The Past is a Strange Country: History and Memory in Recent Korean Cinema

Kyu Hyun Kim
Name in Latin Alphabet:	Kyu Hyun Kim
Nationality:	Republic of Korea
Affiliation:	University of California, Davis

강연 소개

This lecture is intended to provide a brief introduction to several significant characteristics of the contemporary Korean cinema, usually known as New Korean Cinema (dated from the release of Sopyonje [1993] or Shiri [1999] to today), focusing on a topic not often subject to balanced interpretations or analyses: depictions of the historical past and the troubling role played by memory and nostalgia in such depictions.

We will explore a wide range of cinematic output: historical dramas, thrillers, comedies and other genre films set in the early modern as well as 20th century Korea, including Untold Scandal (2003), The King and the Clown (2005), Epitaph (2007), Blades of Blood (2010) and Masquerade (2012). Through discussion of these and other films, following arguments will be made. 1) Some popular Korean films dealing with historical subjects, most notably those directed by Lee Jun-gi, have tended toward “presentist” view of the past, yet others have played with numerous genre conventions to problematize this epistemological subordination of the past to the present. 2) Moreover, in a few remarkable examples, contemporary ideological certitudes as well as the privileging of nostalgia and memory are criticized, so that the historical past is rendered independent yet connected to the present. In order to make this case, three films will be looked into in greater detail: YMCA Baseball Team (2005), Epitaph (2007) and Jiseul (2012). It will be shown that these films successfully showcase astonishing diversity and progressive potentials of the New Korean Cinema.

강연 영상

The Past is a Strange Country: History and Memory in Recent Korean Cinema