"The essential is to excite the spectators. If that means playing Hamlet on a flying trapeze or in an aquarium, you do it."
- Orson Welles
A woman dancing the tango on the rooftop of a desolate hotel, the embrace between a young man and his grandmother, a sort of 'welcome back' into the world; a charming, subtle smile from a young woman, changing a man's world like a gentle breeze; first love in the darkness, swords and knives playing their emotional valves... images, sounds, memories. I'm sure last year in Korean Cinema will leave a lot of good and bad memories on me over the years.
I'll remember the hilariously bad battle scenes in 한길수 (Mr. Haan), so inept they reminded me of an Atari ST game; I'll remember the strange and hypnotic power of 내 생애 가장 아름다운 일주일 (All For Love), which was marketed as a Korean 'Love Actually', but thankfully was more like a Magnolia without the frogs. I'll remember trashy but entertaining crap like 가문의 위기 (Marrying The Mafia 2), and surely even those films which failed to impress me or even disappointed me, like Hur Jin-Ho's 외출 (April Snow). But what will remain for a long time, carving a little space in my brain and staying there for many years, will be the emotions I felt watching my favourite films of the year. The devastating power of 주먹이 운다 (Crying Fist), 남극일기 (Antarctic Journal) and 친절한 금자씨 (Sympathy For Lady Vengeance)'s finales; the dark humour of 그때 그사람들 (The President's Last Bang) and 달콤한 인생 (A Bittersweet Life), the tender charm of 사랑니 (Blossom Again) and 깃 (Feathers in the Wind), and the rapturous, festival like feeling of 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol) and 형사 Duelist).
2005 was the year Korean Cinema matured, from an hyperactive little duckling messing with its neighbors to a beautiful swan, flying with confidence over the competition. While the industry still tries to adjust to the frenetic pace at which it's been growing, a few people are already leading a new 'boom', a new wave which might not be as financially influential as that of the 한류 (Korean Wave), but will nonetheless change the way Korean films are intended. Directors like Lee Myung-Se, Park Chan-Wook, Ryu Seung-Wan, Jang Jin, Bong Joon-Ho and Kim Jee-woon have become the leading forces of a slowly emerging 'back to basics' movement, the kind of visceral flurry of emotions which has abandoned Hollywood decades ago, mixed with intelligence and tremendous production values. That, beyond any other possible trend emerging this year, is the most important factor influencing Korean Cinema in 2005. All the best films of the year, from 'Duelist' to 'Sympathy For Lady Vengeance', from 'Welcome To Dongmakgol' to 'Crying Fist', abandon the limitations and traps that genre creates to form their unique style, the non-genre, the fusion, or if you will, 순수영화 (pure cinema). Excitement, power, intensity... all raging with such strength they capture the viewer's imagination for weeks.
But of course last year was also a very momentous period in Korean Cinema. Here's a few of the major happenings, which shaped the last 12 months (well, 13 and a half, so to speak) in Chungmuro.
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE...
They say a happy family is more likely to argue, and if that's true, then Chungmuro must be a really, really happy family. We started the year with Im Sang-Soo's 그때 그사람들 (The President's Last Bang) and the controversy over the real footage of former President Park Jung-Hee. Every good 효자 (孝子, Filial Son) knows you have to defend your daddy's honour at all costs, even when daddy happens to be one of the most controversial figures in Korean History. So filial son Park Ji-Man did exactly that, lashing against Im's film and essentially forcing the production company to remove the footage from the film, which takes a couple of potentially very powerful minutes from one of the best films of the year. Now, politicians showing their true colours is nothing new, but when CJ Entertainment dropped their investment from the film, afraid of the potential backlash behind the scenes, then we started seeing the true colours of some majors in the industry. That a film like 'The President's Last Bang' was made at all shows how much Korea has changed, but the reaction of certain sections of the political and social sphere show that after all, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
But of course that was just the beginning, as halfway through the year, producers started pointing fingers at A-list actors for eating too much of the pie by themselves. More an embarrassment than anything which will help the industry in the long run (they could have certainly solved this behind closed doors, without naming names and making all film people in the industry lose some respect). That big stars have too much clout in the decision making and profit-sharing aspects of the business was something we knew already, but instead of worrying about people like Choi Min-Shik, who can essentially make an average film look like gold -- does 꽃피는 봄이 오면 (Springtime) ring a bell? -- and has worked hard for over a decade to reach this point, why not worry about the real problems? There's literally hundreds of criminally underappreciated staff members in Chungmuro, working like slaves for petty money, giving it all they have to make the films we like so much end up the way they are. Yet all we hear about are management companies influencing casting decisions, producers remote-controlling other directors in 'season films' (see summer horror) in exchange for offering them a quick way to establish themselves in the industry, and more. I might respect directors, producers and actors in the industry as much as the next guy, but every time I watch the extra features on a Korean DVD, what strikes me the most is the passion with which those people work, not worrying about the little pay they're receiving and the harsh conditions they have to work in.
And, although it might have unfolded in 2006, a big thanks to Vice-Minister Kwon Tae-Shin and all his posse for writing the script of the biggest 반전 (swerve) Drama of the year. After promising to protect the quota, they went out and got rid of it (well, not really, but it's pretty much dead with only 73 days), just one day before the Lunar New Year. It's not the fact they accepted the US government's ridiculous requests which makes films people in Chungmuro angry, but that they basically accepted their idea that films are trade goods like bananas, Teletubby dolls and Hyundai Sonata. What those who agree with the quota cut fail to see is that whether the quota had any effect on the industry's 'boom' or not is irrelevant. The quota is just a psychological barrier which convinces investors to put money in projects a lot riskier than normal, as the utopia of the screen quota saving their investment makes them accept the idea of spending money on something like 지구를 지켜라 (Save The Green Planet). Now, without the quota, the industry will not collapse. Hell, that 60% market share could become 65% in a couple of years. What could slowly die is the soul of Chungmuro, that which helps unknown first time directors like Im Pil-Sung go out and spend Billions of Won on something as ambitious and risky as 남극일기 (Antarctic Journal). The idea of adding 'competitiveness' to a cultural medium like films is akin to a trainer taking off the protective mask and gloves from a perky young 60 Kg fighter, leaving him alone to compete with a slow, ugly 400 Kg monster. What will he do to combat him? He'll eat lots of McDonald's and try to become another 400 Kg gorilla of his own. So while no quota might not necessarily mean no Korean films, in the future we're much more likely to find more 태풍 (Typhoon) than 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol) or 형사 Duelist). Indistinguishable one from the other, just like a bunch of bananas. And that's when people will start losing their appetite.
CRY ME A RIVER
Yet, along with all those problems, Chungmuro showed a lot of promising new changes. Perhaps the most striking one is how much melodrama has evolved. From classic tearjerkers of the 60s to agonizing dinosaurs like 편지 (The Letter), Koreans have always been in love with the genre, but this year's crop of melodramas showed a distinct new vibe in dealing with the tropes usually associated with the genre. From the 'omnibus' approach of 내 생애 가장 아름다운 일주일 (All For Love) and 새드무비 (Sad Movie), to the irreverent approach to sexuality of 연애의 목적 (Rules of Dating). And, with the possible exception of 'Sad Movie' (which I haven't seen yet, but has been trashed all over Korean press), all of them had something interesting to say. One of the best melodrama of the year was actually a little DV film shot on a shoestring budget, with a really small cast and super-simple location. Yet Song Il-Gon's 깃 (Feathers in the Wind) possesses moments of incredible beauty, the kind of subtlety and mysteriously charming atmosphere fans of Song's previous films know all too well. 너는 내운명 (You're My Sunshine), one of the genre's highlights of the year, showed that great acting can conquer everything, even the most predictable cliches, while 녹색의자 (Green Chair) showed what 'sweet sex and love' (the title of Bong Man-Dae's rather trashy 2003 flick with Kim Seo-Hyung and Kim Sung-Soo) really is. But the most striking melodrama of the year was Jung Ji-Woo's 사랑니 (Blossom Again), part tender character study of a woman reaching 30, part dreamy, feminist melodrama on the value of first love.
SCARE ME IF YOU CAN
On the other hand, horror fans met with pretty slim pickings in 2005. Increasingly losing interest in the genre, Korean directors now use it more and more as a door to big-time filmmaking. A quick, mid-budget, producer-driven horror film like 가발 (The Wig) can now allow young directors to show all their technical skills with little risk, as thanks to the influence of J-Horror the genre has become a sort of new age MTV-style blockbuster, with all its blue and red tones, and lavish production design. But while three of last year's 5 horror films were quite watchable, especially the fourth installment of the 여고괴담 (Whispering Corridors) saga, those films are distancing themselves from 'classic' horror more and more, coming closer to psychological thrillers (which is a genre I enjoy immensely, much more than horror, but still). It seems like the only real horror fan left in the country is good old Ahn Byung-Gi, whose 아파트 (A. P. T.) started shooting recently. But even though his film might change the cards a little, the box office failure of most of last year's horror offerings show the country's short lived infatuation with the genre is coming to an end.
THE POWER OF KANGWON PROVINCE (and Jeolla, Gyungsang...)
But the most surprising wind of change came from something few people expected: the 지방 (area outside Seoul). While the more 'sophisticated' Seoul watches more foreign films, and tends to favour 'well made' blockbusters from acclaimed International names, the countryside and regions like Jeolla and Gyungsang Province have shown an interest in more local productions. The success of gangster comedy 가문의 위기 (Marrying The Mafia 2) and the glorious 'ajumma thriller comedy' 마파도 (Mapado: The Island of Fortunes), along with minor successes like 강력3반 (Never To Lose) have forced distributors and producers to reconsider their plans. A big move towards low-to-mid budget human comedies targeted at the local public will invest Korean theaters in the next few months, and that's thanks to the increasingly diverging attitudes towards cinemagoing the capital and the rest of the country are showing. Personally, I think having entertaining crap like 'Marrying The Mafia 2' next to the Park Chan-Wook and Moon Geun-Young of the world makes for a more varied, tasty and interesting pie. And without this trend towards the local (with the other half of the industry going 'global'), we would never get a chance to see quirky gems like 고독이 몸부림칠 때 (Sweet Sixties), 마지막 늑대 (The Wolf Returns) and 'Mapado' itself (which inevitably was trashed overseas, because most of its charms lie in the hilarious saturi and the unique balancing of traditions and familiarity the Korean countryside can give).
THE FUTURE
2006 started with a bang, made of clowns and gangsters, but also the quota issue. Personally I don't think it will affect Chungmuro, at least for the next 3-4 years. What it will do in the future, nobody can possibly predict, but we're dealing with a ton of super-talented directors and actors at the top of their game, and a generation of filmgoers who support quality product (and sometimes they don't, looking at a certain gangster comedy releasing recently). Now all we need is producers to trust both the viewers and directors, letting them do what they do best: cinema which excites, moves and entertains us. The rest is up to destiny to decide...
You can also check our TV Drama Year End Review here.
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Gone But Not Forgotten
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Although HK Cinema fans suffered the most in the last few years, with the death of two shining lights like Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, 2005 stole two very familiar faces who helped Korean Cinema become the force it is today, two people I still remember with fondness. A few words about those stars which recently stopped shining, at least on this side of the river...
이은주 (Lee Eun-Joo)
11/16/80~02/22/05
She came and went like a star. From 송어 (Rainbow Trout) to 주홍글씨 (The Scarlet Letter), and all her roles on TV, she was always different from the others. Seemingly distant at first sight, like a princess in a castle impossible to reach. But then her performances would do everything to challenge those assumptions, from her Tae-Hee in 번지점프를 하다 (Bungee Jumping of Their Own) to Soo-Jung in 오! 수정 (Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors). Many of her roles ended in tragedy, a bittersweet sign of things to come. As a lead, she never found success, despite her considerable talent. But her performance in the monster hit 태극기 휘날리며 (Taegukgi) and the TV Drama 불새 (Phoenix) showed she was starting to reach the industry's upper echelon. A lot has been said, about the reasons why Lee tragically committed suicide last year, many people speculated about her depression, about the people she was close to and what influence they had on her (with the Korean media attacking singer Jeon In-Kwon like vultures, simply because he admitted how he felt about her). But that's not the face I want to remember. Because when I think of Lee Eun-Joo, I always remember her first ever singing performance in 'The Scarlet Letter', in a now famous night club in Seoul. She looked ready to take off, like a star.
"But it's only when I sleep
See you in my dreams
You got me spinning round and round
Turning upside-down"
'Only When I Sleep', The Corrs (sung by Lee Eun-Joo in the film)
주홍글씨 中 (From 'The Scarlet Letter')
김무생 (Kim Mu-Saeng)
03/16/43~04/16/05
I don't know if it's some kind of poetic justice, but I'll always remember Kim Mu-Saeng, one of the most popular veterans on TV, for one of his last roles, in the nostalgic comedy 고독이 몸부림칠 때 (Sweet Sixties). Playing a sort of parody of his older solemn roles in Historical Dramas -- he played Lee Soon-Shin in the 70s, King Sookjong, and many other important figures -- Kim raged a war of ad-lib greatness with veterans Ju Hyeon and Yang Taek-Jo, in what's still one of the most underappreciated comedies of recent years (perhaps because it's unabashedly local). In the latter part of his career, Kim often played 'baddies', rich Chaebol Head Honchos and corrupt politicians, But no matter how small the role was, he was pure gold when directors let his comic timing flow. Korean TV and Cinema is full of great veterans, but Kim is a big loss, as he always made a strong impression on me. His son Kim Ju-Hyeok seems to carry the same down-to-earth panache and charming comic talent, so hopefully he'll carry on his father's legacy.
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THE TOP 10 FILMS OF 2005
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Top 10s are boring, right? So what would make mine any different? The fact it's not only mine. Just like we did for the TV Dramas special, I got some friends to help me in the arduous task of picking the best films of the year, and nominate the all important 'X Awards' for films as well. OK, stop laughing...
The panel could have been larger, but a few people had to drop out for personal reasons. I still want to thank them for kindly accepting my offer. You're still invited for next year's special (you know who you are)! Of course I also have to thank Isao K (a good friend and ScreenAnarchy regular), Yoshiko (my girlfriend, who might have bad taste in men, but has very good taste in films), and Brian from the kickass HK (but now also Thai, Bollywood, JP and more) review site View From The Brooklyn Bridge for helping me with this. The formula is simple: 10 Points for Number 1 down to 1 Point for No. 10. The rest is math, if I did it right...
2005 films I haven't seen before deadline (22/80 - will be eligible next year): 왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown), 태풍 (Typhoon), 광식이 동생 광태 (When Romance Meets Destiny), 작업의 정석 (The Art of Seduction), 새드무비 (Sad Movie), 오로라 공주 (Princess Aurora), 6월의 일기 (Bystanders), 무영검 (Shadowless Sword), 청연 (Blue Swallow), 파랑주의보 (My Girl And I), 애인 (Intimate), 왕후심청 (Empress Chung), 그리스 로마신화-올림포스 가디언-기간테스 대역습 (OIympus Guardian: Gigantes Strike Back), 연애 (Love Is a Crazy Thing), 러브토크 (Love Talk), 다섯은 너무 많아 (Five Is Too Many), 목두기 비디오 (Mokdugi), 동백꽃 (Camellia Project), 디지털3인3색 (Digital Shorts Films by Three Filmmakers), 프락치 (Spying Cam), 당시 (Tang Poetry), 빛나는 거짓 (Fade Into You).
Individual Top 10s and Award Nominations (Text File)
- Other Contenders -
Note: when titles are tied, the film featured on more ballots goes ahead
7 Points - 너는 내운명 (You're My Sunshine) - dir. Park Jin-Pyo
6 Points - 혈의 누 (Blood Rain) - dir. Kim Dae-Seung
6 Points - 녹색의자 (Green Chair) - dir. Park Chul-Soo
5 Points - 말아톤 (Marathon) - dir. Jung Yoon-Cheol
4 Points - 내 생애 가장 아름다운 일주일 (All For Love) - dir. Min Gyu-Dong
3 Points - 외출 (April Snow) - dir. Hur Jin-Ho
2 Points - 마파도 (Mapado: Island of Fortunes) - dir. Chu Chang-Min
2 Points - 용서받지 못한 자 (The Unforgiven) - dir. Yoon Jong-Bin
1 Point - 여자, 정혜 (This Charming Girl) - dir. Lee Yoon-Gi
1 Point - 분홍신 (The Red Shoes) - dir. Kim Yong-Gyun