SPECIAL ISSUE: SOUTH KOREAN CINEMA

Issue 26 News and Reviews Summer 2007 A PUBLICATION OF THE ASIAN EDUCATIONAL MEDIA SERVICE ■ CENTER FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC STUDIES ■ UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

subculture because it is a foil to their cherished values of rational discussion and individual autonomy. Ch’i-un also represents a minority of Korean men who come from lower-class, provin- cial backgrounds. Lacking the toughness and street smartness of other lower-class conscripts, soldiers like Ch’i-un are frequent targets of vio- lent abuse and therefore are often destroyed by the experience. Focusing on the daily lives of these conscripts in military barracks, the film reveals intimate details of the military subculture and conveys a poignant critique of it. Beneath the apparently simple and rather tedious depiction of daily routines among Korean conscripts, it provides the audi- ence with revealing insights about the logic of bodily dominance of older,

COURTESY OF FILM MESSENGER COURTESY higher-ranking soldiers over their subordi- nates. This subculture is starkly opposed to The Unforgiven the normative values of rational thinking, ■ Directed by Yoon Jong-bin. 2005. 120 minutes. equality, and individual autonomy that the educated public understand to be necessary orn as a college graduation project of the mates, T’ae-j˘ong tries to protect S˘ung-Y˘ong from for democratization in Korea. B director Yoon Jong-bin, The Unforgiven other bullying superiors. After completing his ser- To make a new recruit into a docile and useful (Yongs˘o Batji Mot’hanja) has generated significant vice, T’ae-j˘ong struggles to run a small business. soldier, various techniques of discipline, including ripples in Korean society and The film’s narrative is intercut with a visit Seung- continued on page 8 REVIEW beyond since it was released in yeong makes to T’ae-j˘ong while on leave. Urgently 2005. Turning painful experi- drawn to T’ae-j˘ong, S˘ung-Y˘ong tries to communi- ences of his own compulsory military service into cate his complex feelings toward him and his diffi- a narrative of three young men, director Yoon culty with military service, but T’ae-j˘ong is not in Contents presses the hot-button issue of military service in tune with him. Although they talk over food and contemporary South Korea. drinks, T’ae-j˘ong is not ready to listen to S˘ung- From the Editor ...... 2 How to Contact AEMS ...... 2 The first man we meet in the film is Yi S˘ung- Y˘ong’s feelings and concerns. Finally, S˘ung-Y˘ong Y˘ong, a college student who began his military ser- kills himself in a motel where he checked in with Essay: What Is Hallyu, vice relatively late. He has serious trouble adapting T’ae-j˘ong because he cannot bear the trauma of the “Korean Wave”? ...... 3 to a military subculture that sanctions the abusive Ch’i-un’s suicide and the rejection of his homo- Reviews: and violent treatment of subordinates by superiors. sexual feelings for T’ae-j˘ong. The Unforgiven ...... 1 He often confronts bullying superiors verbally and The three main characters can be seen as repre- Please Teach Me English...... 4 once physically. Hoping to change this military sentatives of different social groups of Korean men Empress Chung...... 5 subculture, he tries to protect H˘o Ch’i-un, his only who cope with the violent military subculture with Teaching and Technology: Multimedia subordinate, who appears to be rather slow-witted. varying degrees of adaptability. T’ae-j˘ong repre- Telecollaboration in a Beginning Japanese Ch’i-un is unable to adjust himself to the military sents a majority of Korean men who manage to Language Class: Part II ...... 6 subculture. To make the situation worse, he is also learn how to survive in the military and repress Interview: A Conversation with dumped by his girlfriend. After this crisis, he com- traumatic experiences of physical and psychological Director Yoon Jong-bin ...... 7 mits suicide in a restroom. violence during their service. S˘ung-Y˘ong represents Distributors in this Issue ...... 2 Ryu T’ae-j˘ong is S˘ung-Y˘ong’s immediate supe- a minority of Korean men who come from the rior. Because they were junior high school class- educated middle strata and cannot accept barracks FROM THE EDITOR

The Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS) is a pro- gram of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies Focus on South Korean Cinema at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Our mission is to help educators at all levels, from ele- or the first time in several years, we are exploring a single theme with an issue of the AEMS news- mentary through college, find multimedia resources for letter, building off of our successful South Korean Film Festival last September. The fourth annual learning and teaching about Asia, to promote under- F standing of Asian peoples and cultures. Our free ser- Asian Film Festival hosted by the University of Illinois’s Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies and vices include: AEMS, this three-day event brought together Korea scholars from around the country, the local Korea ■ News and Reviews, published three times a year; studies community and the local ethnic Korean community to view, celebrate and discuss five recent ■ An online database of audiovisual materials; feature films from Korea. For more information about the film festival, please see our website: ■ Reference service; www.aems.uiuc.edu/events/filmfestival. ■ Educator workshops on teaching with film; ■ Lesson plans, streaming video, film South Korean cinema has been experiencing a renaissance in the last ten years or so, alongside recommendations and other web resources; Korean pop culture in general, and Jung Sun Park provides us with a helpful introduction to this phe- ■ A lending library for local educators nomenon, known as hallyu, or “Korean wave.” The three films reviewed in this issue were all screened at Please contact us to be added to the mailing list, or our film festival. We were privileged to host Yoon Jongbin, the director of The Unforgiven, as our hon- for back issues and extra copies of this newsletter. ored guest at this event, and Robert Cagle has provided us with an excerpt of an interview with him. AEMS is funded with generous support from the Freeman Foundation. Also, on our website, you can read Daniel Kim’s report on using The Unforgiven in his undergraduate class on Korean film (www.aems.uiuc.edu/publications/notes/notes.html). Asian Educational Media Service 805 W. Pennsylvania Avenue Two of the other films, both suitable for younger audiences, are reviewed in this issue. Hyunju Park, Urbana, Illinois 61801 USA who presented at our teacher’s workshop, provides a critique of the comedy Please Teach Me English, www.aems.uiuc.edu while Chan E. Park, an expert on Korean folklore, provides an analysis of the animated feature Empress [email protected] Chung. It is unfortunate and unforeseen that the latter film is not yet available on DVD; if you would 1-888-828-AEMS (1-888-828-2367) like to be notified when it becomes available, please drop us a line. Fax: 217-265-0641 We are currently planning our next Asian Film Festival, this time focusing on Southeast Asian popu- Advisory Board lar productions. Lucien Ellington, Editor, Education About Asia; This issue also features the second installment of our “Teaching and Technology” column. Alwyn UC Foundation Professor, University of Tennessee Spies has allowed us to witness a teaching experiment in progress, warts and all, and in this segment at Chattanooga reflects on what worked and what didn’t. I am eagerly in search of more writers for this column; if you Karl G. Heider, Professor of Anthropology, University of South Carolina or someone you know is engaged in a new way to use technology in the Asian studies classroom, Ellen C.K. Johnson, Professor, College of DuPage I would love to hear about it! Laurel Kendall, Curator, Asian Ethnographic Collections, In fact, I encourage submissions and suggestions of all kinds for the AEMS newsletter—accepted American Museum of Natural History; Adjunct year-round—and for our website. We are launching several new features of the website this spring: Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University online-only film reviews; reviews of web resources; and “Notes from the Classroom,” where teachers Gary Mukai, Director, Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) report on how they have used AEMS-reviewed materials in their classes. To stay up to date with AEMS Alwyn Spies, Assistant Professor of Japanese, University services, please subscribe to our new RSS feed. of British Columbia-Okanagan I have had the privilege this year of guest editing the special AEMS Multimedia Section for the spring issue of Education About Asia. This section includes ten film and website reviews, as well as essays University Committee on teaching, representing a diversity of themes. If you do not already subscribe to this extraordinary Nancy Abelmann, Director, Center for East Asian and resource, I encourage you to do so. Subscriptions and single copies of back issues are available at Pacific Studies, and Professor of Anthropology and East Asian Languages and Cultures, UIUC www.aasianst.org/eaa-toc.htm. Jose B. Capino, Assistant Professor, Unit for Finally, please don’t forget to fill out our 3-minute online survey at www.aems.uiuc.edu. We would Cinema Studies, UIUC like to know more about you, our readers and patrons, and what you would like to see from AEMS. Ramona Curry, Associate Professor, English, Cinema With that, I hope you enjoy our special issue on South Korean cinema. As always, I welcome your Studies, and Women’s Studies UIUC feedback! ■ Clark E. Cunningham, Professor Emeritus of —Tanya Lee, Editor Anthropology, UIUC David M. Desser, Director, Cinema Studies and Professor of Speech Communications , UIUC Kimiko Gunji, Director, Japan House, UIUC Jacquetta Hill, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology Distributors in this Issue and Educational Psychology, UIUC Jin-hee Lee, Assistant Professor of History, Eastern Illinois DVD Asian, 13340 E. Firestone Boulevard, Tai Seng Entertainment, 170 S. Spruce University Suite H, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670. Tel: Avenue, Suite 200, South San Francisco, Robert S. Petersen, Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts, 562-921-0581. Fax: 562-921-0582. Website: CA 94080. Tel: 800-888-3836. Website: Eastern Illinois University www.dvdasian.com. www.taiseng.com. Ronald Toby, Professor of History and East Asian Languages and Cultures, UIUC KOAA Films Inc, 5379 Lakeview Canyon YesAsia, Block A & B, 3/F, Wui Wah Road, Westlake Village, CA 91362. Tel: 818- Building, 1035 Yee Kuk West Street, Lai Chi Staff 706-7740. Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Tel: 866-440- Program Director/Editor: Tanya S. Lee 8388. Website: www.yesasia.com. Assistant Program Director: Susan Norris Graduate Student Assistant: Rebecca Nickerson Senior Advisor: David W. Plath

DESIGN: EVELYN C. SHAPIRO What Is Hallyu, the “Korean Wave”?

allyu, or the “Korean Wave,” refers to the approximately 13 million (the with the legacy of authoritarian H increasing popularity of South Korean pop- South Korean population is just times through his experiences ular culture in East/Southeast Asia and beyond. over 48 million). Overall, Korean in the army. Interestingly, this The term originated in China, films have had remarkable critical film’s take on how the army, ESSAY following the overwhelming suc- and commercial success in the past as a powerful, coercive social cess of Korean TV dramas and several years. institution, affects (and dis- pop music in China and Taiwan in the late The recent success of Korean films torts) an individual’s life is 1990s. Since the late 1990s, the transnational cir- is intertwined with the revival of the somewhat different from that culation of South Korean popular culture in East Korean film industry. This revival, of earlier films such as and Southeast Asia has increased rapidly and ironically, began during the 1997 Peppermint Candy become a regional cultural phenomenon. Based economic crisis in Korea with the high (2000) and Silmido on its regional growth, hallyu has also spread to influx of capital to the film industry. At that (2003), which are more other parts of the time, investors overtly and heavily world, including Korea is one of few places that preferred high- charged with political the US, Europe, risk/high-return ideologies and critiques. and South currently produces films with “venture busi- The retelling of a America. While nesses” and the Korean folktale in Empress TV dramas and energy, creativity, and new styles. film industry fit Chung (2003) is related to music initiated this description. the current reinterpretation of the past and tradi- hallyu, films are Along with in- tions in Korean society. Also, the fact that both also one of the phenomenon’s core genres. The creased capital, the arrival of new talent added South and North Korea collaborated in the pro- success of the Korean media products then led to energy and vision to the industry. Unlike the pre- duction of the animation and that it was one of the popularization of Korean fashion styles, food, vious generation of filmmakers who were trained the few large-scale animation features produced cosmetics, and electronic goods in some coun- by apprenticeship, the new generation has been by Koreans in recent years adds political and tries, and hallyu sometimes refers to this broader trained in film school and thus tends to be well- social meaning to it. Yet Empress Chung has not phenomenon. versed in film theory and is knowledgeable about been successful in South Korea due to its Disney- Although in Asia TV dramas are at the center foreign films. This shift has brought a different like drawing style, liberal modifications of the of hallyu, in the West films are what made Korean aesthetic to Korean film. These new filmmakers original story, and an ineffective advertisement pop culture visible. In the past decade or so, are not afraid of crossing borders and borrowing campaign. For comparison, I would recommend a growing number of Korean films have won ideas from different genres such as animation, My Beautiful Girl, Mari (2002) and Oseam awards at various comics, and (2003), which are works by Korean animators prestigious inter- The films that are reviewed in computer who try to create a unique style, one distinct from national film festi- games, resulting both Japanese and American styles, and tell sto- vals and more this newsletter address some of in richer and ries based on Koreans’ lives and traditions. Korean films were more diversified Many film enthusiasts agree that Korea is one shown in the West the central social issues in Korea. storylines that of few places that currently produces films with than ever before, are unique and energy, creativity, and new styles. Contemporary often eliciting crit- refreshing. Korean films deal with a wide range of stories and ical acclaim. The positive international reputation Moreover, the emergence of a new fan base, genres ranging from experimental to commercial of Korean films has drawn Hollywood’s attention both domestic and international, also supported and from historical to science fiction. Regardless as well and resulted in Hollywood’s remake of the growth of the film industry. Fans of Korean of the appearance, filmmakers’ views, interpreta- some (one example is Warner Brothers’ The Lake films are mostly younger generation members tions, and analyses of Korean society are House [2006], a remake of Siworae, or Il Mare, who are familiar with various kinds of visual ingrained in them and that enables us to under- [2000]). Moreover, some Korean films, such as media. They are proactive and participatory con- stand Korea through the lens of film. ■ The Host (2006), were commercially released in sumers, and their high expectations, discerning the U.S. and Europe, indicating the growing pres- eyes, and critiques (especially through Internet Jung-Sun Park is associate professor and coor- ence and influence of Korean movies in the West. postings) have influenced the filmmakers. dinator of the Asian Pacific Studies Program at Besides increasing international recognition, The films that are reviewed in this newsletter California State University at Dominguez Hills. Korean films have also enjoyed tremendous address some of the central social issues in Korea. Her current research focuses on two themes: domestic success—they have had a greater than Please Teach Me English (2003) deals with the transnational flows of South Korean/East Asian 50 to 60% market share at home since 2001, an zeal for learning English as a survival tool in popular culture and the changes in South Korean unusually high figure in this era of Hollywood’s the highly competitive and globalizing Korea. citizenship in the global era. global hegemony. New sales records have been The Unforgiven (2005) illustrates the struggle of made one after another, the latest by The Host, a young Korean man of the generation that grew which by 2006 had attracted an audience of up in the post-democratization era and is faced

www.aems.uiuc.edu 3 SWAT team raids her class and interrogates stu- dents in English. If students answer correctly, they are free. Otherwise, they are arrested by the SWAT team. In Y˘ong-ju’s imagination, English is mapped to the police. Those who do not speak English will be punished by law. The metaphor of English police implies that speaking Korean and not know- ing English is a crime. These feelings of ambivalence toward English need to be negotiated—in this case, through a highly emotional encounter at the film’s climax. It turns out that Mun-su needs to learn English in

COURTESY OF TAI SENG OF TAI COURTESY ENTERTAINMENT order to communicate with his long-lost sister, who was adopted by an American family when she Please Teach Me English was very young. To take her back into her Korean family is to wipe off the shame of past national ■ Directed by Kim Sung-Su. 2003. 118 minutes. poverty. Under these circumstances, therefore, learning English is acceptable because it is a tool eleased as a romantic comedy in 2003, Please There has been strong institutional pressure on to extend Korean identity, symbolize Korean R Teach Me English (Y˘ongo ˘ Wanj˘on J˘ongbok) Koreans to learn English, resulting largely from the economic growth, and develop Korean national- was originally planned as a social black comedy. Korean government’s efforts to integrate Korea ism. Ironically, speaking English, here, reflects The extreme enthusiasm for learning the English into the global economy. The decision to learn Korean national pride. This resolution on the per- language in Korea is good material for comic English is, in many cases, imposed on the individ- sonal level does nothing to address the national satire, but also presents an uncomfortable self-por- ual by the government, companies, and universi- problem, however. trait of Korean society. The film’s ambivalence ties. For instance, in the movie, Y˘ong-ju does not In the end, this film seems to lack a deep criti- toward English is a good subject for debate in decide to learn English of her own accord but cism of Korean society. It starts out with an appar- classes on Korean culture. The central conflict in rather is required to by her boss. ent ambition to criticize the social conflicts that this film centers on a diverse group of Koreans However, the pressure of learning English has the zeal for English intensifies, but resolves them thrown together in a classroom to learn English. consequences. One of those side effects is Koreans’ emotionally. Although this movie lacks incisive Even though it is enjoyable for younger students, emotional resistance to Western lifestyles infused social criticism, it still provides us with a good the self-critical characters make this movie more into Korean society by English-speaking people. illustration of Korea’s linguistic landscape. From appropriate for advanced students. Koreans often consider Western lifestyles to be too this perspective, this film can be a good source for The plot revolves around a couple who meet liberal, especially in terms of sex. In this movie, generating class discussion. each other in an English class in Seoul. The female the blonde English instructor is portrayed as a The film could be shown in a language class lead, Y˘ong-ju (Lee Na-young), an eccentric yet love interest, and the intimidating foreign patron or even a political science class. There could be a cute public officer, is chosen by her supervisor to in the public office makes a pass at Y˘ong-ju. discussion on the frustrations of learning a second learn English after the staff members in her office Native English speakers are also seen as tradition language. Teachers may ask students to think are embarrassed by their inability to communicate breakers. On the first day of Y˘ong-ju’s English about the ambivalence toward English in Korea with an English-speaking patron. She attends a class, the instructor asks students to take English and the attitude of this movie toward English. Is it private institute where she meets Mun-su (Jang names. Y˘ong-ju does not want to have an English just a tentative way of legitimizing English preva- Hyuk), a shoe salesman who seems to be more nickname but the instructor is adamant that she lence in Korea and other countries? Why is there interested in chasing girls than in learning English. have one. such strong resistance by the female character in However, as the movie proceeds, viewers discover Another consequence is more serious: English the movie? Teachers might also lead discussions on Mun-su’s motivation for taking English lessons. divides Korean society. First, it divides Koreans the concepts of imperialism and nationalism. ■ The movie offers social criticism on how into two groups—the young Korean-English English is used in South Korean society. The pre- bilingual and the old Korean monolingual. In one Hyunju Park received her Ph.D in Linguistics vailing sentiment throughout the film is Koreans’ scene, a child who visits Y˘ong-ju’s public office from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign self-deprecation around English language learning. teases her in fluent English because her English in 2006. Now she works in South Korea as a lec- Throughout the film, many of the characters speak is clearly broken. Second, English exacerbates turer and translator. very broken and ungrammatical English, and the class stratification in Korea. As long as knowledge is available on DVD main characters are aware of their deficiencies, of the English language is a requirement for uni- Please Teach Me English from Tai Seng Entertainment. Price is $11.96 for poking fun at their own broken English. versity exams and hiring, English speakers are at purchase. A second prevalent image in the film is the an advantage. presence of English everywhere. English is ever- As a result, Korean speakers inevitably have an Additional Resources present in Korean lives even though many Koreans internal conflict. They know English is important Video of Hyunju Park’s presentation at the AEMS lack basic proficiency in English. English brand as a global language, so it is necessary to learn Educator Workshop “Teaching Korea Through names and signs are easily observed on Korean basic English. Nevertheless, Koreans feel that Film”: www.aems.uiuc.edu/events/educator_ streets. English is not only a medium for interna- English is foreign and painful to learn and are events/workshop.html. tional communication but also a language for local therefore somewhat resistant to it. In the movie, lifestyles. Y˘ong-ju has a dream in which an English-speaking

4 www.aems.uiuc.edu Empress Chung from the tale’s timeless climax. In the original tale, as soon as Shim’s name is announced, several offi- ■ Directed by Nelson Shin. 2005. 95 minutes. cers rush him into the inner palace where the empress-designate has been anxiously awaiting the elling a folktale is like tion of North and South news of her father’s arrival. Fearful that the invita- T lighting a timeless torch Korea. The events of the tion was a setup to arrest him for “selling my that illuminates the past as first half of the film—with an daughter to the sailors,” he tearfully begs her to well as the present and added political conspiracy spare his life. Choking with emotion, Shim future; could there be a pre- leading to the collapse of the Ch’˘ong bolts from her throne, breaks open the sent or future without a look Shim family, Shim’s loss of coral screen, dashes down the aisle in stockinged at the past? Storytelling, sight, and general hardship feet, and embraces him while crying, “Father!” The especially of times and places and sacrifice—symbolize film version fails to do justice to this electrifying different from our own, chal- Korea’s suffering after invasion moment of recognition so powerful it flushes out lenges us to locate elements and division by outsiders. the negative elements in his system that had both familiar and unfamiliar. Shim Ch’˘ong’s resuscitation obstructed his vision; his recovery is somewhat Nelson Shin’s animated and royal betrothal represent more perfunctory in the film. feature, Empress Chung the promise of Korea’s eventu- On the other hand, the film successfully (Wanghu Shimch’˘ong), is al survival and success. The humanizes the saintly Shim Ch’˘ong as flesh and one such telling of the story father-daughter reunion repre- blood: she is a tomboy with great physical prowess of Shim Ch’˘ong, the quintes- sents the unified country, and that no boy in the village neighborhood dares mess with, and she is a teenager enjoying the amorous sential signifier of Korean KOAA FILMS the restoration of Shim’s sight daughterhood. and title at the end can be gazes of scholarly boys struck by her beauty. According to the traditional tale, Shim read as the restoration of national sovereignty and Particularly reassuring is the loving kinship she Ch’˘ong’s mother dies at her daughter’s birth, leav- peace at last. shares with her three pets, Gahi the talking Goose, ing the baby to survive in care of her blind father. Empress Chung also plays well for viewers less T’˘obong the Turtle who brings her back from the Nursed by the kind ladies of the village, Ch’˘ong familiar with Korean cultural and political cli- bottom of the sea, and Danch’u the Dog who grows into a beautiful, loving, and gifted girl. mates. Director Shin attempts a softer landing for faithfully cares for Shim during her prolonged When she is fifteen, Shim Ch’˘ong sells her life to a elements of the story more culturally remote (such absence. Animating the invisible and subtle work- group of merchant sailors for three hundred bags as extreme filial devotion) by balancing the sorrow- ings of heaven guiding her through life, death, and of rice to be sacrificed to a sea monster so her ful with Disney-like farce, and lifting folkloric resurrection should require ingenuity, and the fel- father can regain his sight by the grace of Buddha. ordinariness to legendary heights. lowship of these allegorical characters works magic. Heaven intervenes and she is resurrected to live the Some alterations are enhancing, and some, The film’s incorporation of indigenous sights and rest of her life as empress, and her father’s sight is problematic. For example, the more familiar ver- sounds of Korean village, marketplace, palace, restored through the surprise and joy of their even- sion of Shim is as an ordinary gentleman gradually music, and ritual into the narrative flow is a stun- tual reunion. Her heavenly virtue is hallowed in having lost all vision at age twenty and so clueless ning success. various forms of storytelling including stage and as to pledge a fortune to a temple for a promise of I am neither equipped nor inclined to evaluate film remakes, and the efficacy of her incarnation is eyesight restoration. As a way of raising the sum the film’s incorporation of the latest animation timelessly invoked in the rituals of healing and her father pledged, Shim Ch’˘ong sells herself as technology, but from a storyteller point of view, blessing in coastal fishing villages, where the sea’s human sacrifice. In the film, both his position and Empress Chung is a rare tool for not only teaching temperament dictates human life and death. his person are consecrated to heroic proportion so about Korea but also for providing quality cross- Filial piety is not an exclusive property of that he is not to be blamed for the drowning death cultural education in arts and humanities. ■ Korea or other Confucian societies. It is for her of his daughter. father that Beauty ventures into Beast’s lair, after She returns to life to become empress-designate; Chan E. Park is associate professor of Korean all, and Cinderella’s tolerance of her stepmother or the court holds a royal banquet for the blind as a Language, Literature, and Performance at Ohio Hansel and Gretel’s acceptance of their heartless way to help find her father, and on the last day State University. She is the author of Voices from father resemble filiality, but Shim Ch’˘ong’s self- Shim arrives at the banquet. Here again, the story’s the Straw Mat: Toward an Ethnography of Korean sacrifice is more extreme. flow is altered in the film: when he hears the news Story Singing (University of Hawaii Press, 2003). Acclaimed as the first technical and artistic col- of a mysterious lotus girl from the sea capturing Empress Chung is not yet commercially avail- laboration between the two Koreas, the film was the crown prince’s heart and thereby attracting able. Inquiries may be made to KOAA Films, Inc. released on August 12, 2005, in the South and just vengeful intrigues upon her person, he somehow three days later in the North, exactly sixty years feels it could be his daughter and, fearful for her Additional Resources after Korea’s independence from Japan. The film’s safety, hurries toward the capital. This deviation Video of a presentation on Empress Chung by collaborative path from production to simultane- from the original story is a directorial reinterpreta- Professor Heinz Insu Fenkl, given at the AEMS ous release in both Koreas is a symbolic reunifica- tion of Shim’s original character. We see that even Educator Workshop “Teaching Korea Through tion at the hearth of one storyteller, after sixty as a person with a disability, Mr. Shim’s aristocratic Film”: www.aems.uiuc.edu/events/educator_ years of playing ideological opposites. disposition simply would not accept “soup-line events/workshop.html. A metaphorical masterpiece, the film Empress charity” for the disabled unless there is a com- Professor Fenkl’s own retelling of the Shim Ch’˘ong Chung recasts the old story as an allegory of pelling and righteous reason. story, with a critical essay: www.geocities.com/ Korea’s dream-come-true, the political reunifica- Unfortunately, this reinterpretation detracts ifenkl/koreanfolktales.html.

www.aems.uiuc.edu 5 TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING

Multimedia Telecollaboration in a Beginning Japanese Language Class: Part II

Editor’s Note: This is the second Further supporting this finding, while Macintosh PowerPoint has the “save as a installment of our report on an in the official university course eval- movie” function, only the very latest versions of experimental classroom project. uations one student wrote that the Windows do, so most students couldn’t easily use Last fall, Alwyn Spies piloted a col- projects took too much time away this option. laborative, Internet-based project from “learning Japanese.” Although between two classes of beginning it was clear to me that students were Ideas for Future Implementation Japanese, one in Canada and one in learning communication skills in In the future, I would like to build telecollabora- South Korea. Hoping to encourage Japanese, if you have never gone to tion into a series of courses that permits a slower the students to use their Japanese Japan or actually lived in an immer- linguistic and technological progression from language skills to communicate sion situation, learning to feel simple email or photo blog exchanges to audio directly with one another, in a situation where “tone” as they were might not seem useful. For storytelling and then on to bigger multimedia using their native language was not an option, example, students learned that the use of a strong collaboration projects. This might allow more time Spies and her counterpart in Korea, Ohnishi imperative with a peer is counter-productive and to learn software that has actually been designed Hitoshi, devised a series of audiovisual assignments made them get angry and refuse to do what you for internet use, such as Flash animation, instead for the students to create in cross-cultural teams told them to. The textbook explains that the “shi- of PowerPoint. using Microsoft PowerPoint. Please see the Winter nasai” pattern means “do this,” but it does not Most importantly, since developing social and 2007 issue of AEMS News and Reviews for Spies’s explain the social effect of misuse or explain how intercultural communication skills is the point of detailed description of the project. Here, she patronizing it sounds. In other words, what I saw the exercise, more time spent promoting group evaluates the results of this experiment and offers as “progress through process” was for some stu- bonding so that students have a sense of respon- suggestions for others who may want to try some- dents perceived as a waste of time if their defini- sibility to their e-groupmates is necessary. thing similar. tion of “learning Japanese” was memorizing the Furthermore, the projects should be pass/fail textbook content, or “progress through mastery.” (rather than given a numerical grade) to make sure ow that the students’ collaborative projects students understand that the process is the goal, N are finished, the grading is done, and the Technological Issues and that they should use language their group- students’ course evaluations have been returned On a more practical level, we found that the mates can understand, rather than using a big to me, I can evaluate the effectiveness of our emphasis on PowerPoint visuals killed the speaking vocabulary to impress the teacher. telecollaboration. Despite the time and effort and listening. Students relied on images and wrote involved, I think it was worth it. There is some- everything out on the slides so that no one needed Conclusions thing wonderfully refreshing about disrupting the to listen to the narration. Since one of the major While we can’t do away with memorization and sanitized order of the classroom. And, I have to goals for the projects was improving pronunciation textbooks, there is a need for teaching the skills admit, I love the irony of broadband technology and listening skills, we ended up abandoning necessary to bridge the gap between the classroom (often villainized as dehumanizing and alienating) PowerPoint altogether for the third project and and the street. Because the results from this experi- operating as the catalyst for all this organic human changed the assignment to a sound-only “story- ment suggest that teaching with broadband tech- interaction. telling” exercise. It was easier, more fun, took less nology and online collaboration may facilitate the time, and ended up being a lot more productive. development of language and social skills necessary Theoretical Musings There were also problems recording narration. for function in a second-language environment, it The most important result of this teaching experi- There are two choices for saving sound in is being followed by a larger action research project ment was finding that higher test scores did not PowerPoint: one embeds the files into the docu- to evaluate this kind of telecollaboration in lan- correlate with successful collaboration or better ment, and the other just makes links to the files guage classes. If anyone is interested in participat- media products. This may show that students with on the user’s computer. If students chose the link ing in an action research team, knows of such different learning styles or more practical concepts option by mistake (a fifty-fifty chance!), they research already being done somewhere, or wants of language learning were given a chance to prove ended up sending the document without the more details about the projects, please e-mail me strengths that a more traditional curriculum dis- sound files. The group would then miss their alwyn.spies AT ubc.ca. ■ courages. I have long suspected that university lan- deadline because they had sent the document at guage classes weed out the kinds of students who the last minute, not allowing time to fix the mis- Alwyn Spies is assistant professor of Japanese in have the creative social and cultural skills necessary take. The two groups in this case blamed each the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at the for second-language competence because of their other and took the mishap as “proof” of some University of British Columbia-Okanagan. She focus on assessment. Despite the need to memo- kind of cultural personality defect, unfortunately. received her Ph.D. in Asian Studies from UBC- rize the verb conjugations, real-life communication This problem could have been avoided by using Vancouver in 2003, writing a dissertation on requires much more ingenuity, flexibility, good the “save as movie” function where PowerPoint Japanese pop culture. She has worked and studied faith, and non-verbal observation than can ever be finds the sound files and turns the slideshow for ten years in Japan. measured on a paper test. into a movie that runs by itself. Unfortunately,

6 www.aems.uiuc.edu A Conversation with Director Yoon Jong-bin RLC: In the US and in COLLEEN COOK n October of 2005, first-time director Yoon One has the feeling that Europe, there’s the myth I Jong-bin became an overnight sensation at this is what life is really of the happy ending. In South Korea’s Tenth Annual Pusan International like in the US—this isn’t Korea, this isn’t the case. Film Festival (PIFF), one just some superficial rep- There’s always the fanta- INTERVIEW of the premier film festi- resentation. He focuses sy that after the end of vals in Asia. Yoon’s film, more on characters than the film that things will The Unforgiven, which the young director made as on mere action or story get better, whereas in his senior project in film school, was the most details. I also like Woody Korean films, there’s a sense of finality that cannot talked-about feature film at the 2005 festival. Allen and Eric Rohmer. I also like Mikio Naruse. be reconciled. Not only does the film dare to tackle the formerly RLC: I was impressed by all of the glowing reviews taboo subject of mandatory military service in YJB: I think it’s simply because Koreans have from last year’s Pusan International Film Festival South Korea, but it does so in such a way that always had very hard lives. I think that as a creator, about The Unforgiven. It was characterized as an avoids seeming one-sided or preachy. The film the theme of breakdown in communication is the independent film, but when I watched the film I was widely praised by critics for its no-nonsense kind of thing where you can maximize the dra- was very surprised, because somewhere in my approach to telling its story and for the young matic potential of a scene. So, if it is really true mind I had an idea of what an indie film should actors (Ha Jung-woo, who has since become a that this theme of miscommunication is really be like. But when I saw your film I was struck by new darling of South Korean cinema; Suh Jang- salient in Korean films, it is most likely because the fact that the opening sequence has such high won; and Director Yoon himself, in a particularly creators in Korea have unconsciously reacted to production values. Was it difficult to create such a thankless role as the hapless victim of pranks and their past where they were not able to resist film within such strict budgetary constraints? mistreatment) who portrayed the three main char- things—due to forces that were imposed on them. acters were singled out for providing a startling YJB: The reason the image was so clear is that RLC: Although some critics resist the idea that realism to the work. I was shooting han (a combination of regret and contempt) is a Yoon was seen In Korean film there are no the film with a motivating factor in the popularity of melodrama (rightly so) as a dar- digital camera. as a prevalent mode of representation in Korea, it ing young talent heroic characters. The kind of Although, when truly seems to be undeniably the case. It’s almost with great promise. I was shooting as if these critics want to disavow the existence of Director Yoon heroic character that Korean this film I did such an emotion, however, it is not so much the was the guest of feel the limita- idea that it actually exists, but that people believe honor at the 2006 people would fall for is the person tions of using a it exists that is important. Do you agree? EAPS/AEMS Asian digital camera Film Festival here in who always tries to achieve some- because YJB: In Korean film there are no heroic characters. Champaign, Illinois, I didn’t like the This is mainly because when Korean audiences see where, after a stand- thing, but ultimately fails. colors of the a film with a hero they have difficulty identifying ing-room-only image as shot with that character. The kind of heroic character screening of his film, with digital. that Korean people would fall for is the kind of he graciously discussed the work with the crowd. There were a lot of things I was unable to shoot person who always tries to achieve something, but Yoon also spoke at length with me, one of the because of budgetary constraints. There were days, ultimately fails. Superman, for example, is not organizers of the event, about his work and Korean too, where I had to change the script at the last popular in Korea. I think it’s because we don’t fall cinema in general. Kim Jin-hong of the University moment—right before shooting. So when I watch for that kind of heroic character. We’d rather fall of Illinois and Shin Jee-young of Indiana the movie over and over again it breaks my heart for outsider characters, like Batman or X-men— University provided much appreciated assistance as because I think of what I wanted to show, and I the kind of hero that starts out having nothing ■ interpreters. What follows is a brief excerpt of our think of the scenes I was unable to shoot. and then achieves something on his own. interview. RLC: What was especially interesting to me was Robert Cagle is the Library Cinema Studies RLC: Who are some of your favorite directors and the fact that it shared a certain quality with a lot of Specialist and an assistant professor of Cinema what are some of your favorite films? What works other Korean films and dramas—the inability for Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana- were formative to your development as a director? characters to communicate with one another, and the element of time. When people finally do find Champaign. He is currently writing a book on YJB: Martin Scorsese’s films have been very impor- the means to communicate with one another, it Korean cinema. tant to me. happens too late. Why do you think this is such a Additional Resources RLC:(Laughs) What is it about Scorsese? All popular theme in Korean culture and what moti- Video of Yoon Jong-bin’s question and answer Koreans seem to love this guy. vated you to include it in your film? session following the screening of his film on September 29, 2006, in Champaign, Illinois: YJB: When I see his films, the impression I get is YJB: I think that the breakdown in communica- www.aems.uiuc.edu/events/film_discussions/ that he’s not only superb in expressing stylistic tion is a theme that’s common, not only in Korean unforgiven.html. things, but also the depth of characters, objects. film, but also in European film, too. He shows a real depth to objects and characters.

www.aems.uiuc.edu 7 Asian Educational Media Service Non-Profit Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies Organization University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign U.S. Postage 805 West Pennsylvania Avenue, MC-025 PAID Urbana, Illinois 61801 Permit No. 75 www.aems.uiuc.edu Champaign, IL

The Unforgiven to talk back and mess around with your superior.” continued from page 1 Narrated from the perspectives of young Seungsook Moon is associate professor of Korean men who served in the military as Sociology and director of the Asian Studies verbal abuses and physical beatings, are employed conscripts, this film can be a useful resource for Program at Vassar College. She is the author of by the group of superiors. To survive in this courses on social change, culture, and gender in Militarized Modernity and Gendered Citizenship in culture and avoid brutal beatings and harassments, contemporary Korea. Teachers might focus on the South Korea (Duke University Press, 2005) and is all subordinates have to obey the following rules: role of military service in constructing masculinity currently editing a volume entitled Gender and (1) do only what they are told to do, (2) answer and femininity. While the film’s depiction of Sexuality in the Global U.S. Military Empire. only when they are asked, and (3) do not talk women is only cursory, it allows for the explo- The Unforgiven is available on VCD and DVD. back to their superiors under any circumstances. ration of what sort of femininity is required to sus- YesAsia offers the VCD for $11.99 for purchase. These rules are intended to deprive human beings tain the specific version of militarized masculinity DVD Asian has the Region 3 DVD for purchase of their ability to think and talk. Repeatedly pun- that Korean men acquire through the repression for $28.95. ished with beating, harassment, and shouting, and denial of physical and psychological violence Suggested Reading subordinates are remolded into unthinking and during their military service. Teachers also might Moon, Seungsook. 2005. “Trouble with obedient bodies. At one point in the film, T’ae- want to discuss the uneven burden of military ser- Conscription, Entertaining Soldiers: Popular j˘ong tells S˘ung-Y˘ong that “What is good is to be vice borne by lower-class men both in Korea and Culture and the Politics of Militarized obedient.” Obedience is the core moral value in the United States despite the obvious differences Masculinity in South Korea.” Men and the warped universe of the military barracks. The between systems of mandatory conscription and Masculinities, Vol. 8, No. 1, 64–92. pervasiveness of physical domination in the bar- “all-volunteer” military service. This attention to racks blurs the boundary between physical punish- commonality will enable teachers to avoid repro- Additional Resources ment or “play” on the one hand and sexual ducing the logic that foreign cultures are funda- Video of Seungsook Moon’s presentation at the harassment on the other hand. Yet a subordinate mentally different or, in this case, somehow AEMS Educator Workshop “Teaching Korea is not supposed to resist this kind of behavior barbaric in comparison to American culture. ■ Through Film”: www.aems.uiuc.edu/events/ because, as T’ae-j˘ong says, “It’s absolutely a taboo educator_events/workshop.html.