Korean Films 6 Days A Year example essay topic

A Short History of Korean Film 1903-1945: Korea Under Japanese Rule 1903 -- First public screening of a film in Korea. 1910 -- Korea is formally annexed by Japan. 1919 -- First film, a kino drama (play with motion picture inserts) named Uirijeok Guru. 1923 -- First silent film, Plighted Love Under the Moon directed by Yun Back-nam. 1926 -- Ari rang by Na Un-Kyu.

1935 -- First sound film, Ch'-jon directed by Lee Myung-woo. 1937 -- Japan invades China; the Korean film industry is converted into a propaganda machine. 1945-19551945 -- Japan surrenders to the Allied Forces; Korea regains independence, but is soon divided in two. 1949 -- Korea's first color film, The Women's Diary by Hong Sung-gi. 1950 -- War starts on the Korean Peninsula. 1953 -- Cease-fire agreement signed at P'.

1955-1969: A Golden Age for Korean Cinema 1960 -- The Housemaid, directed by Kim Ki-young. 1961 -- Obaltan, (pictured left) directed by Yu Hyun-mom. 1961 -- The House guest and My Mother, directed by Shin Sang-ok. The 1970's 1973 -- Establishment of Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corporation (KMP PC). 1974 -- Establishment of Korean Film Archive. 1979 -- Military dictator Park Chung-Hee is assassinated.

1980-19921980 -- Kwangju Massacre. 1981 -- Mandala, directed by Im Kwon-talk. 1988 -- Hollywood studios granted direct distribution rights in Korea. 1992-19991992 -- Marriage Story is the first film produced by member of the. 1993 -- Democratically-elected government led by Kim Young-sam succeeds military dictatorship.

1993 -- Sopyonje, directed by Im Kwon-talk. 1997 -- Opening of Seoul Cinema Complex inKyonggi-do. 1999 -- Shiri, directed by Kang Jae-Gnu, becomes best-selling film ever. History of the Korean screen quota-Introduced in 1966 but took effect in 1993-In 1993 the Korean government allowed Hollywood films to be distributed directly by meeting most of the demands of US-Korean film negotiations that had taken place in 1985 and 1988. -Given no governmental support, the market share of Korean films amounted to only 15% at that time. -Korean movie theaters were compelled to run their own movies 146 days a year before 1993 but in reality many theaters were only running Korean films 6 days a year while Hollywood films were run the rest of the year.

-After 1993 the "Screen Quota Watchers" and the screen quota system keep track of the days that Korean films are played and enforce the laws that are in effect. The Legal System-Movie promotion law required a screen to run Korean films 40% of the time or 146 days a year but after a couple of regulations that lessened the quotas effect the number has been reduced to 106 days a year or 29.4%. Pressure from the US and the Screen Quota Conflict-When the screen quota was revived, there was consistent pressure from the US to get rid of the screen quota. -In 1998 the US tried to negotiate the signing of the BIT or Bilateral Investment Treaty. Washington demand the reduction of the screen quota, claiming that the BIT did not allow one country to enforce the use of a countries own goods and services. -At first Korea met the US demands but after protest by the Korean film community and support by Korean civic groups as well as the public, the Korean government withdrew its decision to cut the screen quota.

-The quota has been hard to keep as it faces another crisis as the economy of Korea is struggling and some economic officials feel that going back to the BIT and trading with the US on a large scale. Censorship in Korean cinema. In 1995 the formal government censorship of films was ruled unconstitutional. The Media Ratings Board was created in order to classify films, video games and other media. Films are classified according to what age they are deemed appropriate for. There is a general rating for all audiences as well as ratings for ages 12+, 15+, and 18+.

This means that only if you are that age or older may you enter the theater. It doesn't matter if you have an older adult accompanying you or not as is the case here in the U.S. There has been pressure in the past to change the 18+ category to 19+ so that it may coincide with the legal age of adulthood in Korea. This hasn't been very popular so this became a movement to add a restricted category to the list. Restricted means the films can only be shown at adult movie theaters. The system for counting age here is different than in Korea.

Babies there are considered to be one year old at birth and people become one year older on the first day of the new year rather than one's day of birth. Therefore if we subtract one year from the ratings age we would can compare them with the ratings system we have here. Perhaps not surprisingly, the biggest issue that the ratings board has to face deals with sexual content. Full frontal nudity of men or women is not allowed unless it is blurred out.

The ratings board cannot cut or ban films on its own but it can use its influence to pressure film companies to change or cut scenes that it feels are inappropriate. There have been several films that were denied ratings in order to force the filmmakers to change the films and reapply for a rating some months later. For example, in 2002 there was controversy when the movie "Too Young to Die" was released. It was a fictional movie about a real life couple in their 70's who meet and rediscover sex.

After some press coverage small protests, the film was resubmitted and the ratings board gave it an 18+ after darkening some of the sex scenes. Historically Korea has made great progress in eliminating governmental censorship in filmmaking. The political changes that helped South Korea evolve from a military dictatorship into a democracy have had a huge impact on this trend. However the greatest threat of censorship comes not from any agency but the pressure to be successful economically may encourage filmmakers to self-censor. To learn more about Korean film go to: The history of Korean film: web quota at Coalition for Cultural Diversity in Moving Images (CDM I): web Media Ratings Web page: web i. asp#.