The South Korean Film Renaissance: Local Hitmakers, Global Provocateurs (Wesleyan Film)

265 Pages·2010·1.86 MB·English

by  Jinhee Choi

The South Korean Film Renaissance
Wesleyan Film
AseriesfromWesleyanUniversityPress
EditedbyJeanineBasinger
The Wesleyan Film series takes a back-to- AnthonyMann
basics approach to the art of cinema. Books in New and Expanded Edition
by Jeanine Basinger
the series deal with the formal, the historical,
and the cultural—putting a premium on visual It’sthePicturesThatGotSmall
analysis, close readings, and an understanding HollywoodFilmStarson1950s
of the history of Hollywood and international Television
cinema, both artistically and industrially. The Christine Becker
volumes are rigorous, critical, and accessible
TheSouthKoreanFilmRenaissance
both to academics and to lay readers with a LocalHitmakers,Global
serious interest in film. Provocateurs
by Jinhee Choi
Series editor Jeanine Basinger, Corwin-
TheFilmsofSamuelFuller
Fuller Professor of Film Studies at Wesleyan
IfYouDie,I’llKillYou!
University and Founder/Curator of the by Lisa Dombrowski
Wesleyan Cinema Archives, is the author of
PhysicalEvidence
such landmark books as TheWorldWarII
SelectedFilmCriticism
CombatFilm:AnatomyofaGenre, AWoman’s
by Kent Jones
View:HowHollywoodSpoketoWomen,1930–
ActionSpeaksLouder
1960, SilentStars, and TheStarMachine.
Violence,Spectacle,andthe
AmericanActionMovie
Revised and Expanded Edition
by Eric Lichtenfeld
HollywoodAmbitions
CelebrityintheMovieAge
by Marsha Orgeron
ASplurchintheKisser
TheMoviesofBlakeEdwards
by Sam Wasson
The South Korean
Film Renaissance
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Local Hitmakers
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Global Provocateurs
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JINHEE CHOI
Wesleyan University Press
Middletown, Connecticut
Published by
Wesleyan University Press,
Middletown, CT 06459
www.wesleyan.edu/wespress
∫ 2010 by Jinhee Choi
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
The Korea Foundation has provided financial assistance
for the undertaking of this publication project.
Wesleyan University Press is a member of the Green
Press Initiative. The paper used in this book meets their
minimum requirement for recycled paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Choi, Jinhee.
The South Korean film renaissance: local hitmakers, global
provocateurs / Jinhee Choi.
p. cm. — (Wesleyan film)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8195-6939-4 (cloth: alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-8195-6940-0 (p: alk. paper)
1. Motion pictures—Korea (South) 2. Motion picture
industry—Korea (South) I. Title.
pn1993.5.k6c4845 2010
791.43095195—dc22 2009035924
■ To my father,
wholovedWesternsand
secretlyadmiredSusanHayward
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■ Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 Faces of Globalization 15
2 Blockbusters, Korean Style 31
3 No Blood? No Tears! Gangster Cinema 60
4 I’m Not a Girl, Yet Not a Woman: Romance Films 85
5 Once Upon a Time in High School: Teen Pics 116
6 Not JustMetteurs-en-Scène? ‘‘High-Quality’’ Films 144
7 Riding the New Wave 164
Afterword 193
Appendix 1. Box Office Top Ten (1986–2006) 199
Appendix 2. Korean Film Market Share 206
Appendix 3. Number of Films Produced/Released (1986–2006) 207
Appendix 4. Number of Theaters/Screens (1986–2006) 208
Appendix 5. International Film Festivals: Award-Winning Films
(1986–2006) 209
Notes 217
Bibliography 233
Index 241
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■ ■ Figures
Shiri, Kang Je-gyu, 1999
2.1 Yu aims his gun in Park’s direction 52
2.2 Park fires back at Yu with consistent eye-line match 53
2.3 A cutaway to the squad before the camera crosses the axis of
action 53
JSA, Park Chan-wook, 2000
2.4 Lee framed in a tight close-up 56
2.5 The camera pans right to show Choi in a similar shot scale 57
2.6 A delayed establishing shot that punctuates the scene with
great tension 57
The General’s Son, Im Kwon-taek, 1991
3.1 Kim Du-han challenges a Japanese judo master 62
Beat, Kim Sung-su, 1997
3.2 Tae-su thrown out of the room after stabbing a mobster 74
3.3 An impressionistic fight scene 74
3.4 Min punctuates the impressionistic fight 75
My Tutor Friend, Kim Kyeong-hyeong, 2003
4.1 Su-wan enjoys the attention from the enthusiastic crowd 100
Asako in Ruby Shoes, E J-Yong, 2000
4.2 U-in glancing at the wall of a subway train 111
4.3 An advertisement features actress Kim Min-hee 111
4.4 An imaginary encounter between U-in and Aya 112
4.5 U-in turning around in pain 112
4.6 Aya glancing back at U-in 113