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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, 06:07:13 PM)
if star wars has asian influences, why aren't there any asian jedis? or actors for that matter?
come on george!!
Monday, May 06, 2002 at 22:55:40 (PDT)
the make up of the queen of star wars episode one seems very chinese, geisha japanese . They dot the lip with red and the face is white.
sue
Monday, May 06, 2002 at 20:29:59 (PDT)
hey you know in episode one... the star wars queen outfit really resembles ching dynasty hair style etc... etc... and make up.
sue
Monday, May 06, 2002 at 20:29:04 (PDT)
Why don't you misinformed fools ASK George Lucas???
ONE OF Star Wars' heavy influences was from an old Japanese animation series called..."STAR BLAZERS"!! (circa early 70's)
Some of STAR Wars' similarities to STAR Blazers are:
Influence from Star Blazers to Star Wars:
1. The Death Star.
2. Capt. Avatar.
3. Princess ???
4. The "Wave Motion Canon".
5. Wildstar.
6. The X-Wing fighter.
7. Lord Deslock.
8. etc...
Sith Lord
Monday, May 06, 2002 at 17:08:31 (PDT)
Furthermore, if you look at the average Star Wars fan (Keyword: Average, not the nerds), chances are that he is also a HK kung fu fan. There is a strong connection between the two. I bet you any guy who can knows all the stats of each Star Wars character by heart can also name off all the stats of the Five Deadly Venoms. This also tends to be the fan of anime and American comic books.
Yeah, it's true. Lucas also draws inspiration from Kurosawa and American Westerns (which themselves were based on Kurosawa). I don't like the name or the look of Episode II either. The appeal of the original was its cheap, campy look. The new one looks too high tech. If it is a prequel, shouldn't things look less technologically advanced? haha
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Monday, May 06, 2002 at 13:59:06 (PDT)
So star wars is a Japanese Samurai flick set in space?
AC Dropout
Monday, May 06, 2002 at 12:32:11 (PDT)
TSJ,
I heard similar things also, like all the light saber work is based on Kendo.
AC Dropout
Monday, May 06, 2002 at 07:33:55 (PDT)
"Star Wars is basically a kung fu movie set in space."
NOT! it's a stew of many old movies, most likely westerns and airplane dogfights. however, lucas did admit he got the inspiration from kurosawa's 'hidden fortress.'
"THE HIDDEN FORTRESS is especially notable for its influence on director George Lucas's STAR WARS. Lucas admittedly borrowed much from Kurosawa's lighthearted epic; the two bickering misfits were likely the inspiration for R2-D2 and C-3PO, while Princess Leia was largely patterned after the feisty Lady Yukihime. Both Luke Skywalker and Han Solo contain elements of General Makabe, but neither character matches Mifune's disciplined ferocity."
what's up with 'attack of the clones' for a dumb title?
Sunday, May 05, 2002 at 11:52:36 (PDT)
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