한국 영화

Welcome to Koreanfilm.org.uk! 

For those of you that are new to this site, this is a set dedicated to Korean Cinema in the UK - the only site (to my knowledge at least) that is solely focused on Korean cinema in Britain, so the aim of this site is to bring Korean film news, reviews, festival coverage  and more in order to provide readers with some info on Korean Film. Although the site is aimed at a UK audience, I do find that I get hits from all over the world, so I am trying to cater to two kinds of readership, which I trust you all find helpful. But of course, any feedback (positive and negative is very welcome indeed).

I am getting into the habit of regularly updating the site and due to a very busy 2007 and I am discovering 2008 is much the same, so I know updates have been quite irregular recently, but I will endeavor to post regular updates. I am also restructuring the site, and also looking at giving it a new look as I do feel it needs some work - more news soon. Updates will be listed below and are as follows: 

Updates

THE LONDON AND LIVERPOOL KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL WEBSITE IS ONLINE. BE ONE OF THE FIRST TO SEE THE EXCITING PROGRAMME!
(Posted September 22)

Chi-wha-seon / Strokes of Fire (취화선)  to be screened at the Korean Cultural Centre
(Posted September 18)

London Film Festival announces its line-up  - what Korean films are included?
(Posted September 12)

More News on The Chaser release
(Posted September 1)

Film of the Month

The Housemaid (하녀)

Director: Kim Ki-young (김기영)
Starring: Lee Eun-Shim, Ju Jeung-nyeon & Kim Jin-kyu
Running Time: 90 mins
Distribution: Kuk Dong, Seki Trading Co.
Korean Release Date: November 3 1960



Sypnosis

It follows Dong-sik who is married. They are reading a press report, which reveals that a husband made his housemaid pregnant. His wife, however, cannot believe this can happen. But fate has its way and Dong-sik sleeps with his maid and she becomes pregnant. His wife insists that she has an abortion and as result the maid feels remorse towards the whole family. She subsequently forces Dong-sik to commit suicide with her.

Analysis

Certainly not the most upbeat film you will find, but it is seen as one of the finest Korean films in its history. Given the period it was made in (1960), it would of seen a lot of controversy due to its content. There are many ways to read the film; some see it as a critique of the traditional family unit and how it can it so easily fall apart, not least through sexual desires. Some have analysed the film from a psychoanalytical perspective and therefore see the importance of theorists such as Mulvey and Modleski in reading the film - Mulvey argues the male subject and by extension, the male viewer are locked in a gaze and out of guilt or through punishment the male character and viewer subject the female character to punishment. Modelski on the other hand argues that the male subject identifies with the female subconscious and in order to suppress this, the male character subjects the female character to punishment. I am not really a big fan of these theories, but they have been highly influential in reading film. One problem with these theories, however, is the fact that they are very much based on Hitchcock's work, most notably Vertigo, so whether one can apply either of these theories to a film that has been made on a very different set of circumstances to that of Hollywood, or Hitchcock is something to bear in mind.
Kim's use of cinematography and space have also been a popular talking point as tracking shots are very frequent in the film and how 'Kim Ki-young never put characters in the center of the cinemascope frame, but that he preferred to put them to one side.' (Ahn, M H) This enabled there to be an empty space, which meant Kim could 'exploit the possibilities for anticipation and fear about what might happen in the empty space'. (Ahn, M H)
In Cannes this year, it was screened in the classic section with a digitalized makeover with a introduction from Martin Scorsese. I imagine this version will be available on DVD in sometime in the near future, or you may be able to catch it on the festival market.
You could go on forever, but for now, hopefully I have provided you with enough information to encourage you to see the film.

Sources:
Ahn, M H.  Presenting the Anxious Middle Class: Camera Movement, Sound, and Color in The Housemaid and Woman of Fire
Modeleski, T (1988). The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory. New York: Routledge
Mulvey, L (1975).  ‘Visual pleasure and narrative Cinema’ in Screen Vol. 16 (3) pp.6 – 18 in Bauldry, L & Cohen, M (eds) (2004) Film Theory and Criticism Introductory Readings: Sixth Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Parquet, D. Koreanfilm.org