[Korean Film News] Korea’s Film Industry: A Glance into the Future

Unlike previous blockbusters such as Taegukgi and JSA, the new box office hits don’t deal with national division but with a variety of issues ranging from homosexuality to internal politics and romance. If the traditional gangster movie seemed on the wane as 2005 drew to a close, it has come back to the fore in 2006, with films like Running Wild, A Dirty Carnival, Bloody Tie and The City of Violence, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down, with current and future films Cruel Winter Blues and The Show Must Go On. Another trend is abduction films – with Voice of a Murderer, The World of Silence and Educating Kidnappers all expected to appear this year or by Spring 2007. While Voice of a Murderer is based on a true story, the others borrow from detective films, thrillers and comedies.

Formerly scouring the world of literature, Chungmuro is now busy buying up the rights to comic books and Japanese novels to adapt for the silver screen. The driving force behind the change? The proven popularity of bestsellers vs. the time and money required to develop an original screenplay. Cartoonist Kang Pul has already sold four of his works, the horror film APT being only the first to fill darkened theatres. Dasepo Naughty Girls, based on a sexually explicit Internet cartoon, had to be toned down a bit in order to receive an audience-friendly 15 rating. Fly, Daddy, Fly, Lovers over the Shoulders, Twinkle, Prison Hotel and Black House are all adaptations from Japanese novels. War of Flowers and Le Grand Chef were both adapted from Korean comics. Of course, Chungmuro hasn’t stopped using literature altogether. ‘Our Happy Time’ was filmed and released as Maundy Thursday, while author Hwang Seok-young’s ‘The Old Garden’, shot by Im Sang-soo, is scheduled to be released in January 2007.

Romantic comedies continue to be popular, the year’s most notable being My Scary Girl, a unique blend of comedy and thriller with sharp dialogue and good production values. Park Chan-wook’s I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK falls somewhat into this mold. While the success of this type of comedy may mean more quirky and eccentric characters in the future, the combination of good script and chemistry don’t necessarily lend themselves to formulaic treatment. Musicals have been taboo in Chungmuro, one reason being high production costs. E J Young managed nonetheless to incorporate some colorful numbers in Dasepo Naughty Girls, and The Fox Family did so with imagination as well.

Sequels were big this year, the majority being comedies: My Tutor Friend 2, Mapado 2, Marrying the Mafia 3 and My Wife is a Gangster 3 – but not all will be comedies – scripts for The Host 2 and War of Flowers 2 can’t be too far off. Hanbando was thankfully the sole representative of the year, but expect many more historical films, some with a strong nationalistic flavor, in 2007. Like Fireworks and Butterflies will depict the life of Empress Myeongseong, Lee Shim will tell the story of a dancer for Korean Emporer Kojong, and Julia will recount the life of Julia Mullock, wife of the last Korean prince. Splendid Holidays, a film dealing with the Kwangju Massacre, is in the works, as are other historical pictures: The Bridge at Nogunri, Dokdo Defense Forces, Hurray for Korean Independence, and The Shadow of Arms -- though some may face the axe because of excessive production costs or political reasons. It is expected that these films will deal more realistically with Korea’s past than the popular fusion histories.

The hottest issue in the Korean film industry for the first half of the year was the government’s sudden announcement of a screen quota cut. On January 26, Han Deok-soo, the former Minister of Finance and Economy, announced that the government would reduce the screen quota to 73 days from 146. Since that announcement, the government has applied the reduced screen quota from July 1, despite the industry’s strong opposition. The industry continues to fight the moves. On November 21st, the Korea Film Directors Society turned down a $674 million support package proposed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism which was to have compensated for the halving of the screen quota. Filmmakers also called for the creation of a new film production fund and a major restructuring of KOFIC to make it more sensitive to filmmakers’ needs. The Democratic Labor Party, in reaction to recent blockbusters appearing on as many as 600 screens, proposed limiting such practices.

Now that the industry has reached the 100-film-per-year mark, there is fear that that film distribution will bottleneck in 2007. As the industry receives as much as 80% of its income from box-office receipts, the competition for screens is expected to heat up even more. With 1648 screens in 2005, many worry that the situation will reach a critical point sometime next year. Even if production costs stabilized, as the number of films increases, decreased profitability is inevitable. But production costs are soaring and don’t show any signs of slowing down. In the first half of 2006, blockbusters aside, 40 films couldn’t even break even. This situation is only likely to worsen in 2007.

The Japanese market, once the goose that laid the golden egg, is drying up. Last year at Cannes, April Snow commanded US $7 million, Duelist US $5 million and Running Wild got a whopping US $4 million guarantee. This year, sales to Japan were insignificant. While in the past, such offers were often made in pre-production, today’s buyers want some guarantee of a film’s success – they’re waiting to see the film first. Korean films are not only facing a downturn in Japan, but in Asia in general. Says one industry representative, “Melodramas and romantic comedies, which once were well received in Asian markets, are these days getting unfavorable responses. Asian buyers complain of similar plots: funny scenes in the beginning, somebody dying in the middle, and sadness at the end.”

On the other hand, demand for Korean movies in South America and Eastern European countries is on the increase, and more aggressive attempts are being made to approach overseas markets. In May, CJ Entertainment directly distributed its film Tyhpoon in the United States. CJ is now pushing for direct production in the United States, while promoting co-production with Japan on such projects as One Missed Call and A Black House. It will also approach the Chinese market with contents that can appeal to Chinese viewers. Prime Entertainment is taking on a more aggressive approach with a plan to produce a movie in English. It is now co-producing the Julia Project (working title) together with Focus Pictures, an affiliated company of Universal Studios. Lee Seung-jae, vice president of Prime, says, “We can advance into the world’s largest movie market of North America only with movies produced in English. “An American director and first class actors and actresses from Hollywood will be mobilized for the Julia Project, but the longer-term plan is to introduce the creative power of Korea into the U.S. market.” The English language market is too lucrative to resist. Park Chan-wook was at the American Film Market earlier this month to shop around Snow Train, an English language film to be directed by Bong Joon-ho.

[Source: KOFIC, Koreanfilm.org]