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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Is Corean (Korean) Cinema the New HK Cinema?
t the peak of its Golden Era between the mid-80s and early-90s Hong Kong cinema was defending nearly half its domestic box office turf against Hollywood imports, thanks to an unusual concentration of mega-talents like John Woo, Chow Yun-Fat, Jackie Chan and Tsui Hark. No other film industry in the world had been able to claim that for a half century. What's more, some HK kung-fu and gangster flicks outdrew Hollywood thrillers in many international markets.
Corean heartthrob Won Bin
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Hollywood's strategy for coping with the HK threat? Simple and devastatingly effective -- buy up the biggest box-office draws. The result has been an epic shift: the top HK talents have been reduced mostly to coolie-ing on Hollywood formulaics while HK cinema has become a parched gulch with bounding tumbleweeds and half-hinged screen doors banging forlornly with every hot gust.
Corean American Shiri star Kim Yoon-jin
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But just as Asian Americans resigned themselves to having screen images hijacked by a remarkably Asian-unfriendly Hollywood, Corean cinema began throwing off heat. Beginning in the early 90s a hardy new generation of Corean filmmakers made themselves fixtures at the award ceremonies of Cannes, Venice and other international film festivals. By the turn of the century Corea's Pusan Film Festival emerged as Asia's premiere celluloid bazaar. But that was small potatoes, not enough to catch the notice of an industry whose real lifeblood is box office.
Then came Shiri (1999), Kang Jae-gyu's lovingly-wrought, haunting thriller about a deadly North Corean female terrorist who falls in love with exactly the wrong guy. It became the first domestic film in history to break the 2 million ticket mark for the Seoul metropolitan area (which accounts for about 25% of the Corean market), and went on to outgross Hollywood blockbusters like The Mummy, The Matrix, Titanic, Star Wars Episode One and Toy Story. Its $5 million budget is less than a tenth of what Hollywood spends at the drop of a dime but was considered a daring gamble. It paid off. Domestic box office receipts ultimately spiked past $60 million, ensuring an unexpected profit for the film's backer Samsung Entertainment -- and more importantly, whetting the appetites of investors for more "big-budget" projects.
Director Kang took pains to point out that Shiri's success was founded on a painstakingly crafted screenplay -- something few Corean directors had bothered with before then.
In 2000 and 2001 alone, two Corean films surpassed Shiri's box office benchmarks: Joint Security Area (DMZ military mystery/drama, 2000) and Friend (male-bonding, 2001). These blockbusters have stimulated a general upsurge of interest in domestic films. Films like Friend and My Sassy Girl (romantic comedy) outgrossed Hollywood megapics like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. They helped make Corea the only market in which domestic films captured over 50% of box office receipts, with Hollywood fare attracting 40%.
As the saga of Hong Kong cinema has shown, nothing yanks Hollywood's chain like being kicked at the box office. Major studios have begun importing Shiri, Musa (co-starring Zhang Zhiyi as a Ming princess rescued by Corean swordsmen) and other Corean films for limited U.S. theatrical release and video distribution. More significantly -- or ominously, depending on your perspective -- they have begun signing Corean talent. One is actress Shin Eun-kyung who starred in the popular comedy My Wife Is a Gangster (2001) which outgrossed Lord of the Rings. Shin will play the female lead opposite Andy Garcia. Miramax even paid $1.1 million for the remake rights to My Wife Is a Gangster.
Is Corean cinema the new Hong Kong cinema? Or will an Asian version of Hollywood ultimately emerge in Corea?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:07:22 PM)
Hsu Chi is way sexier than Cecilia Cheung. Cecilia's pretty but has no sex appeal plus she looks like a little girl. Hsu has very sexy lips (not big just right)... her eyes are seductive...
her skin is not that pale... and her body is helluva fine!
Hsu Chi's the bomb!!!
Corey
Sunday, March 24, 2002 at 20:45:00 (PST)
every time i go to a korean cafe, i see vivian hsu on the screen. she's a famous chinese actress. honestly, i think it will be a while before korea can catch up to hong kong.
penelope
Sunday, March 24, 2002 at 12:01:34 (PST)
ka, Chinese celebrities are not popular in Korea. I lived in Korea for years and I don't know the name of one single Chinese actor or actress.
koreanboy
Sunday, March 24, 2002 at 06:46:04 (PST)
blabbermouth,
"teaming up with an american actor is necessary"
No need... this stage has past. Many asian movies that do not involve caucasians already in theatres in past years and did SUPER well. Although those movies were always bad bad kung fu movies! Good thing Zhang Ziyi and Chow Yun Fat arent actually trained in Kung Fu (just for movie) Thats why Chow is tall, and Zhang is average.
Ms.Kwan
Friday, March 22, 2002 at 15:00:26 (PST)
RubyRed ,
Hehe when I was replying to you my browser crashed... So if this is repeating, sorry gum hoi (goldsea)!
Hsu chi .... bigger lips and mouth... Cecilia got smaller lips which make her prettier, Ceci also got's phoenix eyes that are really refreshing . Ceci's skin is also whiter, which is a must for a woman, past and present. But Hsu Chi is taller though. (couple cm haha)
Ms.Kwan
Friday, March 22, 2002 at 13:23:41 (PST)
ka,
That's great! I think Corea, Japan, China,Taiwan , Hongkong are all great with their movies, music videos etc etc...
That movie with vicki , hsu chi, n song seung hun is doing a movie called so close.
Crazy woman in Beijing
Friday, March 22, 2002 at 11:44:13 (PST)
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