Cinema of Korea

[1] This was partially a result of laws placing limits on the number of foreign films able to be shown per theatre per year,[2] but this was mostly due to the growth of the Korean entertainment industry, which quadrupled in size during this period.

At the beginning of October 1897, motion pictures were screened for the public in Jingogae, Bukchon, in a shabby barrack that was borrowed from its Chinese owner for three days.

However, these claims have been refuted by researcher Brian Yecies, who says that he was unable to locate such an issue of The Times, or any similar article, and considers the 1897 introduction date a myth.

[14] Other sources, however, name Yun Baek-nam's Ulha ui Mengse ("Plighted Love Under the Moon"), released in April, 1923, as the first Korean feature film.

After appearing in the Choson Kinema's 1926 production Nongjungjo, the young actor Na Woon-gyu got the chance to write, direct and star in his own film.

[22] The byeonsa operated as "a narrator that introduces the characters and the setting, and explains the physical actions and psychological dilemmas during silent film screenings."

The byeonsa also functioned "as a cultural intermediary during the Korean audience's film-viewing experience, and utilized his narration to complement censorship or technological limitations during the silent film period.

Though this company was short-lived, it produced important films like Jalitgeola (or Good bye; 1927), Beongeoli Sam-ryong (or Mute Samryong); 1929), and Salangeul chajaseo (Finding Love; 1929).

Na Woon-gyu began making a larger number of films again with significant works like Kanggeonneo maeul (1935), and Oh Mong-nyeo (1937), before his premature death in 1937.

Suicide Troops of the Watchtower (望楼の決死隊, 1943), for instance, was one of several propaganda features that promoted the Japanese occupation notion of naisen ittai or "Japan and Korea as one body.

In 1946, Choi In-kyu founded the Goryeo Film Company and released Free Manse (자유만세), which was a huge success in the box office, followed by Lee Gu-young's Records of Ahn Jung-geun (안중근 사기), Yoon Bong-chun's Matyr Yunbong Gil (윤봉길 의사), Jeon Chang-geun's My liberated Hometown (해방된 내 고향), and Lee Kyu-hwan's Adventures of Ddol-ddol (똘똘이의 모험).

The following year, in 1948, Choi In-kyu's Innocent Prisoner (죄없는 죄인), Lee Kyu-hwan's Seagulls (갈매기), and Han Hyung-mo's Break the Wall (성벽을 뚫고) were produced.

During the Korean War in 1950, the filmmakers were once again in a time of hardship, but in 1952 a number of films were produced, including Jeon Chang-geun's Nakdong River (낙동강), Lee Man-heung's Affectionate Mountains (애정산맥), Shin Sang-ok's Devil's Night (악야), and Jeong Chang-hwa's The Last Temptation (최후의 유혹).

In 1954, Kim Seong-min's 41 degrees north latitude (북위 41도), Yun Bong-chun's Song of the hometown (고향의 노래), Hong Sung-ki's Sortie (출격명령), and Shin Sang-ok's Korea (코리아) were produced.

The tax exemption measures, the introduction of the latest film making machine and increase of movie goers greatly encouraged filmmakers.

In 1961, Shin Sang-ok's The Houseguest and My Mother (사랑방 손님과 어머니) and Yu Hyun-mok's Aimless Bullet (Obaltan, 오발탄) were produced.

Lee Man-hee's Late Autumn (만추) in 1966 and Choi Ha-won's The Old Pottery Maker (독 짓는 늙은이) in 1969 improved the quality of Korean films.

In the 1970s, however, the Korean film industry again faced a recession and began to look for breakthroughs with Lee Jang-ho's Heavenly Homecoming of Stars (별들의 고향) in 1974 and Kim Ho-sun's Winter Woman (겨울여자) in 1977.

In 1974, director Lee Jang-ho's Heavenly homecoming of Stars attracted as many as 470,000 viewers alone at Kuk-do theater in Seoul and marked sixth place in the box office among all films released in the 70s.

In 1975, director Kim Ho-seon's Yeong-ja's Heydays (영자의 전성시대) was also a huge box office hit, attracting 360,000 viewers.

March of the Fools (바보들의 행진) directed by Ha Gil-jong was highly acclaimed for its sensuous portrayal of the romance and wandering of youth with college students in 1975.

Lee Jang-Ho was popular for his social or critical realism, and he gained traction from producing accurate depictions of the brutal living conditions Koreans were subjected to.

The people were oppressed, had large quantities of poverty, a struggling economy, unfair inhumane treatment of citizens, multiple tyrannical rulers.

From each era previously mentioned, the inspiration behind the most popular or most impactful films made in Korea was the thick cultural and historical bones.

In conclusion, Korean film making from each era mentioned is heavily influenced by historical and cultural aesthetics even up till the early 2000s.

To go further beyond the 2000s, in 2019 a South Korean film called “Parasite” Directed by Hong Joon-ho held a message behind the plot which showed how the people were struggle with capitalism, poverty, and the existing social order in present-day Korea.