Seminar on Korean Cinema's History

I attended a free seminar sponsored by the Korea Foundation Cultural Center, which is the sixth of the seven-lecture series intended for foreigners in Korea. It is designed to provide deeper insights into Korean culture and history. I personally learned about the seminar from a website that I would occasionally visit, whenever I look for something new to do here. The Korea4Expats site has been so informational for me, even giving me updates on possible personal ventures here.

The Korea Foundation Cultural Center is accessible using the subway, dropping off at the City Hall (Green, Line 2) station, and going out at Exit 8. I arrived five minutes before the 7 o’clock set time, and when I arrived, there were already people seated, though the speaker was still not around. By the door where snacks were being offered, I approached a lady and gave a “Are-you-Filipino?” greeting only to be answered by a “No-I’m-Indonesian” line. Haha, that’s it. So Filipinos and Indonesians do really look alike. There have been a few instances where people would approach and ask if I were Indonesian. And well, of course I am Filipino.

The topic was all about Korean Cinema, a topic I personally thought was interesting among the seven lecture topics that they prepared. The speaker was Lee Young-Lan, who is more importantly a dance performer, than a movie actress. Nevertheless, she was able to tell something about her acting stints through movie snippets that she let us watch. There was “Petal”, a 1996 movie where the speaker played the role of the lead character's mother, who died in the famous Kwangju Massacre in South Korea. Here is the scene where the mother died. The speaker obviously chose this cut in the movie because she was in it, haha.



Korean cinema, as the speaker relayed, didn’t really get that much support from the government before, which is not surprising since the country underwent dictatorship. Films back then were therefore coined as “university films”— films by amateur, but nevertheless creative Korean minds. Some of the movie makers at that time didn’t even go to a formal university to learn the art. But time fortunately changes, and a "new wave" of films sprouted and slowly switched from the heavy, war-inflicted movie themes to issues about family and relationships, and society in general.

On a personal note, I have always noticed how Korean women seem to be regarded differently in Korean film plots (movie or TV). I don't want to outrightly say that they are treated much lower than men, but I just cannot help but remember how my mother would really patronize those Korean drama series in the Philippines that show stories of women struggling with marriages, and being the sacrificial type in some adulterous relationship. It is something for writers to think of such plot on Korean women-- of being cheated by their husbands, yet tolerating such act by some personal sacrifices. Of course, the Philippines is more recently peppered by the light comedies and romantic themes that the Koreans export to the country, for us to notice this slightly morose side of things.