It's no secret that history, that dialogue between past and present, can often teach us about the future, particularly when it comes to culture. But whereas memories can last a lifetime, film preservation is not always helping, particularly in Asia. This, too, comes down to culture after all. Efforts to restore and remaster the Shaw Brothers and Cathay archives gave new vigor to Hong Kong and Chinese film history, as it was like finding the diary of one's grandmother, dirtied by dust and burned here and there, but still as energetic and vibrant as the day it was written. Watching 1950s HK musicals looking as good as films released before the digital era is such a joy, one can't help but envy this kind of gift Hong Kong bestowed upon itself. Envy because, if you look at Korean cinema history, or better the history of film preservation, you're not going to leave with a smile on your face. Going through the colonial period, the division, and finally the war in a few decades' time pretty much sealed the fate of anything done before 1955, but you can't only blame those vicissitudes for this state.
A recent study by the government indicates that, out of the 5,901 Korean films produced between 1919 and the 2000's a stunning 2,039 prints are lost and/or missing. That's roughly 35%, although one needs to explore details to see how bad the situation really is. Not a single film out of the 68 shot between the late 1910's and late 1920's remains, including Korea's first ever film 의리적 구토 (Fight for Justice), and Na Un-Gyu's landmark 아리랑 (Arirang). Only 7% (five films) survive from the 30's, 15% (14) from the 40's, and 16% (50) from the 50's, putting the average of pre-war Chungmuro films properly preserved to a dismal 12%. Thankfully the efforts of the KOFA to unravel more titles from overseas collections and other venues brought back 13 films in 2006, 16 in 2007, and this year they found Korea's first ever animation, the Shin brother's 홍길동 (Hong Gil Dong). Still, we're not only dealing with bad news. KOFA has been releasing half a dozen films on DVD per year since 2006, with some truly timeless gems, and the very rare option of English subtitles on the often interesting (sometimes more than the film itself) extra features, along with translated booklets. Their upcoming boxset might be the most interesting yet.
On October 24, KOFA will release a DVD collection of three films from the 30's, which were discovered last year. We're dealing with Yang Ju-Nam's 1936 film 미몽 (Sweet Dream), Seo Gwang-Je's 군용열차 (Military Train) from 1938, and finally Ahn Cheol-Young's 어화 (Fisherman's Fire) from 1939. These were all shot during the colonial period, so it'll be interesting to see what kind of nuances emerge. And the best news? A digital restoration of Kim Ki-Young's classic 하녀 (The Housemaid) coming to DVD shelves is not too far off.
[JoyNews]
What makes these films more interesting than (or different from) the first Past Unearthed boxset?
And BTW, that's great news about the Housemaid (finally!), but is there any chance we will get to see that Hong Gil-dong animated movie on DVD any time soon?
That they show Korean popular culture in the 30s, even if you always have the colonial filter to consider. For instance, Military Train was the first film to be produced under the Naeseon Ilche/Naisen ittai (Japan and Korea are one) policy, so it's likely to be a tad pungent to digest now. I'd love to see sageuk from the era, though. That's the period when Park Jong-Hwa novels were the rage, could be tons of fun.
Budget for digital restoration in 2009 is a very healthy 0 Won (Yay 2MB), so unless some cheapo fullscreen release comes out or EBS airs it down the line, your only option would probably be watching the VOD on the KMDB site (if it's there. Won't bother with them since it's a mess of Active-x and DRM). Of course the KOFA might get to it eventually, but I think they're still focused on postwar to early 60s now.
There's also clips of other incomplete films they found amongst the extra features.