The purpose of this research is about the study in the style of Korean films produced in the 1950s. As David Bordwell was criticized, Korean film style studies were criticized for its empiricism or formalism. The criticism is questionable as the films were produced based on the style of the individual and relied heavily on the author’s analysis. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to form a conclusion based on the style of Korean movies during the time period, in a manner that is both collective and structured. The proposed methodology is to initially perform a face-to-face test or a realistic test procedure and perform a detailed analysis of the movie instead of just administering academic procedures to come to a conclusion. Based on this methodology, an analytical decoupage or movie protocol will be created for a comparative analysis.
In addition, we will look into political, social, institutional, technological context of the movies in the 1950s era to determine how they have influenced the changes. As you are aware, it is worthy that a chronological narrative approach is avoided. However, the amount of existing movies made during the Japanese colonial period is too little or minute and there exists an identity issue of the movies made during that period of time. In addition, there is a limited amount of films available that can actually represent the era of the 1950s. Other problems in the analysis of the era are the adoption of the event driven narrators and orchestra in the movies which makes it difficult to reproduce as well as on the style of how the movie was operated. These factors create risk-weighted factor in the selection of the analysis period and subject. Therefore, the criteria for selection was based on verifiable Korean films dating to the 1950s era that excluded films produced during the periods of Japanese colonial occupation, US military presence and during the times of upheaval where text was unable in films.
As such, Korean melodramas which were most prolifically produced at the time were selected as the main genre for this study. However, the researcher believes that the selection of melodramas of the 1950s does not fit the standards of evaluation since it was a period when various factors relating to politics, social issues and filming technology was heavily influenced by the Japanese colonial occupation. Several films, other than melodramas for the period were added to the analysis as it would be meaningless if it was averted.
Meanwhile, we will define the purpose of this study as follows. First, we have proven the eclectic visual aspect of Korean movies produced in the 1950s in this study. In order to elaborate what has been said, the 1950s had been an era where the technical deterministic vision of the film producers and the meaning of the semantic structure of society, interacted with another rather than being apart. Therefore, the theory is proven once again through empirical research conducted in this paper since the technology in producing films interacts with the demands of society. In other words, the theory that advances in technology has led to the progress in the development films or the theory that social demands have lead the cause, interact with another. Second, this research was able to produce an alternative analysis method for Korean films by either approaching it in a form of a pure film language and not just by simply applying the tools used in the western academic world to form a conclusion or by rationally bonding the western theory that was applicable to Korean movies in its analysis. The film language widely used in movies has a unique system that is not restricted to the era, nation and environment. Therefore, when we compare and analyze movies, there is effective side whereby it is possible to obtain an objective result and value neutral when an analysis is performed. As for the usage of western academic tools in our analysis, the researcher has decided to carefully weigh its contextual applicability to the movies produced in the 1950s before actually using them. As an example, a comparison table is a good example which shows the formalistic and western-centric styles in movies by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson. This research has discovered that the table provided David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson provides a valid concept in evaluating and describing the style of Korean movies during the 1950s.
The 1960s for the Korean film industry is said to be a period of its ascendency and blooming period. The Korean movie industries productivity and quality improvement in the 1960s is the overall result of the 1950s where technology, society and political factors contributed to its development. In addition, it is a representation of the film producers’ effort and the experimentation that has made the Korean film industry to grow continuously despite its harsh environment. This is the basic underlying strength of the Korean film industry even to this day and in the past.
This research is the study of the style of Korean films. Unfortunately, the follow-up research on the style of Korean films must be left for the future researchers. In addition, the researcher hopes that more Korean films are discovered from the period of Japanese colonial occupation, US military presence and up to the Korea’s upheaval times in order to allow various researches according to various periods of time.
The film industry plays no exception in its history where we say that there is no today without the past in its meaning. In order to understand about Korean movies, the most obvious way is to constantly ask questions and get answers about past films. To do this, the attitude of the researchers in the preservation and research of past Korean movies is critical.