[THE HIGH TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAVE(22)] Let me entertain you: The identity politics of contemporary Korean cinema



In the last few years, Korean films, TV dramas and pop music have become immensely popular abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave. This is the 22nd in a series of essays by a select group of scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.

"A crisis in the Korean film industry - the advance of foreign films." This was the essence of a 2007 report by the Korean Film Council. Is there a crisis in Korean cinema because films are losing half of their 146 screening days? Because of their weak content? Or their heavy dependence on theatrical releases?
"Crisis" seems to be the buzzword in 2008. The local industry`s share of the domestic market slid from 63.8 percent to 50.8 percent in 2007. Of the 112 films screened in 2007, only 13 turned a profit. Three out of 2007`s top 10 were Korean, compared to seven in 2006.
The Korean Wave is also said to be in crisis. The successive failure of Hallyu films in Japan was one of the things which led to the slowing of the Korean Wave. It also prevented Hallyu from reaching a broader audience.


Japan is Korea`s biggest importer of films. In 2005, Japanese imports comprised 70 percent of Korean film exports. This declined to 42.4 percent in 2006 and 27.0 percent in 2007. Speculative investments and purchases relying on the ticket power of Hallyu stars generated numerous clones of Hallyu films, but resulted in huge losses for the industry. The first year of the wave was astonishingly successful. But sacrificing quality for star power soon disappointed even the most ardent of Korean Wave fans.
Film is the flagship of the Korean Wave. The growing concerns about the future of Korean cinema in Europe are somewhat similar. Between 2006 and 2007, film exports to Asia declined from 69.5 percent to 56.5 percent, while exports to North America decreased from 8.0 percent to 2.5 percent. In comparison, exports to Europe increased from 20 percent to 37.1 percent in the same period. However, the majority of buyers say that Korean films are not as popular any more. Only a couple of years ago, Korean films were applauded as the trendiest newcomer on the world cinema scene. So, what happened?
Minor national cinema can easily disappear if it loses institutional support. At best, it can serve a limited number of art-house filmgoers through transnational cooperation and sponsorship. The success of Korean cinema is a different story. The revival of Korean cinema was possible because it entertained audiences. It started with commercial success.
Industrial instability and the necessity for structural changes had been discussed even before the amendment in the screen quota system was announced in 2006. The dramatic revival of Korean cinema was possible despite the prevailing difficult conditions at the time.
In order to provide a diagnosis on the future of Korean cinema, we need to scrutinize its current responses to the changing environment with a longer-term view. In this sense, Korean cinema is now facing new challenges which can consolidate its success in competing with the Hollywood-led global film culture.

New identity politics

The success of Korean cinema offers a new perspective on the homogenizing trends of globalization led by Western cultural commodities. Until recent years, Korea was a Hollywood-dominated market, but it has the world`s seventh largest film industry.
When the government lifted sanctions on direct importation and distribution by foreign film companies in the mid-1980s, the Korean film industry seemed to be on the point of extinction owing to its vulnerability to the hostile marketing strategies of Hollywood. Despite the relentless protests of local filmmakers, United International Pictures began operations in 1987.
The domestic market share of Korean films sharply declined from 38.5 percent in 1984 to 15.9 percent in 1993. Faced with the threat of the extinction of local films, the public expressed strong support for Korean cinema. As a reaction against Americanization, the Screen Quota Civil Society was established in 1985.
Responding to popular demand, the government increased the mandated number of screening days for Korean films from 121 days to 146 days in the same year. Filmmakers justified the provision on the basis that they were creating cultural commodities to preserve and realize the collective identity of the people, in contrast to the indiscriminate operation of free and fair market principles.
The "sense of crisis" surrounding the loss of cultural identity resulted in the revival of the film industry. Accordingly, the thriving film culture in contemporary Korea is the result of cultural resistance to the power of Western-led globalization.
The rise of South Korean films in world markets, especially in East and Southeast Asia, can attest to the role of a minor national film industry in enriching the diversity and multiplicity of contemporary film practices. In the last two decades, Korean film has undergone tremendous changes in its industrial structure, thematic features, generic experiments and aesthetic attributes.
Due to these radical developments, Korean national cinema has seen a dramatic reversal of fortunes since the late 1990s. It has successfully recovered domestic popularity and vigorously penetrated overseas markets. In 2003, Korean films were exported to 56 countries including Japan, Hong Kong, China, Europe and America. The domestic market share of Korean films has also significantly increased since the late 1990s. According to a 2006 report by the Korean Film Council, Korean cinema saw record-breaking ticket sales in the domestic market - 53.5 percent in 2003, 59.3 percent in 2004, 59.0 percent in 2005 and 63.8 percent in 2006.
The industry has constantly sought to establish an international reputation for its artistic achievements, having won awards at various international film festivals since the mid-1980s. The industry`s new sensibility and creativity in representing local history and cultural traditions challenged global audiences familiar with Hollywood films. Furthermore, the film industry was the leading force in spreading Hallyu in Asia.
At the same time, Korean filmmakers have contributed to the creation of a pan-Asian film culture. Among the various international film events staged in Korea, the Pusan International Film Festival, which started in 1996, is the largest and most successful. By focusing on the discovery of works by non-mainstream national filmmakers, PIFF offers a range of new conceptual approaches to global film culture.
The remarkable growth of the Korean film industry was possible due to the democratic transition of its society. South Korea used to be known for its rapid economic development led by successive military governments (1962-1987). The economic miracle demanded the sacrifice of human rights, freedom of speech and expression. The mid-1980s democratization of South Korea ended the dark years, and filmmakers were allowed to explore the colonial/post-colonial years, and the harsh experiences of the "compressed" modernization process.
A new identity politics of Korean national cinema emerged during this revolutionary period. The film industry is no longer subject to the abuse of state power. However, it urgently needs a new identity reflecting the dynamics of social and democratic change. Audiences reject films which reiterate political apathy or cultural conservatism. In order to meet these new preferences and tastes, the new identity politics aim to change the old image of the national cinema into a more progressive paradigm.
By blending familiarity and novelty, the new identity politics express the transitional identity of contemporary Koreans. However, the reality is far more complex. Audiences still exhibit a strong preference for well-crafted Hollywood films over domestically made films. Society as yet cannot provide sufficient funding and institutional support for the filmmakers.
Furthermore, international trends in film culture can more easily undermine the national film industry because there is a vacuum left by the former protectionist government. To a certain extent, the democratization of society encourages filmmakers to involve themselves in the new identity politics in order to achieve greater industrial competitiveness and artistic excellence.
The hybridism of commercialism and artistic experimentalism is a significant factor in contemporary Korean cinema as it has successfully created its new identity politics in Asia. The creative adaptation of Hollywood dramatic conventions flavored by locality is essential to capture audiences. The filmmakers exploit history and cultural traditions to create national melodramas. The audience appears to experience more escapist pleasure in the new imaginary space, exposing resentment to the hegemonic ideologies of global powers.
In a sense, the historical and cultural intimacy presented by Korean films tends to gain a wider appeal among audiences. It achieves this through creating an emotional identification of being victimized by Western hegemonic powers by offering nostalgic romanticism, but with a richer, local flavor.
When "Shiri" (Kang Je-gyu, 1999) smashed box office records held by "Sopyonje" (Im Kwon-taek, 1993), many Korean filmmakers saw a chance to make a Korean-style blockbuster. Since the success of "Shiri," the record-breaking box-office sales of big-budget historical dramas has clearly marked this new development. The constant success of big-budget films, such as "Joint Security Area" (Park Chan-wook, 2000) and "Friend" (Kwak Kyung-taek, 2001) created a business-oriented filmmaking culture.
"Taegukgi" (Kang Je-gyu, 2004) and "Silmido" (Kang Woo-suk, 2003) ranked first and second at the box office in 2004. "The King and the Clown" (Lee Jun-ik, 2005) sold 12.7 million tickets in 2006. "The Host" (Bong Jun-ho, 2006) remains the bestselling local film ever with 13 million ticket sales - enough for one-third of the whole population of South Korea to go and see it.
Romantic comedies fusing traditional Confucian family values and gender relations with Hollywood-style gangster films or screwball dramas - such as "My Sassy Girl" (Kwak Jae-yong, 2001), "My Wife is a Gangster" (Jo Jin-gyu, 2001) and "Marrying the Mafia" (Jeong Heung-sun, 2002) generated the synthesis of different genres for the international bestsellers. These films will be remade in Hollywood. Selling remake rights is one of the ways that Korean filmmakers can access the American film market. "The Host" is one film whose remake rights were sold to Hollywood.
Regarding this phenomenon, the imitation of Hollywood tends to be suggested as the most effective way to challenge Hollywood`s dominance in Asia and lead the successful "internationalization" of Korean national cinema. The popularity of "My Sassy Girl" in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam, and "Shiri," "JSA" and "Taegukgi" in Japan seems to support this argument. This shows an interesting contrast to Europe, the second-biggest foreign market for Korean film exports. European audiences prefer the auteur, art-house films, such as films by Kim Ki-duk, Park Chan-wook or Hong Sang-soo.


As noted above, the revival of the Korean film industry cinema is due to the success of its commercial films. However, this remarkable industrial expansion cannot shadow the accumulated achievements of the filmmakers in improving the quality of local films. Since Im Kwon-taek`s "Chunhyang" was nominated for an award at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2002, Korean films have constantly received international recognition based on their artistic achievements. They include Im Kwon-taek`s "Chihwaseon," which won the Best Director Award at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2003; Lee Chang-dong`s "Oasis" and Kim Ki-duk`s "3-Iron," which won the Special Award for Best Director at the Venice International Film Festival in 2003 and 2004 respectively; Kim Ki-duk`s "Samaritan Girl," which won the Best Director Award at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival; and Park Chan-wook`s "Oldboy." which won the Grand Prix of the Jury at Cannes in 2004. Significantly, these films cover a wide spectrum of genres, themes and film styles.
The various generic experiments and film styles pursued by contemporary Korean filmmakers predict an optimistic future for Korean film, indicating the presence of an alternative film culture for a global audience. However, the future of the Korean film industry is still uncertain. Increased production costs and the theatrical monopoly of a small number of "well-made" films cast serious doubts on the long-term stability and maturity of the film industry. The competition between "Silmido" and "Taegukgi" increased audience numbers and involved the most expensive budgets and marketing costs to date. "The Host" was criticized as having an unfair monopoly on distribution, clearly showing the polarization phenomenon. The spread of uncompromising commercialism pursued by overconfident investors resulted in many films being unable to attract buyers for their release and distribution.
Another warning sign is the negative growth of exports. But the regional differences varied. Whereas the decrease in exports to Asia in 2007 was due to the poor performance of commercial films, exports to Europe, which prefers art-house films, remained the same compared to previous years. Interestingly, exports to Hungary, Poland and South America - where commercial films are more popular than art-house films - increased.
In this sense, despite the success of Korean films in recent years, the fear remains. The world film market is still dominated by America, which maintains 85 percent of the international market and 97 percent of its own domestic market. In 2007, the Korean film industry showed the first negative growth in five years.
Film is a cultural commodity and needs to be treated differently from other consumer products. The protection of a minor local film industry is not merely a Korean issue. There are many countries maintaining similar film policies and raising serious concerns on the issue, including France, Spain and Canada. Also, there are countries which sustain a stricter protectionist policy, such as India, China, Egypt and Russia. At the same time, film is also mass entertainment.
The uncertain future of Korean cinema should be critically studied in order to help the industry reflect the everyday lives of its citizens. After all, film viewing should be a unique, cultural pleasure.

By Hyangjin Lee


2008.03.14