Article by Ashley Hajimirsadeghi, photograph by Cait Ellis

Known for extravagant aesthetics, themes of vengeance and self-exploration, and a tinge of dark humor, the cinema of South Korea has impressed the world. While films like Parasite, The Handmaiden, and Burning stole the hearts of people globally, Korean films didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Impressive movies have continuously emerged from the country ever since the introduction of film as a medium of artistic expression.

Cinema was first introduced to South Korea while under Japanese colonial rule. The first-ever Korean feature film, Chunhyang Jeon (춘향전, 1921), was based off of the legend Chunhyangga, in which a young woman falls in love with a higher-status man and faces the consequences of it. Korean studios during the silent era were often run by Japanese individuals, which meant greater degrees of censorship.

After the Korean war was when the golden age of Korean cinema began; it lasted until the assassination of dictator Park Chung-hee. It was during this era when classical staples like The Housemaid (하녀, 1960), The Coachmen (마부, 1961), and Olbatan (오발탄, 1960) were released. However, due to the aggressive nature of Park’s administration, the film industry was heavily regulated and suppressed in order to fit the political agenda—something that is still seen in contemporary Korean cinema today.

Censorship still is a big problem in Korea. In 2016, when the daughter of Park Chung-hee, Park Geun-hye, was impeached from her role as president, it was discovered there was an entertainment blacklist. Many prestigious Korean film directors were on that list, so their works were not distributed as widely as other directors'. The film The Handmaiden (아가씨, 2016) received international accolades, but would not be Korea’s entry for the Oscars due to its director, Park Chan-wook, being on the blacklist. But why were these directors on that list? Presumably, it’s because they’d made comments about politics, specifically about the Korean government.

When Park Chung-hee was assassinated in 1979, regulations loosened, but were still there. The country began to rapidly modernize and industrialize and Korean cinema began to reach a more international audience. Films were being shown at the prestigious Berlin, Venice, and Cannes Film Festivals. Korean companies like Samsung began to invest in these films and television shows, until the Asian Financial Crisis happened.

The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis is what changed the film scene in Korea, ushering in a new era of directors like Lee Chang-dong, Bong Joon-ho, and Park Chan-wook. The South Korean government began to invest in the entertainment industry, allowing Korean music, film, and art to thrive. Known as the second Korean Renaissance in the film industry, this is what we are currently experiencing. With films like Parasite (기생충, 2019) now winning prizes at Cannes Film Festival and the Oscars, Korean cinema has reached a new platform and has earned acknowledgement as a new powerhouse in the industry.

NOTABLE FILMS:

• Peppermint Candy / 박하사탕, Lee Chang-dong (1999)

Lee Chang-dong’s Peppermint Candy is an important story, one that solidifies the trauma everyday Koreans went through after the Korean War. The story is told in reverse, starting with the suicide of a man named Kim Yong-ho. He is a man traumatized by the violence and suffering that comes with a modernizing country. Throughout the film, viewers discover how he once was innocent and happy, and why he turned out to be the way he is.

• House of Hummingbird / 벌새 , Kim Bora (2018)

House of Hummingbird is a film that has won fifty-nine international and domestic awards, a testament to its quiet power. Eun-hee, a fourteen-year-old- student, lives in 1994 Seoul, when Kim Il-sung, the leader of North Korea, dies and the Seongsu Bridge collapses. A tender coming-of-age story, it shows the universality of a coming-of-age story, but with a Korean perspective.

• Memories of Murder / 살인의 추억, Bong Joon-ho (2003)

Considered one of Bong’s best films, Memories of Murder was based on first-ever serial killer murders in Korea. While the actual case remained unsolved until this year, Memories of Murder stars Parasite’s Song Kang-ho as the detective trying to solve the crime. Considered to be one of the best Korean films of all-time, it launched Bong’s career and place in cinema.

• Joint Security Area / 공동경비구역 JSA, Park Chan-wook (2003)

While Memories of Murder launched Bong Joon-ho’s career, Joint Security Area launched Park Chan-wook’s. Once the highest-grossing film of all time in South Korea, it depicts the tensions between North and South Korea. As two North Korean soldiers are killed at the very beginning of the film, the only thing stopping the two countries from going to war is a special investigation.

• The Housemaid / 하녀, Kim Ki-young (1960)

A thriller, Kim Ki-young’s The Housemaid is cited by Bong Joon-ho to be an inspiration for Parasite. A time capsule of 1960s Korea, the film follows the Kim family, who hires a new maid from the factory at which the patriarch works. As the film unravels, this proves to be a deadly and unnerving mistake, costing the family everything dear to them.