Korean filmmakers entering overseas market increase
IT HAS been a long time since high-profile Korean filmmakers rose in the international cinema industry, winning awards with their lauded unique films and exquisite cinematography. Yet their works have largely remained cult favourites.
It might change, as many Korean film directors are taking on films in other countries and some are making TV series in the US and UK and meeting wider global audiences.
Multiple-award-winning director Park Chan-wook, who was recently nominated for Best Film Not in English at the British Academy Film Awards with the erotic thriller ‘The Handmaiden’ (2016), is directing a TV adaptation of John le Carre’s 1983 spy thriller ‘The Little Drummer Girl’ for the BBC.
It is Park’s TV debut and his second international undertaking following the 2013 Hollywood film ‘Stoker’.
The six-episode spy thriller is about an actress who, seeking to escape the dullness of the English bourgeoisie, is lured by an Israeli intelligence agent into a mission to eliminate a Palestinian terrorist group.
“At the core of this story is an extremely painful, but thrilling, romance. This is what makes the story universal, reaching beyond borders and languages and remaining incredibly current,” Park told the BBC.
It will also air on US channel AMC.
Director Bong Joon-ho, who premiered ‘Okja’ at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival where it competed for the Palme d’Or, has joined the production of the American TV series ‘Snowpiercer’ as executive producer. The TV adaptation of Bong’s 2013 film of the same name, which is his first Englishlanguage sci-fi movie, will reach US audiences through cable channel TNT.
Director Kim Seong-hun, known for his 2016 film ‘The Tunnel’, is also making zombie TV series ‘Kingdom’, which will be released on Netflix later this year.
Experts say for these directors to jump to the small screen, it’s like catching two birds with one stone, gaining both unique filmmaking styles and massive appeal. “Korean directors like Kim Jee-woon, Bong Joon-ho and Park have been recognised as auteurs with unique worldviews. But, unlike K-dramas, we don’t talk about K-film hallyu because they failed to reach wide audiences. We can speak of hallyu only if it has a wide impact on general audiences,” said Hwang Youngmee, a film critic and professor at Sookmyung Women’s University. “With their recent ventures, they have earned a springboard to reach wider audience bases.”
She says these directors have established cinema genres of their own that can appeal to Western audiences. “Park shares Western world views of Hebraism and Hellenism. Kim’s great mise-en-scene and Bong’s social criticism can also appeal to Western film fans,” she said.
Darcy Paquet, an American film critic and translator who has worked on English subtitles for over 100 Korean films, says to a certain extent it’s becoming a trend for well-established filmmakers around the world to work in TV.
“Festivals like Cannes and Berlin have added sections for TV series which have been very well received. The big Korean directors have been talking to Hollywood studios for a number of years now, but right now it seems that trends in TV and trends in the Korean film industry have reached a contact point,” Paquet said. “A TV series can attract new high-profile directing talent, and directors can try their hand at a different kind of storytelling.
‘The Good, The Bad, The Weird’ director Kim Jee-woon teams with Stan Lee, who created Marvel characters including Spider-man, Iron Man and the X-Men, to produce the superhero film ‘Chroma’. Kim Yong-hwa, known for his recent hit film ‘Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds’, also joins Lee for his Hollywood debut ‘Prodigal’, a superhero film about “paternal love.”
“Hollywood has been showing keen interest in Korean films. With relatively low budgets, Korean filmmakers make Hollywood-style movies,” Kim said in a recent interview with a local daily.
Regarding the recent surge of Korean film directors entering international markets, a market insider says it can also be explained with demand and supply. “With soaring number of content distribution channels outnumbering content providers, the market has a high need for good storytellers,” said an official of a local drama production company.
“Overseas production companies continue to invest in local content and are looking for gains in intellectual property. Now that they see Korean content has marketing power in the US and Southeast Asia, they are increasing their investments and that leads to more Korean filmmakers working on global projects.”
Hollywood has been showing keen interest in Korean films. With relatively low budgets, Korean filmmakers make Hollywood-style movies. Kim Yong-hwa, director