With movies like Silmido, Taegukgi, and The King and The Clown, it looks like Korean film is at its height. But the golden era of Korean film was the 1960's. Koreans saw 20 to 30 percent more movies back then.
There were various reasons Korean film enjoyed that golden era. Television ownership was not common then, and it was before Hollywood started eyeing the Korean market. What we also had were the great directors such as Yu Hyun Mok, Shin Sang Ok, Kim Su Yong, Lee Man Hui, and Kim Ki Yeong. Their high level of artistry and entertainment brought audiences to the theaters.
Shin was particularly special. His abilities as a director were also recognized overseas. His Chunhyang and The Houseguest and My Mother were invited to film festivals in Japan and Venice. Sangnoksu (1961) was invited to a Cannes Film Festival retrospective in 2003.
Shin also established "Shin Film," or "Shin Sang Ok Productions," in the 1950's, Korea's first film production business. Shin Film served as Korea's film academy until the 70's. Regardless of whether he was kidnapped or voluntarily went to North Korea, it is significant that he made movies on both sides of the border. Bulgasari, produced in North Korea, was the first Northern film to be shown on screens in the South.
The great master who initiated the golden era of Korean film departed Wednesday. He leaves having watched Korean film in its long period of stagnation and in its current renaissance. The Korean film community must feel an especially great sense of loss for having sent him on his way at a time when the industry has suddenly been hit with a crisis in the form of the "screen quota" reduction. Fortunately he left us some key hints for overcoming the crisis, namely to use uniquely Korean experiences, contradictions, and sentiments and instill in those universal values. That is something those in the film arts who follow his steps should put in practice, since the trend is towards an unbearable lightness of content.
The Hankyoreh, 13 April 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Remembering Shin Sang Ok |
