고려대학교 국제대학원 2학기 [국제어 강의명: Korean Cinema in Global Context]
Spring 2010

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OBJECTIVE: From the late 1990s and onwards, the Korean wave, known as “Hallyu,” has opened up new ground for international popular culture in Asia as some famous Korean dramas, such as Winter Sonata have become highly successful in Japan and other parts of Asia, as well as the movie My Sassy Girl (2000), which was made into a Japanese drama and an Indian Movie. Il Mare (or Siworae of the original title in Korean, 2000), by Hyun-Seung Lee, was also adapted by Hollywood, featuring two Hollywood celebrities, Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. These incidents prove an increasingly globalized network of film making beyond what used to be considered as the boundary between western and non-western worlds.

With the international success of Korean popular culture in general and Korean cinema in particular, this class, which is titled “Korean Cinema in Global Context,” has two purposes: 1) The class is designed to introduce the history of Korean cinema from the 1950s until 1990s when the cinematic representation of women, their relationship to traditional Confucianism, popular culture, America, and national conflicts are good illustrations of Korea’s transformation into a modernized state. In this class, many pivotal examples of postwar Cinema in Korea shows how traditional values of family and of nationalism have become replaced by a western individualism and internationalism—sometimes with a lot of resistance. 2) The class is also designed to introduce the historical background of the Korean wave and the globalized environment of film making and reception. The changing atmosphere of film industry in Korea during the 1990s, both politically and financially, enables Korean film makers to create a new type of blockbusters and critically acclaimed artistic films; they skillfully combined cinematic vocabularies of either Hollywood and renowned auteurs with the themes drawn upon the tumultuous histories of Korea—from the Korean War, the continued remnants of the Cold War to the troubling history toward democracy under the three decades of the military dictatorship.

In the class, I would like to pose a few important questions: What are the consistent themes and stylistic traits that have defined “national” cinema in Korea? How has the recent development of Korean cinema continued to maintain or challenge the national character of Korean cinema? What are the changing conditions of production, circulation, and reception of recent Korean films that have contributed to the globalization of Korean cinema? Finally, can the New wave of film making in Korea, dubbed as “New Korean Cinema,” be considered as the successful adaptation of Hollywood Cinema in the local context?

* The minimum knowledge of the history of postwar Korea is required.

METHODS: The class will consist of screenings, lectures, and discussions based upon weekly review papers and submissions. All films will be screened with English subtitles; no knowledge of Korean is required.