and reorganized. The main emphasis up until I983 was on existing trends and developments around the world. However, from 1983 on not only were existing foreign works introduced but also works created by Korean composers allowing their works to be brought to the forefront. Since that time the world of avant-garde music has felt the presence of talented Korean composers and musicians.

This is particularly evident in our young composers' works introduced at evety music festival.

The festival has become an opportunity for young composers to discover differences and similarities with their contemporaries as well as to discover and recognize the differences between east and west.

The special efforts to open avenues of new thought in Korean music are indeed to be recognized. It is time that the efforts of these young people be backed by the government as is often done elsewhere around the world. The diffusion of cultural knowledge is not the work of the private sector nor is it the work of any one group. The formation of cultural and social policies in this day and age should be backed by the government.

The first and second day of the latest festival were devoted to modem music lectures I and II (Forum New Music), presented by Dr. Rudolf Frisius from Germany. The focus of his lecture was on the point that it is not whether we can understand the works of these creative artists. He said it is important from the educational standpoint to consider how one can incorporate this kind of music into today's society. Today's society does not revolve around any one stereotype and particularly in

One of the most deeply respected experts on modern music, Prof. Yi Man-bang, writer of this article, graduated from Yonsei University (Class of '68) in Seoul. Between September 1978 and March 1983, he did extensive studies on composition and music theory in West Germany. A number of his compositions have been performed at home and abroad, including Frankfurt and Hong Kong.

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KOREA FESTIVAL ENSEMBLE

today's ultra-modem society the composers and musicians of the so-called avant-garde should be accommodated.

The lectures also focused on the importance of an environment which would expose the young in school to not only modem music but to modem art in general and help eliminate the misconceptions and stereotypes in this field.

The 17th Pan Music Festival, it is safe to say, produced a marked change in the realm of Korean modem music. The older generation of musicians of the last 20 years such as Kang Sukhee, Baik Byong-dong, Kim Chong-kill and Na ln-yong and the younger generation of composers are seeing a new light. Composers of the 80's such as Chang Chong-ik, Yoo Byong-oon, lin Kyu~young, Yi Kang-ryul and Kim Joon-hong are displaying an entirely new train of thought and are crying out for changes.

The works by these composers and what significance they will have remain to be seen. But a younger generation will come to dominate the creative music circle as did the previous generation of composers in their time. The presence of young composers in their 20's such as lin ln-sook, Yi Sin-woo and Han Soo-hyung provided at this festival a new countenance and approach. And preparation must be made to accommodate this young generation for future programs.

Up until recently it was perhaps thought that Korea's various performing artists and ensembles (i.e. KBS Symphony, Korean Symphony, Korea Festival Ensemble, Seoul High School of Music and Arts Orchestra and members of the Puchon Philharmonic Orchestra) would encounter some difficulty in the execution of certain musical scores. However, this was found not to be the

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case. The different ensembles having been thoroughly prepared, they performed the many difficult pieces with a sense of style demonstrating the ability to carry out formidable tasks well.

A memorable performance was carried out by the KBS orchestra to a full concert hall at the third meeting of the festival over which guest composer and lecturer Luigi Nono presided. Guest artists present at this year's festival were Japan's Sound Space Ark featuring pianist Aki Takahashi, German pianist Siegfred Mauser and duo performers violist Ulrich von Wrochem and pianist Wolfram Lorenzen.

The number of guest composers and ensembles participating in this year's program was smaller than previous years. But the program itself was unmistakably more diverse and Korea's performing artists and ensembles displayed the ability to participate in an international festival without any reservation.

Guest composer Luigi Nono is well known as a leading composer of electronic and serial music from way back the close of War II. He is renowned for his profound influence over this field of music. The fourth portrait of Luigi Nono in the series of events at this ¡year's Pan Music Festival exemplified his eminent force as an avant-garde composer. He has played a major role in bringing about an opportunity for young composers to take on new trends and ways of thinking.

What is worthy of note at this festival was that the emphasis not only on current trends and modem works but also on .traditional works, techniques and their composers. Short operas of the 20th century were presented featuring artists Siegfred Mauser. Wolfram Lorenzen and Ulrich von Wrochem. The pieces performed were composed by leading composers such as Paul Hindemith, Max Regar and Claude Debussy. All of them are firm advocates of the New Classicism era and opposed to Schonberg's expressionist style and atonal style of music. Composers such as Regar were one of the last to infuse life into the traditional style of music.

The performance of these works as well as others during the four days was an attempt to broaden the scope of the general audience in their appreciation for contemporary music.

Recognition for the above mentioned composers and their accomplishments has some obstacles to overcome. Nevertheless, they continue to receive support for their work in music history. One can find a relatively more traditional style in their music as compared to the more radical style of the contemporaries.

Modem music is not only for the musician to understand but something in whic~ both the layman and musician should endeavor to work for in its cultivation and recognition by our society as a whole.

The 17th Pan Music Festival was successful in that it introduced world-renowned modem composers and musicians and gave an opportunity for Korean composers and musicians to understand the scope of this new era and the possibilities for Korean musicians in the future.

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