My Korean Cinema: Episodes 1-4

Because the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were a `dark period’ in South Korean politics, few think back nostalgically on the culture of the period and even fewer have taken the time and trouble to look afresh at the films made in those years. Of course it’s known that Im Kwon-Taek, Yu Hyon-Mok, Kim Ki-Young, Shin Sang-Okk and others did distinguished work under the old studio system, but the great bulk of Korean films made in the `dark’ decades remain forgotten and undocumented. Kim Hong-Joon’s TV presentations began to fill that knowledge gap, and his My Korean Cinema project takes the work further. There are four parts to date. It begins with My Chungmuro, a lament for the days when all of Korea’s film companies were based in the Chungmuro district in central Seoul, and continues with episodes exploring such aspects of studio-system films as the meaning of images of women smoking. The fourth part, we’re promised, will reflect on the implications of the recent closure of the film magazine Kino. This one-off presentation will make a major contribution to our knowledge of Korean film history. It will also offer a strikingly fresh perspective on the joys and terrors of cinephilia. Judging by the parts we’ve seen so far, it will be funny, touching and deeply pleasurable. So don’t even think of missing it! (Tony Rayns)