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Ko-pick: Capturing Korea’s Young Generation
- Writer by KoBiz
- View257
Students in Korea started the new academic year in March at schools and universities all over the country. Education remains central to all walks of life in Korea; entering school and graduating are important occasions and preparations for the college-entrance exam begins in elementary school. Indeed, statistically Korea’s young generation are some of the most educated in the world.
Yet, in Korea’s miraculous rise to economic prosperity, it’s also meant that it has become very competitive and not everyone has been able to take advantage of Korea’s education system and subsequently can fall through the cracks. Social problems facing the young generation have frequently been the subject of films, not least independent Korean cinema –Hail to Hell (2022), Young Adult Matters (2020), After My Death (2017), Reach for the SKY (2015) and others.
Commercial films too have tackled the difficulties of Korea’s youth. This is not surprising since traditionally, it’s young people who frequently go to the cinema. Targeting those in their teens and 20s has been key to a film’s success. This is why a genre of youth-orientated films emerged in the mid-1960s (The Barefooted Young (1964)), mid-1970s (The March of Fools (1975)), and mid-1980s (Whale Hunting (1984)).
This generation was also the subject of several notable films in the 1990s and 2000s as the industry entered a new era of so-called “planned films.” Producer Shin Chul ushered in these films with Kang Woo-suk’s Happiness Does Not Come in Grades (1989), a feature about a high school student who commits suicide owing to pressure to obtain high marks. Shin interviewed over 500 students and incorporated the research into the screenplay.
This week we delve into eight films that center on young characters beginning with the 1960s (The Barefooted Young) and then moving on to films in the 1970s (The March of Fools), ‘80s (Whale Hunting), ‘90s (Beat) and 2000s (Waikiki Brothers, Take Care of My Cat, Once upon a Time in High school).
The Barefooted Young (1964)
One of the earlier films to lure in young people at the cinema was Kim Ki-duk’s The Barefooted Young. Released in 1964 during the golden age of Korean cinema - admissions would hit a remarkable 178 million in 1969, a number that wouldn’t be surpassed until 2005 - it depicts a relationship that develops between a gang member (Shin Seong-il) and the daughter of a diplomat (Um Aing-ran), Johanna.
The issue of social class and how it becomes a source of significant tension remains a popular theme in television dramas. Here it’s amusing at times as the two characters influence each other – Shin Seong-il’s character starts listening to classical music in a bar while the young woman starts reading magazines instead of the bible, staying out late and lying to her mother.
Inevitably, though, by the conclusion – as so often is the case in films dealing with characters embracing more liberal values during this period (Madame Freedom) – it can only head in one direction as it becomes reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet when they commit suicide together.
The seminal film also makes reference to popular American culture and English, which was striking because this new generation of viewers born around the time of the liberation (1945) were now being influenced by Western culture.
The March of Fools (1975)
In contrast to the 1960s, the film industry had entered a decline, as censorship intensified making it increasingly difficult to make films that accurately captured the 1970s. Ha Gil-jong, considered as one of Korea’s most talented filmmakers during the 1970s, ran into censorship woes with The March of Fools that follows two university students (Yun Mun-seop, Ha Jae-young) who encounter an increasingly oppressive society as a permeating sense of pessimism forces them to confront the reality that there was no bright future for this young generation.
The film begins with an abundance of energy with the young men escaping from a policeman who is attempting to apprehend them for their longhair. Humorous and engrossing, it captures their rebellious spirit but by the film’s closing scenes the pair are dejected with Young-chul (Ha Jae-young) cycling off a cliff into the East Sea.
The film’s problems with censorship are documented in Kim Hong-joon’s insightful video essay My Korean Cinema (1979) that compares the original theatrical release version with the one that is more complete (the scenes that were cut were reinserted). This version was screened to students in 1979 after the sudden death of Ha Gil-jong who died from a stroke at the age of 38.
Whale Hunting (1984)
One of the masterworks of the 1980s was Bae Chang-ho’s Whale Hunting that was released in 1984. Enormously affecting, it accrued over 426,000 admissions in Seoul becoming the biggest hit of the year. It depicts the journey of a disillusioned college student (Kim Soo-chul) who runs away from home to embark on a new adventure of whale hunting. He comes into contact with an animated beggar (Ahn Sung-ki). They then meet a mute prostitute (Lee Mi-sook) and help her to find her hometown.
One of the film’s key strengths is its characters, they are misfits. Ostracized from society, they find comfort in each other and find happiness in helping each other – it’s a journey of friendship and companionship.
Bae Chang-ho was one of the most successful directors of the 1980s making melodramas that appealed to the young generation. His films of this period were enjoyable, relatable and highly accomplished reflecting a mood that the demographic were feeling at the time.
Springtime of Mimi and Cheol-su (1987)
Also a hit but this time in 1987 was Lee Kyu-hyung’s comedy-drama Springtime of Mimi and Cheol-su that pulled in 260,000 viewers. Starring the late Kang Soo-yeon – she was also the lead in Im Kwon-taek’s The Surrogate Womb that was released in the same year - she plays a young woman who hangs out with a fellow college student called Cheolsu (Park Joong-hoon). She’s not interested in having a relationship with him; instead she dates a medical student. But this all changes when the close friend of the pair who calls himself Treasure Island (Kim Sae-joon) collapses on a night out drinking and ends up in hospital.
Tonally, the film is interesting. For much of the narrative it is very comical, signifying perhaps a more buoyant mood on university campuses – somewhat different compared to The March of Fools where there was a sense of despondency, especially towards the end. But as soon as we discover the severity of the friend’s ailing health, the film takes a more somber turn.
Beat (1997)
Re-released this month (March 6th) together with City of the Rising Sun (March 13th), Kim Sung-su’s Beat became an iconic film of the 1990s. Partly inspired by Jung Woo-sung’s (the film’s lead) childhood as a high school dropout, it follows three friends who all leave school without graduating.
Films in the 1990s were significant for how directors would experiment with genre to tell stories. This is true of Beat that akin to Lee Chang-dong’s Green Fish (released three months earlier) would focus on young men and their plight in a rapidly evolving society through an innovative genre-driven story.
Vibrant and stylish, the images of Jung Woo-sung on his motorcycle would be some of the most enduring of the decade in Korean cinema. It symbolized the freedom that many of the young generation were seeking amidst rapid social change.
Waikiki Brothers (2001)
Also centering on male characters is Yim Soon-rye’s widely acclaimed Waikiki Brothers released in 2001. The film featuring Lee Eol, Hwang Jung-min and Park Won-sang follows a band who end up in the hometown of one of the members. The town that once hosted a popular resort in the 1980s is now home to the Waikiki Hotel where the band start performing.
The leader singer Sang-woo (Lee Eol) and the band face a series of disappointments and challenges but the film conveys a generation who remain determined to follow their dreams and passions despite the obstacles that stand in their way.
It was Yim’s sophomore feature, which solidified her status as one of Korea’s leading female directors who has tackled a whole range of genres during her career. The film, which opened the Jeonju International Film Festival was produced by Myung Films headed by Shim Jae-myung (JSA , The Quiet Family) – one of the most talented producers of her generation and a significant figure in the rise of Korean cinema in the 1990s and 2000s.
Take Care of My Cat (2001)
Another notable female director making an impression in 2001 was Jeong Jae-eun whose feature debut Take Care of My Cat began its long journey on the film festival circuit at the Busan International Film Festival before screening at festivals in Rotterdam, Berlin, Hong Kong and others.
The coming-of-age film set in Incheon follows a group of five young women a year after they graduate from high school but they find themselves on different paths that ultimately affect how they see each other.
The relationships that are formed at schools in Korea have often remained long after graduation but Take Care of My Cat demonstrates how the anxieties of entering society as young women at the beginning of the 21st Century would have a profound impact on the young protagonists and those around them.
Jeong who has a keen interest in the urban environment through her documentaries (Talking Architect (2011) City: Hall (2013)) uses architecture and cinematography to capture the characters’ local environment – the industrial town of Incheon, the metropolis of Seoul – as they struggle to find their places within it.
The film starring Bae Doona, Lee Yo-won, Ok Ji-yong and Lee Eun-shil is also significant for being one of the first Korean films to be theatrically released in the UK.
Once upon a Time in High school (2004)
One location that features heavily in Korean films targeting the young generation are schools both in commercial films (Whispering Corridors (1998), Sunny (2011) Hot Young Bloods (2014), In Our Prime (2022) and independent cinema (Pluto (2014), After My Death (2017)). As seen with films like Whispering Corridors they can vividly depict not just the education system in Korea but also wider social issues.
This is also true of Yoo Ha’s action-filled Once upon a Time in High school that’s largely set in and around a school notorious for its violence and bullying located in Seoul. Kwon Sang-woo plays a student who is transferred there where he witnesses students being beat up by bullies and teachers and finds solace in a female student (Han Ga-in) he meets on the bus. However, his friend (Lee Jung-jin) is also interested in her that sets up a love triangle between them.
Set in the tumultuous late 1970s, the film is relentless in its depiction of school violence. Students attack each other in and out of the classroom, the strict teachers echoing military commanders frequently beat the teenagers. Brutality and authoritarianism is at the center of education itself – Yoo Ha, known for his uncompromising approach to his narratives in films such as Marriage is a Crazy Thing, makes a mockery of it all in captivating fashion.
Edited by Shim Eunha
Written by Jason Bechervaise
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