Korean Cinema and Hollywood

Sungji Oh (kollvitz@hotmail.com)

[ABSTRACT] Hollywood films dominate the world's screens and more non-Hollywood films imitate the Hollywood conventions. Korean cinema is largely impacted by both film style and industrial aspects of Hollywood. In this study, Korean cinema was observed at the textual level and industrial level along with Hollywood¡¯s influence on Korean cinema. Also Korean national cinema as against Hollywood was studied. First, a brief history of Korean early cinema was reviewed. Second, the period of the ¡®new wave¡¯ of Korean cinema was discussed by way of historical analysis. And forty-six box-office hit films during the specific period (1986-1996) were analyzed in terms of similarity to Hollywood filmic conventions. Study revealed the text of Korean cinema is similar to Hollywood's in as much as the Korean film market is dominated by Hollywood. Finally where Korean national cinema stands in the present was discussed.

In 1921 English writer Arthur Wergall noted, ¡°gradually the world, from end to end, is being trained to see life as it is seen by a certain group of kinema [movie] producers and writers congregated in a corner of the United States. The world is being Americanized by the photoplay¡± (Jowett & Linton, 1980). In 1998 when almost eighty years have passed, Wergall's note is still valid. Although many countries try to impose quotas on American movies, or to force an agreed-upon rate of movie exchanges to protect their own movies, Hollywood still dominates the world¡¯s cinema screens, especially those of the third world where technology and capital for film-making are very low. In spite of the continuous penetration of Hollywood, national films of the third world have surprisingly grown, however. Especially Asian films, Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong, have become distinguished, won the first prize of the major international film festivals, and are even called the alternative for cinema drained of its amazement and novelty for the audience (Hamilton, 1998; Havis,1998; Pena, 1998).

Korean cinema has steadily grown in both domestic and international film markets since the late 80s. Several works of Korean filmmakers, such as Im Kwon-taek, Park Kwang-su, and Bae Yong-kyun, are internationally noticed for their unique image and style which are peculiar to Korea. However, Hollywood films still dominate Korean audiences. The number of Korean films made in the 1980s averaged 90 per year, dropped to 65 films per year in 1994 and 1995, while the number of films imported reached 382 in 1994, and 358 in 1995, a fifteen-fold increase during the ten years after the Korean film market was liberalized (Yi, Lee & Kim, 1996). Competing with the Hollywood blockbusters, Korean filmmakers tended to imitate the Hollywood entertainment formula. Instead of films oriented by national themes and styles, commercial films mimicked the Hollywood style hits at the Korean box office. Meanwhile struggles against the direct distribution of US films to Korea and debates of the Screen Quota system are continued among critics, scholars and a few filmmakers in order to protect and raise the Korean national cinema (Hong, 1997; Jo, 1991; Lee, 1996). Basically, the goal of this paper is to examine where the Korean national cinema stands and where it is going in the future, observing the situation of Korean cinema. Examining the present and the future of Korean national cinema cannot be separated from looking over its relations with Hollywood since Korean cinema has been impacted enormously. Thus, in this paper, Korean cinema is analyzed with the study of how Hollywood affects Korean cinema in a certain period.

Wimal Dissanayake suggests that national cinema would be analyzed at two interrelated levels: the textual and the industrial (Dissanayake, 1994). The textual level involves a focus upon the distinctiveness of a given cinema in terms of content, style, and indigenous aesthetics. The industrial level involves a focus upon the relationship between cinema and industry, the nature of film production, distribution and consumption, and the ways in which the ever-present threats from Hollywood are met (Dissanayake, 1998). Following this method, Korean cinema and its relations with Hollywood are analyzed first of all in terms of content, style, and aesthetics and then in terms of industry, production, and distribution. And the period of Korean cinema is focused from the middle 80s to the middle 90s because it is the period showing the fundamental transformation of Korean cinema and changes in the motion picture law that allows the direct distribution of American films and the Screen Quota system.

To understand where the Korean national cinema stands, it is necessary to look back at the early Korean cinema. The following section delineates how the cinema was introduced and how it evolved in Korea. And then Korea¡¯s ¡®new cinema¡¯ (1985- the present) is discussed in textual and industrial terms.

Korean Cinema¡¯s Early Development (1900s-1940s)

There are several viewpoints about the time that film was introduced to Korea. According to Ichikawa, Japanese film historian, the first foreign film was screened in the fall of 1897 in Korea. He also insists that in 1898 English businessman Aster House showed French short films for a silver coin (10 Jeon) or ten empty cases of cigarettes which were just on sale (Yi, 1992). However, the evidence for Ichikawa¡¯s assertion is not certain. Also, Lee Young-il points out in the public advertisement of Hwang-sung Shin-mun (Hwang-sung newspaper) on Jun.23, 1903 that western motion pictures were shown at Dong-dae-moon Electronic Company everyday from 8 PM to 10 PM except on a rainy day and Sunday (Lee, 1969). Along with several indirect data that proved that motion pictures were shown before 1903, it is assumed that film was introduced to Korea around 1901 or 1902 (Ahn 1962; Yang, 1985; Yi, 1992; Yu, 1997).

French films such as Dance of the Beauty, An Artillery Navy, Sea-bathing, and Amusement of Children, and American films Niagara, The Big Fire of New York, and Practice of Horse Race were introduced (Yi, 1992; Yu, 1997). Most foreign films for this period were short newsreel documentaries presenting their own countries¡¯ culture or historical big events. Koreans who had never been exposed to such a scientific product were almost shocked and mesmerized. Thus, foreign films easily became a means of commercial profit for the western capitalist countries. Japanese brought out most foreign films and a few Koreans did through the American Allen Company.

Around 1910, Byeonsa, a narrator, appeared and became a very important part of the development of the early film industry. Byeonsa interpreted, commented upon, and translated both domestic and imported films to terms comprehensible to the audience. It was known that Byeonsa made films of his own using his own original dialogue scripts. So, it was not too much to say that success of films totally depended upon Byeonsa during the period of silent films. Along with the length and story of films being longer and richer, the popularity of motion pictures grew. Korean merchants tempted by the potential market profits of films ventured into the film industry.

In 1919, a theater owner, Park Seng-phil and Shinpa actor, Kim Do-san, made the first Korean film, Uirijeok Gootu (The Righteous Revenge). Strictly speaking, it was not a film, however. The first Korean cinematic drama was a so-called ¡°kino-drama¡± or stage play with motion picture insertions. Kino-drama flourished for about four years, until true feature films began to appear. In 1920, five Kino dramas were produced by Koreans, but they were mainly conventional love stories imitating Japanese Shimpa melodrama.

During the earlier period of the silent cinema (1923-1926), nineteen Korean films were produced: two newsreel documentaries and seventeen narrative films. The main theme of films was mostly illicit love affairs or the promotion of virtue and the reproval of vice. As well as coarse production techniques, film directing was very poor. Most photographing was done by Japanese. Korean domestic productions were co-productions, dependent on Japanese capital and technology. In 1923, the first domestic silent film, Worl-hwa ui Maengseo (The Oath of Worl-hwa) was made by Yun Baek-nam who was the first Korean scenario writer. But it was produced for the policy of Chosun Chondok Bu, which was the Japanese government organ imposed upon Korea. Foreign films were mushrooming in the Korea film market. Almost 95% of imported films were American films and more than 90% of American films were Universal¡¯s. In 1925, for only the one year, 2,130 American films, 124 European films, 8 Korean films and several Japanese films were shown (Yi, 1992). Mostly they were western comedies and action-oriented dramas and Japanese Shimpa melodramas. With inferior technology and limited capital, Korean films could not compare to the foreign films. Moreover producers, who were always interested in profit, did not invest in domestic films. After all, Koreans who were colonized by Imperialist Japan could not find any national identity in the Korean film industry during this period.

Since the first national film, Arirang, was made by Na Un-gyu who continuously made nationalist films against Japanese occupation in 1926, Korean cinema entered the later period of the silent cinema until the first talkie film, Chunhyang Jeon (The Story of Chunhyang) was made in 1935. For this period (1926-1935), when the Japanese colonial policy on Korea was more intensified, Korean cinema pursued more artistic films in terms of content and form reflecting the reality of Korea. With exploited agricultural and industrial products, Korea became the frontier base for China-Japanese War. Against Japanese colonization, Korean filmmakers organized Chosun Younghwa Yeosul Hyuphae (Korean Film Art Federation) which was prone to the left wing. Under the influence of Korean Art Proletariat Federation, Chosun Younghwa Yeosul Hyuphae founded a production company, Seoul Kino, and made more anti-colonialism films. Eighty films were produced and the first film magazine was published in this period. Japanese colonial government restricted the import of foreign films and enacted the censorship law in order to maintain Japanese colonial policy. Despite the colonial government¡¯s suppression of the film industry, film audiences were increasing. Foreign trade companies such as the Allen Company, Morris Company and Taylor Company dominated distribution of imported films.

In 1935, the first talkie film, Chunhyang Jeon, led Korean cinema to a new phase. With the breakout of the Pacific War, Korean films degenerated into chauvinistic propaganda for Japanese Imperialism. In 1937, the Japanese government forbade the import of all kinds of foreign films except newsreels. Korean cinema entered 'the dark age.' The dark age of Korean cinema continued after the liberation, because of the Korean War that ruined every existing facility for cinematic activity.

The early Korean cinema was largely affected by Japanese cinema at the textual level. Kino-drama, Byeonsa, and Shinpa style were prevalent in Japanese cinema and Japanese audiences. Filmmakers who studied in Japan or worked for Japanese filmmakers, Japanese colonial cultural policy, which focused on converting Koreans into Japanese, and the Japanese government's censorship produced many Korean films imitating Japanese style. At the industrial level, most imported films were distributed by the Japanese, English and American and the Hollywood movies dominated Korean screens. Thus from the start when film was introduced by Japanese, Korean cinema could not be free from the influence of the world¡¯s cinema.

Korean ¡®New Wave¡¯ Cinema (1985- the present)

It is known that the 1970s were mainly a time of stagnation for Korean cinema. The censorship of military governments prevented Korean directors from attempting any controversial or political films. Also the deterioration of the traditional Korean social values system strongly influenced by the American pop culture and rapid modernization made the mainstream cinema stay in martial arts movies, melodramas, youth comedies of horseplay and hormones, and tried-and-true historical-patriotic subjects (Yi, 1996; Wade, 1982). Although new film subjects and styles were surely brought up from time to time, they were insufficient to be interpreted as progress or be considered true development (Yi, 1996). Following Kwangju Massacre in May 1980, Chun Doo-hwan military government was ruled with military force and mass demonstrations against the military government reached the extreme. As a mean of soothing civil resistance, the Rho government (1988-1992) had to present a ¡®liberal¡¯ face to the western world. Several filmmakers growing from the atmosphere of the student movement and mass cultural movement such as Park Kwang-su, Jang Sun-woo, and Park Jong-won made their directorial debuts during this period, dealing with the concerns of neo-imperialist influence, democratic procedures and North/South division after the Korean War in their films (Yi et al., 1996). Films treating woman¡¯s identity and independence burgeoned during this period: Ahngae Gidung (Misty Plum, Park Chul-su, 1986), and Wigieui Yoja (A Woman in Crisis, Chung Ji-young, 1987). And more sophisticated melodramas that surpassed the Japanese shinpa style, were produced: Gorae Sanyang (The Whale Hunter, Bae Chang-ho, 1984), Gikgo Purun Bam (Deep Blue Night, Bae, 1984), and Gyeoul Nagune (The Winter Wayfarers, Kwak Ji-kyun, 1986). Directors freed from the censorship touched the ideological conflicts and North/South division for their films' subjects: Kilsoteum (Kilsoteum, Im Kwon-taek, 1985), and Chilsu wa Mansu (Chilsu and Mansu, Park Kwang-su, 1988). Films portraying the reality of Korean society in the whirl of modernization and pursuing the unique aesthetics were made more often: Babo Suneun (Declaration of Fools, Lee Chang-ho, 1983), Seoul Jesu (Seoul Jesus, Jang Sun-woo, 1986) and Nagune-nun Gil-eseo Syugi Ahnunda (The Man with Three Coffins, Lee Chang-ho, 1988). Along with these films concerned more with the national situation, another special film, Dharmaga Tongjoguro Gan Kkadalgun? (Why did Bodhi Dharma Leave for the East? Bae Yong-kyun, 1987) opened up a new dimension in Korean cinema for ¡°its visual expression of Asian philosophy and the aesthetics of imagery.¡± (Yi, 1996). Pursuit of the national themes, styles and aesthetics has been more prevalent after the first democratic government was established in 1993: Taeback Sanmaek (Taeback Mountains, Im Kwon-taek, 1994); Jeon Tae-il (A single Spark, Park Kwang-su, 1996); Kkoknip (A Petal, Jang Sun-woo, 1996).

At the same time filmmakers in the commercial area produced more national films in the way of themes and styles, small but noticeable independent film groups who came from the student movement in the 80s have grown, making films so-called ¡®Nodongja Younghwa¡¯ (Working People Cinema) and ¡®Minjok Younghwa¡¯ (National Cinema). With hand-held cameras and low budgets, they made films inclining to the national themes as a result of group activities. Some films dramatized social issues such as unemployment and poverty: Back Il Mong (Daydream, Lee Chung-gook, 1984), Beoryochin Usan (The Abandoned Umbrellas, Cho Chin, 1985). Yet, it was hard for them to make such films oriented toward social and political issues in public, although the government declared itself democratic. The documentary Parangsae (The Bluebird, 1986), which described the lives of peasant farmers, with the support of a Catholic organization, caused some of the film crews to be arrested. The independent film group Changsan-Gotmae, however, shot a much more political content portraying the Kwangju uprisings and massacre: O Gumenara (Oh Dreamland, 1989). The following year, they produced Paop Chonya (The Night before the Strike, 1990) which is about union activism in a metal works (Rayns, 1994). Film groups such as Seoul Yeonsang Gipdan (Seoul Picturing Group), Nodongja News Jeajakdan (Working People News Production), Bariteo, Cheongnyun (The Young), and campus film clubs still produce independent films focusing on real lives of the people and the politically oppressed. Also the groups have produced some promising young filmmakers like Byeon Young-joo who is recognized internationally and domestically for her documentaries Nazeun Moksori 1,2 (Murmuring, 1995; Habitual Sadness, 1997) about lives of Korean 'comfort women.'

Even though more filmmakers are inclined to national themes, styles and aesthetics, the imitation of Hollywood style is still common. In 1992, the romantic comedy, Geolhon Iyagi (The Marriage story, Kim Ui-suk) hit the box office while Hayan Jeonjang (The White Badge, Chung Ji-young), which is about the Vietnam War portrayed from a Korean viewpoint for the first time, was relatively unsuccessful in spite of praise by critics (Yi, 1996). With capital from large conglomerates like Daewoo, and Samsung, new types of films, such as parodies, black comedies, and fantasy films, were produced for last few years of 1990s. Two Cops sequels (Kang Woo-suk, 1993, 1996, 1998) that parodied the French movie, My New Partner, Terrorist (Kim Young-bin, 1995) and Born to Kill (Ghang Hyun-soo, 1996) that eminently copied the Hollywood style, and Doctor Bong (Lee Kwang-hoon, 1995) and That Woman, That Man (Kim Ui-suk, 1993) that were romantic comedies acquired the biggest box office attractions (Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corporation, 1993-1996). Competing with Hollywood blockbusters, Korean films become more commercialized with big budgets flowing from the large conglomerates that recognized the film industry as one of the big profit makers.

Korean Film Industry in the ¡®New Wave¡¯ Period:
How Hollywood dominates the Korean Cinema

Since United International Pictures (UIP, associated distributor of Paramount, Universal and MGM/UA) directly distributed Fatal Attraction in Korea on September 24, 1988, there has been no legislation for protection of the Korean film industry relatively inferior to the Western. In fact, Hollywood cinema has dominated all the time since the period of silent movie. After the Korean War, owing to the presence of the American government in Korea, domination of Hollywood films was regularized. In 1955, imported Hollywood films out of the total imported films was 100/138 (72%) and in 1958, it reached 149/178 (84%) (Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corporation, 1988). The Screen Quota system was established in 1959 for protecting Korean cinema industry and to limit the import of American films but it was not competent enough for blocking Hollywood films.

Regardless of the large domination of Hollywood films on the Korean film industry, the Motion Picture Exporters Association of America (MPEAA) that represented the eight largest producers and distributors, wrote an unfair trade practice complaint against the Korean film industry to members of the US Senate Finance Committee. The complaint was about the ban on US movie company offices in Korea, the prohibitive financial burdens caused by a 1985 law that required importers to deposit US $800,000 with the Motion Picture Promotion Corporation of Korea and to contribute US $170,000 to the same agency for each film imported, and screen quota system that all theaters must show Korean films at least two-fifths of all screen. (Lent, 1990) Through several negotiations, in 1985, sixteen requests of MPEAA including US majors were allowed to open offices in Korea, and the maximum number and price of imported films were abolished (Rho, 1994). One year later under the pressure from the US government, the Motion Picture Law was reformed for the 6th time. The 6th reformed Motion Picture Law allowed the foreign Film Company to produce and distribute in Korea and decreased the deposit from a half million dollars to 50,000 dollars when the imported foreign films were registered. In 1987, 86 film companies registered for the import of the foreign films and UIP and Twenty Century Fox set up their offices in Korea (Kim, 1989).

With the Hollywood blockbusters like Living Daylights, Moonstruck, and The Untouchables, UIP started the direct distribution and succeeded, despite the severe protests of Korean filmmakers and local distributors. After the reform of 1986, the number of imported films grew from 27 in 1985 to 99 in 1987 (Hong, 1989). Until April 1994, five American direct distribution companies registered: UIP, Twenty Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Columbia and Disney. They ensured 70 theaters for their direct distribution (Rho, 1994). Growing every year, they earned 43 percent of total admission income and occupied 18 percent of total imported films in 1993 (Table 1). In 1995, 260 foreign films were imported while only 65 Korean feature films were made. All ten high grossing films were directly distributed Hollywood films, and they seized more than 80% of the Korean film industry. (Ahn, 1996) In 1998, they stepped into the distribution of the domestic film, starting to distribute Namja ui Hwang-ki (Fragrance of a Man, Jang Hyun-soo, 1998). In sum, the direct distribution threatens the Korean film industry that thoroughly depended on the import of Hollywood blockbusters because relatively low-budget and low-quality domestic films cannot hold the general audiences.

Table 2 illustrates the number of feature films shown on the Korean market from 1980 to 1996. Data on numbers of foreign films, especially American films, show to what extent Hollywood has penetrated the Korean film industry.

Table 1. The import and distribution by the direct distribution company (omitted)

Table 2. Number of Feature films shown on the Korean Market 1980-1996 (omitted)

Along with the glamorized image of violence and sexual relations, American heroism and consumerism affect Korean audiences changing their consuming style, leisure patterns, and even language. Also Hollywood movies implant the ideology, which is America as the good and the enemy of America as the bad to Korean audiences. As a result Korea filmmakers have to follow the Hollywood style in order to satisfy the taste of Korean audiences used to Hollywood. "Romantic love, nightclubs, mansions, cars, dream worlds" are the essence of many popular films (Dissanayake, 1988). Korean cinema imitates the Hollywood techniques such as mise-en-scene, movement of camera, and editing. The simple structure like balance-destruction-resolve in the Hollywood films made audiences passive.

Hollywood, after all, forces Korean cinema to follow its style. Several questions could be raised: to what extent does Korean cinema imitate the classical Hollywood text? And to what extent does Korean cinema hold its national text? In what points can Korean cinema be called national cinema? Where does Korean cinema stand at all? The observation of the recent Korean films comparing with the classical Hollywood style presents to what extent and how the Korean cinema is impacted by the American cinema. Along with answering these questions, this study leads us to anticipate where the Korean cinema is going in the future. For this observation, the top five grossing Korean films from 1986 to 1996 are sampled and analyzed in the following section.

Method

Definition and measurement of concept
Prior to the 1980s, 'national cinema' meant non-Hollywood films focusing only on film texts produced within the territory concerned (Crofts, 1998). Crofts varied national cinema in several ways in his "Reconceptualizing National Cinema/s": 1) European-model art cinemas, 2) Third cinema, 3) Third world and European commercial cinemas, 4) cinemas which ignore Hollywood, 5) cinemas which imitate Hollywood, 6) Totalitarian cinemas, 7) Regional/ethnic cinemas (Crofts, 1993). Because concepts of nation-state and national identity for the definition of national cinema are very complicated, the national cinema is variously defined (Anderson, 1983; Higson, 1989; Hobsbawm, 1990; Smith, 1991). Korean national cinema is very hard to fit into the definitions of national cinema studied by most Western scholars since Korea consists of only a state, has been divided into two countries, is categorized as one of the Third world countries, and is known as the veiled Asian country. Thus, in this paper, national cinema is simply defined as "the films tended to focus only on film texts produced within the territory concerned."

The 'classical Hollywood style' is a distinct and homogenous style dominating between 1917 to 1960 and remaining constant across decades. As Andre Bazine points out, narrative coherence and the unity of filmic elements define the best in Hollywood cinema (Bazine, 1967). Basic formal concern in Hollywood is story telling or narrative. Thus, every cinematic element systematically subordinates to the interests of a movie's narrative. For example, lighting remains unobtrusive and camera angles are predominantly at eye level in order to encourage the audience to assume what is occurring on screen (Ray, 1985). The film should be comprehensible and unambiguous and possesses a fundamental emotional appeal tending toward harmony and stability (Bordwell et al., 1985). The story has causality, consequence, psychological motivations, and the drive toward overcoming obstacles and achieving goals. Stories are routinely designed along a precise temporal dimension and spatial lines. Characters having specific goals stand at the center of the action and interact with events. Devices of the classical Hollywood style, according to Bordwell, are three-point lighting, continuity editing, 'movie music', centered framing and dissolves. In terms of genre, Hollywood is a cinema of westerns, gangster films, musicals, melodramas, and thrillers. Indeed, Hollywood studios consciously produced genre cycles. Audiences went to see the films because of westerns not because of films made by a certain auteur (Ryall, 1998).

In terms of the comparison between the national cinema and the Hollywood cinema, Gabriel identifies several different points between third world films and western films. He suggests essential elements of cinematic practice that is natural in third world films but is not in western films: the long take, cross-cutting, panning shot, silence in films, different concept of 'hero'. Also he compares filmic conventions between them in terms of lighting, camera angle, camera placement, camera movement, set design, acting, parallel montage and point of view (Gabriel, 1989). 'Entertainment' predominates in Hollywood themes like escapist themes of romance, musicals, and comedies, while national cinema concerns the lives and struggles of peoples in the nation. Theme is defined as "a basic conceptual or intellectual premise underlying a specific work or body of works" (Kaminsky, 1985:9).
The Sample of Films

The sample films chosen for this study were based on feature films during the period 1986- 1996. The top five high-grossing films were selected for each year, based on the annual reports by Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corporation. Since eight films in 1989 and 1994 were not available and one film was reported twice for one of top five grossing films (Two Cops, the 5th in 1993 and the 1st in 1994 since it was released in the end of 1993), 46 Korean feature films were analyzed. Along with 46 videotaped films from Korean video shop, synopses provided by Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corporation were also studied as complementary materials. The sample of films is listed in Appendix A.
Coding Procedure

Since the period of research is very restricted, this content analysis only focused on a few filmic conventions, excluding the technical conventions relating to camera, set, light etc. First, film genre assessed the generic categorization of films, following eight categories. To classify the selected films into a certain genre is not simple because of the variety of classification systems in genre study (Altman, 1984; Grant, 1986; Kanimsky, 1988). It is also difficult for some of the Asian films not to fit into the genre categories because genre studies have mostly been achieved by the western scholars. Thus, categories constructing for this study were very simplified and classified, for some points, considering the characteristics of Korean films. Specifically, the classifications of genre by Dale (1935) and Lopez (1993) were used in this study.

Action
A film in which the action predominates and becomes the main concern in the picture's composition. Although a slight difference exists between action films and adventure films, for the convenience of the analysis, action genre includes adventure films in this study.

Comedy
A film that is designed to amuse and provoke laughter, mostly depending on exaggeration of situation, language, action and characters.

Historical Film
A film that restages historical events or happenings.

Romance
A film in which love is at the center and its manifestations are many.

Sex
A film that focuses on explicit depiction of sexual activities, regardless of the narrative.

Social Conscious Film
A film delivers its message in a style of critical social realism.

War
A film that concerns activities of the armed forces during wartime, including wartime spying and domestic effects of war. Other Any film that does not fit into the above categories, including animation and documentary films.

Second, film themes assessed whether the content of film included the following issues: ideological conflicts and South/North division, political and social situations of Korea (military government, student movement, the strike etc.), social problems in Korea (unemployment, immigration from the country etc.), and issues coming from the traditional Korean culture including Confucianism (the preference for boys, and the strict social restrictions for women etc.). Third, main characters of the films assessed whether they are clearly described. Finally, the narration of the films assessed whether it is comprehensible and unobtrusive. No conflict to follow the film was counted for this observation. One person coded the entire films for analysis based on the above four categories.

Results and Discussion

Among 46 films, romance dominated (32.6%), and most comedies in the sample films were associated with the love story. These so-called 'romantic comedies' became a very popular genre since Marriage Story and Mr. Mama hit the box-office in 1992. With main characters who are usually successful professionals like television producer or doctors, its story is often involved with sexual discourse. Less serious narrative and fanciful settings that invoke peoples' desire for possession also are a part of the reasons that this genre absorbs the audience. Films treating social crises are usually related to national themes were thirteen (28.3%). Seven films (15%) belonged to action genre and seven films were comedies. Only one sample was the historical film. In fact, several films were set in a historical background like Yi dynasty, but their main concerns were romance, action or adventure. None was a war film nor there animation or documentaries among 46 films. Table 4 summarizes the data obtained.(Table 4 is omitted)

Nine films (20%) clearly showed national themes and one film talked about women's issues based on romantic plot: civil demonstrations and labor movement (2), South/North division (1), political situation (1), social crises (1), women's issues (3), traditional art (1), and problems of immigrants in the US (1).

Except for three films, 43 films had clear main characters, usually one or two female protagonist(s) and one or two male protagonist(s). The narration in only two films was difficult to follow and most films are very comprehensible within a given time and space.

Most box-office hit films during the period of 1986-1996 are after all faithful to Hollywood filmic conventions. Well-narrated feature films in action, comedy, and romance genre are dominant. No more than twenty percent of films concern the lives of Kore The content analysis of Korean feature films compared to Hollywood text here is in a very rudimentary stage. Simply several cinematic conventions are touched while excluding major conventions such as camera movement, lighting, editing. Major themes and evaluations of main characters are very briefly presented. The sample used for this study, which was the top five grossing Korean films, does not wholly represent the Korean cinema. Since most box-office hit films are commercial-oriented, they have, from the start point of making them, the Hollywood conventions. Thus it is not unusual to find only few national themes and styles in those films. Besides one person coded the entire samples, and thus it is difficult to assure strong validity in coding process. More fully developed content analysis with regard to cinematic technical conventions is considered for a future study.

Conclusion

Last year, in 1997, only 37 Korean domestic films were produced, whereas 431 foreign films were imported paying $69,000,000 in according to the article appearing in one of the major Korean newspapers, Dong-A Ilbo (Dong-A Daily Newspaper, Sept. 30, 1998). Regardless of very low numbers of Korean films produced, Korea is currently called "the most cinephile country in the world "(Rayns, 1998). Where does that title, "the most cinephile country" come from? The major conglomerates, Samsung, Dawoo and Cheil Jedang, started to produce and distribute Korean films in 1995. Two years after that, their money in Korean cinema had barely dried up because the films did not hit the moneybox. On the other hand, thanks to deregulation of the film industry, more foreign films make a rush for Korean film market. Direct distribution system of Hollywood studios reinforces through building multiplex theaters in major cities.

Then, where is Korean national cinema? As shown in the above results, most commercially successful Korean films do not concern the exploration of the national themes and styles. A few directors such as Im Kwon-taek and Park Kwang-su keep putting these in their films. Fortunately, some independent groups still pursue the identity of the Korean cinema. Despite their low-budgets and small audiences, they continue to produce. Film festivals like Seoul Short Film Festival encourage young filmmakers (Lee Young-jae, 1996). And several young filmmakers, Hong Sang-soo and Byeon Young-joo, who recently debuted and draw both domestic and international attention, try to make the new Korean films. Film critics and journalist' being aware of the crisis of Korean cinema suggest alternative plans for the Motion Picture Promotion Law and Screen Quota system for developing Korean cinema industry (Lee Yeon-ho, 1996).

Along with discovering the identity of the Korean cinema, it is urgent to study Korean cinema academically. The limitation of this study is, in some point, resulting from the problem, which is that there are very few scholarly studies about Korean cinema and very few English materials. Almost no academic scholars studied Korean cinema and even no articles about Korean cinema are contributed to film journals, whereas Japanese and Chinese cinema is studied and mentioned fully. What is worse, Korean academia in film study is very sparse even though the history of the cinema in Korea reaches almost one hundred years. Most articles and papers are written by journalists and reporters in movie magazines. Thus it is suggested that studies about Korean cinema both academically and journalistically be developed in the future.