Disrupting Heritage Cinema: the Historical Films of South Korea
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Disrupting Heritage Cinema: The Historical Films of South Korea Louisa Jo Mitchell Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Languages, Cultures and Societies Centre for World Cinemas and Digital Cultures September 2018 i The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Louisa Jo Mitchell to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2018 The University of Leeds and Louisa Jo Mitchell ii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without backing from the White Rose College of Arts & Humanities. Their doctoral training programme and financial support have provided me with opportunities beyond my expectations and I am truly thankful for the studentship. I sincerely thank my supervisor Professor Paul Cooke for his unwavering support throughout all my years of postgraduate study and for keeping me going through the rough periods. I also offer my thanks to my secondary supervisor, Dr Irena Hayter, who provided help at key moments during this long process. I am grateful to everyone I have met over the years who have offered me their guidance, knowledge, and advice. I would particularly like to thank Professor Mette Hjort for hosting me during my time at Lingnan University, Hong Kong, and Dr Yun Mi Hwang for meeting with me in Seoul. I must also thank my family for their endless patience, especially my parents who have been my backbone throughout this project. Lastly, a big thank you to all my friends, both old and new, who have sustained me over the years. I am especially indebted to Amy Calvert, Michael Samuel, Lauren Stephenson and Jack Thorpe for all the laughter, sympathy and encouragement you have always provided. This work was supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (grant number AH/L503848/1) through the White Rose College of the Arts & Humanities. iii Abstract This thesis explores the revival of historical filmmaking in South Korean cinema. While the success of the domestic film industry over the past twenty years has been considered a second renaissance for Korean cinema, there has been little detailed engagement with the full diversity of films that have been made. Particularly, this thesis looks at the way this renaissance has seen a rediscovery of the Korean period drama. Known as sageuk in Korean, the genre has seen an unprecedented boom since the beginning of the twenty-first century. In my analysis, I draw out parallels between recent sageuk productions and the so- called ‘heritage film’. My project aims to disrupt established ideas of heritage cinema, for instance cultural anxieties and the construction of a national identity, by examining recent shifts and hybridisation of the historical genre in South Korean film. I focus on the postmodern representation of a premodern past and explore issues of authenticity and nostalgia in the depiction of the Joseon period (1392-1897). The introduction provides the contextual basis for my research. Here I explore the history of the genre in conjunction within the context of Korean cinema. In the chapters that follow, I explore the recent development of the sageuk genre through close analysis of four successful and influential period films released between 2003 and 2014: Untold Scandal, Jeon Woo Chi, Masquerade, and The Admiral: Roaring Currents. My analysis looks at the changes to generic conventions and the impact of the Korean blockbuster phenomenon on the nation’s historical representation. In so doing, I show how the contemporary form has been shaped by Korea’s experience of the twentieth century, the changing use of traditional culture in neoliberal society, and the influence of global cinematic developments. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments ii Abstract iii Table of Contents iv List of Illustrations v A Note on Korean Names and Resources vi INTRODUCTION 1 A Brief History of Korean Cinema 12 The Sageuk Film in Korean Cinema 24 Defining History, Defining Heritage 33 Post/Heritage, Post/Modernism, Post/Colonialism 42 Conclusion 56 CHAPTER ONE: Reviving a Forgotten Genre for a New Era 60 Intercultural Heritage and Untold Scandal 67 Untold Scandal and Hallyu 82 Conclusion 94 CHAPTER TWO: The Past as Fantasy: Playing with Folklore and Form 96 Jeon Woo Chi and Folkloric Adaptation 102 Jeon Woo Chi and Digital Cinema 120 Conclusion 133 CHAPTER THREE: Reimagining Kings: The Rise of the Factional Trend 135 Masquerade and the Factional Narrative 141 Masquerade and (In)Authentic Aesthetics 158 Conclusion 174 CHAPTER FOUR: Making (Cinematic) History with the Blockbuster Sageuk 176 The History behind Yi Sun Shin 182 Nationalism and The Admiral 188 The Admiral as Blockbuster 202 Conclusion 220 CONCLUSION 223 Bibliography 229 Filmography 239 v List of Illustrations Figure 1 The Chunhyangjeon adaptation marks the advent of CinemaScope 29 Figure 2 1960s sageuk made use of new colour technology to showcase exuberant 29 costumes… Figure 3 …and widescreen formats to display panoramic shots of the Korean 30 landscape Figure 4 Merteuil’s elaborate dressing ritual 71 Figure 5 Madame Cho’s similarly fetishized dressing sequence 71 Figure 6 Lee Mi Sook’s appearance at the end of the film… 86 Figure 7 …drew comparisons with a former character, Chun Ja, in Whale Hunting 86 Figures 8 & 9 The rabbit and rat zodiac guardians of traditional imagery 106 Figure 10 The rabbit goblin 107 Figure 11 The rat goblin 107 Figure 12 An Gyeon’s Dream Journey to Peach Blossom Spring 110 Figure 13 The Master’s hermitage in a fantasised landscape 110 Figure 14 CGI lens flare obscuring Woo Chi’s descent as the Jade Emperor 129 Figure 15 The first image in the film, that of the royal palace 160 Figure 16 The first appearance of the King is distant and obscured 160 Figure 17 Lee Byung Hun as Gwanghae or Ha Seon? 161 Figure 18 Ha Seon framed by a backdrop of the palace’s dancheong 166 Figure 19 The symmetry of the retainers, from Ha Seon’s point of view 166 Figure 20 Asymmetry starts by dividing the screen, raising Ha Seon above his court 167 Figure 21 The frame’s shifted angle emphasises the disorder of the scene 167 Figure 22 A poster for the film, emphasising the dual role of Lee Byung Hun 172 Figure 23 The turtle ship obscured by builders… 190 Figure 24 …destroyed by fire… 190 Figure 25 …and its re-emergence in battle 191 Figure 26 A close up shot of murdered soldiers 205 Figure 27 A larger shot, showing men waiting to be killed 205 Figure 28 A wide shot, revealing the scale of brutality 206 Figure 29 The Scale of Japan’s resources on full display 217 Figure 30 The resource-stricken Korean navy is shown in a more compact frame 217 Figure 31 The Korean fleet takes up a small amount of the frame 218 Figure 32 In comparison, the Japanese fleet dominates the frame 218 vi A Note on Korean Names and Resources This thesis is presented using MHRA style for the footnote referencing and the bibliography. Throughout the thesis, ‘Korea’ is used to refer to South Korea or The Republic of Korea, unless stated otherwise. Korean terms are presented according to the Revised Romanisation of Korean (RR), the preferred system of romanisation in South Korea since its adoption in 2000. Due to the number of romanisation systems in common use, aberrations contribute to a wide variety of English spelling available for Korean words. I have transcribed some terms to follow the RR system for consistency, and as such any errors made are my own. Korean names are written with the family name first and given name second, unhyphenated. Exceptions regarding name order and spacing are made when referring to royalty, as is customary with Korean temple names (eg. King Seonjo), and for people who have been credited with preferred stylisations (eg. Jinhee Choi, instead of Choi Jin Hee). Romanisation of names varies, as despite the official romanisation systems in place, the transcription of personal names is generally down to individual preference (eg. E J Yong, instead of Lee Jae Yong). All films are referred to by their English titles. Exceptions are made for films that are referred to in English with their original untranslated Korean title (eg. Swiri and Chihwaseon). Since the translation of titles sometimes varies, I use the Korean Film Archive’s Korean Movie Database as my source for preferred titles. 1 INTRODUCTION In the late fifteen century, two acrobatic clowns perform farcical skits about their tyrannical king, earning them fame amongst society aristocrats. Soon they perform in front of the king himself, who obsesses over one of the clowns, turning him into an object of fascination in the royal court. In 1616, a controversial king is suddenly taken ill from a suspected poisoning. Instead of letting the court fall into chaos, an identical body double is hired to secretly take his place until he recovers, only to discover the replacement is a better ruler than the real monarch. In 1597, naval attacks between Korean and Japanese forces result in an uneven standoff. Led by a courageous but weary commander, the depleted Korean fleet enters a battle against hundreds of Japanese ships. These descriptions are taken from three of the most successful Korean films of all time: King and the Clown (Lee Joon Ik, 2005), Masquerade (Choo Chang Min, 2012), and The Admiral: Roaring Currents (Kim Han Min, 2014) all three of which are productions set within Korea’s Joseon era of 1392 to 1897.1 King and the Clown was a domestic and Asia- wide phenomenon, and for two years was the most successful film at the Korean box office.