【资料】2004上半年电影回顾

阿韩 · 发表于 2004-10-14 00:39

Korean film industry a smash hit abroad
August 26, 2004

The Korean cinema industry has proven its commercial and artistic potential in the first half of 2004, outsmarting Hollywood blockbusters and churning out stylistically unique works that appeal to both mainstream moviegoers and pesky critics.

The year started with a buzz about Korean movies competing to beat previous box-office records. Indeed, two films "Silmido" and "Taegukgi" set a precedent by selling more than 11 million tickets each, inspiring other moviemakers and film investors.

First, "Silmido" became the first film ever in the domestic movie industry to attract an audience of more than 10 million. The movie, directed by Kang Woo-suk and starring actors Sol Kyung-gu and Ahn Sung-ki, is based on the true story of a secret government plot in the 1970s to assassinate former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.

Released in December, "Silmido" broke Korea's all-time movie attendance record in January after selling more than 8.2 million tickets. The previous mark belonged to "Friend" (2001), which sold 8.18 million. Silmido went on attracting viewers, eventually exceeding 11 million tickets sold.

As if records were meant to be broken, another blockbuster, "Taegukgi," then infused more energy into the thriving Korean cinema world. This 15 billion won ($13 million) action flick - the most expensive domestic film in history - also surpassed the 11-million mark.

Based on the Korean War, "Taegukgi" was widely expected to be a smashing record-breaker from the very beginning. Directed by Kang Je-gyu, and starring Jang Dong-gun and Won Bin, it became the fastest film ever in Korea to reach the 5 million-mark attendance mark, hit just 13 days after its release.

Named after Korea's national flag, "Taegukgi," also demonstrated the growing potential of Korean movies abroad. In June the film opened in 300 theaters in Japan, a country that forced Koreans not to use the Korean flag during the tortuous colonial period in the early 20th century. It sparked enthusiastic response there, too. According to the film's distributor, Show box, more than 130,000 people in Japan watched the film over the first weekend of its run there.

Kang is now keen to go international with his highly successful films. In fact, he is the first Korean director to have attempted what is called a "blockbuster" formula with his thriller "Swiri," (also sometimes spelled "Shiri"), about North Korean spies.

But what are drawing attention from both critics and investors abroad are not only the blockbusters but also well-made flicks in various genres. Unlike the old days when cookie-cutter romantic comedies and poorly made tear-jerkers dominated the Korean screen, a new group of aspiring directors armed with originality and creativity is rushing to produce fine works.

A striking example is "The Big Swindle" directed by Choe Dong-hoon. The film, inspired by a true event in 1996, is about con artists who attempt a cleverly planned bank robbery.

With the movie, Cho, 33, made an impressive debut, causing critics to say the young director has kicked the door wide open to a heist movie genre. Reviews have largely been favorable, especially over the film's intricate and well-organized plot.

Another genre-related breakthrough came from "Someone Special" by director Jang Jin. Although top-rated actress Lee Na-young plays the title role, the film does not rely on the much-repeated romantic comedy formula. Instead, it pokes fun at the shallowness of romantic relationships, offering plenty of tongue-in-cheek scenes that amuse and tickle the audience.

With a plot where the male character is destined to die of a lung cancer, the atmosphere should be gloomy, or at least not cheery. But a series of comic scenes jazz up the storytelling, with the main characters cracking unintended jokes as they play the quirky roles.

Meanwhile, director Park Heung-shik has pushed the envelope with a type of drama he calls a "fantasy genre." In "The Mermaid the Mother," he examines the earlier years of some Korean mothers who have led difficult lives supporting other family members, often forgetting about their own days of youthful beauty and the past moments of romance in their lives.

One of the most realistic portrayals of Korean mothers is a scene in which actress Goh Doo-shim loudly asks for additional side dishes, and grumbles about the owner's lame excuse about a shortage of ingredients. Critics said this scene and others suggest that Park has a knack for capturing fine details.

In the mystery thriller genre, award-winning director Song Il-gon set off a series of discussions about human limitations and their fatal impact with his latest work, "Spider Forest." The movie is dedicated to the mysterious power of human memories, especially about dark, cruel and unimaginable incidents that can torment the person in question for eternity.

Though the film is quite complicated, actor Kam Woo-sung's performance is solid and impressive. And Suh Jung ("The Isle") also showcases versatile acting talent, infusing cheerfulness with sadness.

Director Song is certainly one of the leading cinema artists in Korea, cultivating his peculiar moviemaking style. He grabbed the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes film festival in the short film competition with "The Picnic," and made his feature-length directorial debut with "Flower Island," which also garnered favorable reviews from critics.

For all of its stylistic inventiveness and allusion-rich plot, "Spider Forest" couldn't find empty screens for its scheduled release date in July, partly due to the cutthroat competition during the summer movie season. The film is now set to open in September, disappointing fans that are eagerly waiting to see Song's latest work.

Another mystery thriller that has stoked numerous rumors in Chungmuro, Korea's moviemaking district, is "Hypnotized," directed by Kim In-sik. The film explores the fragility of the human heart when love is denied, and stars veteran actress Kim Hye-soo playing Ji-su, a borderline personality disorder patient. She exceeds expectations with a confident performance, not to mention a couple of bold nude scenes - the first in the actress's 19-year career.

As with other mystery thrillers, the film's plot is hard to follow largely because director Kim ornately mixes reality and fantasy. But stylistically, the film achieves cinematic breakthroughs, creating refined images of a city filled with gloominess and uneasiness.

Another notable phenomenon in Korean cinema in the first half of the year was the emergence of Internet-inspired films. In July, two movies based on Internet-based novels by teenage writer Lee Yoon-sei, widely known as "Guiyeoni," opened amid heightened interest about whether online popularity can lead to box-office success. "The Guy was Cool" and "Temptation of Wolves" revolve around teenage love fantasy.

In both films, plain-looking girls capture the hearts of extremely handsome and popular boys. Fights and competition ensue, with cheesy melodrama or tragic events from the past attempting to bolster flimsy storylines. For all the weaknesses, the two films mark the silver-screen debut of novels serialized on the Web, drawing keen attention from the public as well as critics.

Indeed, Korean filmmakers are producing more sophisticated works than ever, in diverse genres. Foreign film festivals have also noticed the potential. In May, director Park Chan-wook's "Old Boy" won the runner-up Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, becoming the second Korean film to win a prize in the competition section of the prestigious film fest.

"Old Boy" opened in November last year and sold more than 3.3 million tickets in Korea, becoming one of the biggest hits in the mystery thriller genre.

Another Korean feature, "Woman is the Future of Man," by director Hong Sang-soo, also competed for the Golden Palm Award, but failed to garner a prize. Yet the fact that two Korean films competed in the competition section at Cannes indicates a significantly elevated status for Korean cinema on the global stage.

The award to "Old Boy" came two years after Korea's veteran director Im Kwon-taek won the Best Director Award at Cannes for "Chihwaseon" (2002), amid growing interest in Asia and elsewhere about Korean cinema.

Based on a Japanese comic book, "Old Boy" is a bizarre and brooding tale about a man who goes on a revenge spree after being detained and tortured for 15 years by an unknown abductor.

Park, 41, has built up a reputation as a hit-maker in the local film industry. He is now expected to broaden his artistic boundaries on the international stage thanks to the recognition he received at Cannes.

Hong's "Woman is the Future of Man," a Korean-French co-production which depicts two men on a journey to find their girl friend after a seven-year hiatus, disappointed at Cannes even though the director's subtle style and penchant for laying bare the pretentiousness of humans is largely favored by French media and critics.

Of course, not all works garnered positive reviews for artistic quality. The most glaring example is the much-hyped "Windstruck," by director Kwak Jae-yong, who built a reputation with his Asia-wide hit movie, "My Sassy Girl" (2001), featuring Jun Ji-hyun, Korea's undisputed top actress.
"Windstruck," which featured Jun as the main character again, simply flopped, with critics spitting out highly negative reviews. One problem was that, instead of well-crafted characterization, director Kwak used a boring formula of showing beautiful images again and again.

Even more damaging, however, was overuse of Jun's image, which had been peppered before the public. Because of her popularity, Jun had been hired to appear in numerous TV commercials promoting various products. In the movie, many of those products appeared again in product placements, prompting some critics to declare that the movie was just a two-hour-long TV commercial.

Artistic quality aside, the Korean film industry did suffer one other setback in the first six months of this year. According to statistics from the Korea Media Rating Board, the number of domestically made movies released during first half decreased to 47 from 65 in the year-earlier period.

While this may suggest that some moviemakers are spending more time on their productions, focusing on quality rather than quantity, the decreasing number of movies still isn't seen as a positive sign.

Another negative factor shrouding the movie industry is the long-running dispute about restrictions that limit the number of Hollywood films that can be shown in Korea.

For 37 years, Korea has operated a quota system under which theaters are required to screen Korean movies for at least 106 days a year. The screen quota is a sticky issue that has become a key obstacle to agreement on a proposed Korea-U.S. Bilateral Investment Treaty.

While the government has considered relaxing or dropping the quota system to speed up talks with the United States on the BIT, local filmmakers and stars strongly protest such a move, arguing that Korean films are not yet strong enough to compete with Hollywood blockbusters \and the nation should not give in to U.S. pressure to ease the quota.

Interestingly, Korean films are doing far better than expected on the export front. The Korean Film Council recently reported that during the first half of this year, 111 films were exported to 39 countries, generating overseas revenue of $32.5 million, more than double the figure recorded in the first half of 2003.

The council said the export growth is largely because Korean filmmakers and production houses have pushed their efforts to enter overseas markets. The fact that Korean films captured awards at major international film festivals is also fueling the export drive, it said.

http://www.korea.net/pda/newsVie ... 825025&part=112

匿名 *发表于 2005-1-9 16:02* · 发表于 2005-1-9 16:02

only watched taegukgi this year...not as good as i anticipated...

罗敷 · 发表于 2005-3-11 11:13

天，不懂

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