Young-a Park
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804783613
- eISBN:
- 9780804793476
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804783613.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Since 1999 South Korean films have drawn roughly 40 to 60 percent of the Korean domestic box office, matching or even surpassing Hollywood films in popularity. How did this Korean “film explosion” ...
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Since 1999 South Korean films have drawn roughly 40 to 60 percent of the Korean domestic box office, matching or even surpassing Hollywood films in popularity. How did this Korean “film explosion” come about? This book examines the Korean film industry’s success story from the viewpoint of a group of unlikely social actors-Korean independent filmmakers. It investigates the unexpected alliances among independent filmmakers, the state, and the mainstream film industry practitioners under the postauthoritarian administrations of Kim Dae-jung (1998–2003) and Roh Moo-hyun (2003–2008), and argues that these alliances were critical to the making of the Korean film sector as we know it. During this postauthoritarian/reform era, independent filmmakers with activist backgrounds who were part of the “democratic generation” or “3–8-6 generation” were able to mobilize the cultural repertoires and networks of their 1980s activism in turning themselves into important players in state cultural institutions. They also negotiated with the purveyors of capital and helped lead national protests against trade liberalization. Instead of simply labeling these alliances with the state, capitalists, and film industry practitioners as “selling out” or “co-optation,” the book explores how independent filmmakers transformed South Korea’s film institutions, policies, and narratives about film. This book is an ethnographic investigation of the political, social, and cultural contexts that created the Korean “film explosion.”Less
Since 1999 South Korean films have drawn roughly 40 to 60 percent of the Korean domestic box office, matching or even surpassing Hollywood films in popularity. How did this Korean “film explosion” come about? This book examines the Korean film industry’s success story from the viewpoint of a group of unlikely social actors-Korean independent filmmakers. It investigates the unexpected alliances among independent filmmakers, the state, and the mainstream film industry practitioners under the postauthoritarian administrations of Kim Dae-jung (1998–2003) and Roh Moo-hyun (2003–2008), and argues that these alliances were critical to the making of the Korean film sector as we know it. During this postauthoritarian/reform era, independent filmmakers with activist backgrounds who were part of the “democratic generation” or “3–8-6 generation” were able to mobilize the cultural repertoires and networks of their 1980s activism in turning themselves into important players in state cultural institutions. They also negotiated with the purveyors of capital and helped lead national protests against trade liberalization. Instead of simply labeling these alliances with the state, capitalists, and film industry practitioners as “selling out” or “co-optation,” the book explores how independent filmmakers transformed South Korea’s film institutions, policies, and narratives about film. This book is an ethnographic investigation of the political, social, and cultural contexts that created the Korean “film explosion.”
Young-a Park
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804783613
- eISBN:
- 9780804793476
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804783613.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
By interweaving an ethnography of the Pusan International Film Festival, the author’s personal accounts, an overview of Korean modern history (with a focus on the emergence of the “democratic ...
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By interweaving an ethnography of the Pusan International Film Festival, the author’s personal accounts, an overview of Korean modern history (with a focus on the emergence of the “democratic generation”), and a review of relevant anthropological literature the Introduction sheds light on the question, What is the role of independent filmmakers in the “explosion” of Korean films in the postauthoritarian/reform era? The Introduction argues that the “explosion” of Korean film is a product of a wide range of new alliances among social actors and that independent filmmakers played a key role in creating this critical alliance. It asks whether this alliance can be characterized as “co-optation,” and goes on to engage social theories of state, activism, and media in order to establish the significance of the “explosion” of Korean films and the social and political context in which it occurred.Less
By interweaving an ethnography of the Pusan International Film Festival, the author’s personal accounts, an overview of Korean modern history (with a focus on the emergence of the “democratic generation”), and a review of relevant anthropological literature the Introduction sheds light on the question, What is the role of independent filmmakers in the “explosion” of Korean films in the postauthoritarian/reform era? The Introduction argues that the “explosion” of Korean film is a product of a wide range of new alliances among social actors and that independent filmmakers played a key role in creating this critical alliance. It asks whether this alliance can be characterized as “co-optation,” and goes on to engage social theories of state, activism, and media in order to establish the significance of the “explosion” of Korean films and the social and political context in which it occurred.
David R. Shumway
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036989
- eISBN:
- 9780252094088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036989.003.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter presents a commentary on John Sayles' film career. Sayles has long been referred to as America's leading independent filmmaker. More recently, he has been called both the grandfather and ...
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This chapter presents a commentary on John Sayles' film career. Sayles has long been referred to as America's leading independent filmmaker. More recently, he has been called both the grandfather and the godfather of American independent cinema. The press has also described Sayle's as a realist. Realism here means a particular kind of content, and that content is connected to a traditionally leftist position of support for workers. These are both aspects of Sayles' realism, but many of his films are neither gritty nor are focused on a particular class. The remainder of the chapter traces Sayles' path to filmmaking, where he began as writer of short stories and novels. It then turns to an analysis of his films, which include Liana (1983), Baby It's You (1983), The Brother from Another Planet (1984), Matewan (1987), Eight Men Out (1988), Lone Star (1996), Silver City (2004), and Honeydripper (2007).Less
This chapter presents a commentary on John Sayles' film career. Sayles has long been referred to as America's leading independent filmmaker. More recently, he has been called both the grandfather and the godfather of American independent cinema. The press has also described Sayle's as a realist. Realism here means a particular kind of content, and that content is connected to a traditionally leftist position of support for workers. These are both aspects of Sayles' realism, but many of his films are neither gritty nor are focused on a particular class. The remainder of the chapter traces Sayles' path to filmmaking, where he began as writer of short stories and novels. It then turns to an analysis of his films, which include Liana (1983), Baby It's You (1983), The Brother from Another Planet (1984), Matewan (1987), Eight Men Out (1988), Lone Star (1996), Silver City (2004), and Honeydripper (2007).
David R. Shumway
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036989
- eISBN:
- 9780252094088
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036989.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
John Sayles is the very paradigm of the contemporary independent filmmaker. By raising much of the funding for his films himself, Sayles functions more independently than most directors, and he has ...
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John Sayles is the very paradigm of the contemporary independent filmmaker. By raising much of the funding for his films himself, Sayles functions more independently than most directors, and he has used his freedom to write and produce films with a distinctive personal style and often clearly expressed political positions. From The Return of the Secaucus Seven to Sunshine State, his films have consistently expressed progressive political positions on issues including race, gender, sexuality, class, and disability. This book examines the defining characteristic of Sayles' cinema: its realism. Positing the filmmaker as a critical realist, the book explores Sayles' attention to narrative in critically acclaimed and popular films such as Matewan, Eight Men Out, Passion Fish, and Lone Star. The study also details the conditions under which Sayles' films have been produced, distributed, and exhibited, affecting the way in which these films have been understood and appreciated. In the process, the book presents Sayles as a teacher who tells historically accurate stories that invite audiences to consider the human world they all inhabit.Less
John Sayles is the very paradigm of the contemporary independent filmmaker. By raising much of the funding for his films himself, Sayles functions more independently than most directors, and he has used his freedom to write and produce films with a distinctive personal style and often clearly expressed political positions. From The Return of the Secaucus Seven to Sunshine State, his films have consistently expressed progressive political positions on issues including race, gender, sexuality, class, and disability. This book examines the defining characteristic of Sayles' cinema: its realism. Positing the filmmaker as a critical realist, the book explores Sayles' attention to narrative in critically acclaimed and popular films such as Matewan, Eight Men Out, Passion Fish, and Lone Star. The study also details the conditions under which Sayles' films have been produced, distributed, and exhibited, affecting the way in which these films have been understood and appreciated. In the process, the book presents Sayles as a teacher who tells historically accurate stories that invite audiences to consider the human world they all inhabit.
Hye Seung Chung
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036699
- eISBN:
- 9780252093791
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036699.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This study investigates the controversial motion pictures written and directed by the independent filmmaker Kim Ki-duk, one of the most acclaimed Korean auteurs in the English-speaking world. ...
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This study investigates the controversial motion pictures written and directed by the independent filmmaker Kim Ki-duk, one of the most acclaimed Korean auteurs in the English-speaking world. Propelled by underdog protagonists who can only communicate through shared corporeal pain and extreme violence, Kim's graphic films have been classified by Western audiences as belonging to sensationalist East Asian “extreme” cinema, and Kim has been labeled a “psychopath” and “misogynist” in South Korea. Drawing upon both Korean-language and English-language sources, the book challenges these misunderstandings, recuperating Kim's oeuvre as a therapeutic, yet brutal cinema of Nietzschean ressentiment (political anger and resentment deriving from subordination and oppression). The book argues that the power of Kim's cinema lies precisely in its ability to capture, channel, and convey the raw emotions of protagonists who live on the bottom rungs of Korean society. It provides historical and postcolonial readings of victimization and violence in Kim's cinema, which tackles such socially relevant topics as national division in Wild Animals and The Coast Guard and U.S. military occupation in Address Unknown. The book also explores the religious and spiritual themes in Kim's most recent works, which suggest possibilities of reconciliation and transcendence.Less
This study investigates the controversial motion pictures written and directed by the independent filmmaker Kim Ki-duk, one of the most acclaimed Korean auteurs in the English-speaking world. Propelled by underdog protagonists who can only communicate through shared corporeal pain and extreme violence, Kim's graphic films have been classified by Western audiences as belonging to sensationalist East Asian “extreme” cinema, and Kim has been labeled a “psychopath” and “misogynist” in South Korea. Drawing upon both Korean-language and English-language sources, the book challenges these misunderstandings, recuperating Kim's oeuvre as a therapeutic, yet brutal cinema of Nietzschean ressentiment (political anger and resentment deriving from subordination and oppression). The book argues that the power of Kim's cinema lies precisely in its ability to capture, channel, and convey the raw emotions of protagonists who live on the bottom rungs of Korean society. It provides historical and postcolonial readings of victimization and violence in Kim's cinema, which tackles such socially relevant topics as national division in Wild Animals and The Coast Guard and U.S. military occupation in Address Unknown. The book also explores the religious and spiritual themes in Kim's most recent works, which suggest possibilities of reconciliation and transcendence.
Xiaoping Lin
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833367
- eISBN:
- 9780824870607
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833367.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This postlude looks at Chinese avant-garde artists and independent filmmakers in the first decade of the twenty-first century, focusing on Huang Yongping, Xu Bing, Paul Chan, and Qin Yufen, whose ...
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This postlude looks at Chinese avant-garde artists and independent filmmakers in the first decade of the twenty-first century, focusing on Huang Yongping, Xu Bing, Paul Chan, and Qin Yufen, whose latest works challenge a Western “master discourse” on politics, religion, and culture. In Bat Project I–IV (2001–2005), Huang Yongping “reconstructed” the U.S. EP-3 spy plane that collided with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea on April 1, 2001—an incident that caused the death of a young Chinese pilot. In Where Does the Dust Collect Itself? (2004), Xu Bing “deconstructed” a handful of dust he had gathered from the streets of Manhattan soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers. Likewise, Paul Chan’s 1st Light (2005) can be seen as an “elegiac” commentary on the 9/11 events in New York City.Less
This postlude looks at Chinese avant-garde artists and independent filmmakers in the first decade of the twenty-first century, focusing on Huang Yongping, Xu Bing, Paul Chan, and Qin Yufen, whose latest works challenge a Western “master discourse” on politics, religion, and culture. In Bat Project I–IV (2001–2005), Huang Yongping “reconstructed” the U.S. EP-3 spy plane that collided with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea on April 1, 2001—an incident that caused the death of a young Chinese pilot. In Where Does the Dust Collect Itself? (2004), Xu Bing “deconstructed” a handful of dust he had gathered from the streets of Manhattan soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers. Likewise, Paul Chan’s 1st Light (2005) can be seen as an “elegiac” commentary on the 9/11 events in New York City.
David R. Shumway
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036989
- eISBN:
- 9780252094088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036989.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter presents a bibliography of key interviews given by the John Sayles throughout his career, followed by excerpts from these materials. In one interview, Sayles says that people forget that ...
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This chapter presents a bibliography of key interviews given by the John Sayles throughout his career, followed by excerpts from these materials. In one interview, Sayles says that people forget that entertainment also has a political message. In another interview, he says that his work does not really fit into a specific genre, and confesses that he is very bad at finding titles for his movies. He singles out Matewan, saying that it is not a great-selling title, but that he never thought of anything better. The remaining excerpts present his thoughts about the Bush administration, the film Silver City, and why he attempts to immerse viewers in a place.Less
This chapter presents a bibliography of key interviews given by the John Sayles throughout his career, followed by excerpts from these materials. In one interview, Sayles says that people forget that entertainment also has a political message. In another interview, he says that his work does not really fit into a specific genre, and confesses that he is very bad at finding titles for his movies. He singles out Matewan, saying that it is not a great-selling title, but that he never thought of anything better. The remaining excerpts present his thoughts about the Bush administration, the film Silver City, and why he attempts to immerse viewers in a place.
