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The first part of the 1990s marked the end of the old Korean film industry. Firstly, the military dictatorship which had worked so hard to stifle and censor the film industry since the 1960s finally yielded power, with Korea's first democratically elected president Kim Young-sam taking office in 1993. Profound changes were ushered in to all areas of society, with the film industry being no exception.
Meanwhile, the lifting of restrictions on the direct distribution of foreign films in 1988 was leading to a surge in the number of Hollywood films released in Korea. Local films suffered initially, with Korean cinema accounting for only 15.9% of the market in 1993, the lowest level since the revival of the film industry in the mid-1950s. The number of films being made collapsed to an average of 60-65 per year, and many film companies went out of business.
At the same time, the industry was transformed by the arrival of the chaebol -- Korea's large business conglomerates -- who were anxious to produce content for the VCRs being made in their electronics divisions. Samsung was the first to create its own film division, with the release of the smash hit Marriage Story in summer of 1992. Since then, the system of financing, producing, and distributing films would be completely overhauled using the chaebol's new business methods.
The Korean directors who rose to full prominence during this period have been dubbed (rather unimaginatively) as the "Korean New Wave". Auteurs like Jang Sun-woo, Park Kwang-soo, and Lee Myung-Se produced some of their most distinctive works during this period, winning gradual recognition worldwide for their talents. In 1993, veteran director Im Kwon-taek's Sopyonje was released to huge fanfare, setting a new box-office record for local films and sparking a new interest nationwide in the vocal art of pansori. At the same time, the opening of new film schools and an increasing level of cinephilia among young Koreans (which some consider to be a replacement for the political activities of the 1980s) set the stage for a new generation of filmmakers who would emerge by the end of the decade.
Meanwhile, the lifting of restrictions on the direct distribution of foreign films in 1988 was leading to a surge in the number of Hollywood films released in Korea. Local films suffered initially, with Korean cinema accounting for only 15.9% of the market in 1993, the lowest level since the revival of the film industry in the mid-1950s. The number of films being made collapsed to an average of 60-65 per year, and many film companies went out of business.
At the same time, the industry was transformed by the arrival of the chaebol -- Korea's large business conglomerates -- who were anxious to produce content for the VCRs being made in their electronics divisions. Samsung was the first to create its own film division, with the release of the smash hit Marriage Story in summer of 1992. Since then, the system of financing, producing, and distributing films would be completely overhauled using the chaebol's new business methods.
The Korean directors who rose to full prominence during this period have been dubbed (rather unimaginatively) as the "Korean New Wave". Auteurs like Jang Sun-woo, Park Kwang-soo, and Lee Myung-Se produced some of their most distinctive works during this period, winning gradual recognition worldwide for their talents. In 1993, veteran director Im Kwon-taek's Sopyonje was released to huge fanfare, setting a new box-office record for local films and sparking a new interest nationwide in the vocal art of pansori. At the same time, the opening of new film schools and an increasing level of cinephilia among young Koreans (which some consider to be a replacement for the political activities of the 1980s) set the stage for a new generation of filmmakers who would emerge by the end of the decade.
posted by Kbabe @ 3:00 AM
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