There are both domestic and international factors that national gangster film kept flourishing in South Korea since 1990s.
To start with, from socio-political aspect, long under a single man’s dictatoship, the other men and women had no other choice but to obey. So when Park Chung-hee’s government ended, there was an urge to restore masculinity, which had lost in the trauma of military era. The gang, portrayed with a strong virility, were then being adored.
Moreover, from cultural aspect, Korea was receiving a more culturally-suitable kind of gangster films from Hong Kong than from Hollywood. Hollywood’s gangster films had flourished for decades, and in 1960s and 1970s, the gangster films in South Korea somewhat modelled after them. These gangster film did not gain large success because of cultural facts. Instead of pure violence and chase entirely for desire and money, Asians tended to be more interested in how people from the gang thought while in a decision of violence. Hong Kong gangster film, flourished in 1980s, provided this mix kind of action film and melodrama for whole Asian audiences. The scene how Dong-su and Joon-seok turned to understand each other after their breakup is common in Hong Kong gangster films. When Joon-seok is assigned to kill Dong-su and JS’s subordinate asks when to carry out, Joon-seok says never. That is the embodiment of yi. As a “hero” with the faith of yi, assassinate will be implemented towards his friend.
Last but not least, from economic aspect, after the period of Four Tigers and Miracle on the Han River, in post-1997, South Korea was experiencing a severe economic crisis. No one’s future is guaranteed, even those who receive good education like Sang-taek. Therefore, some people seek for money and reputation through joining gangsterdom as Dong-su did. Since at that time, importing movies from Hollywood was only possible for large film companies under a strict censorship of film imports, smaller film companies changed to focus on Hong Kong films as an alternative. During the 1980s, after the dominance of wuxia film in 1960s and kung-fu film in 1970s, gangster movies become prevailing in Hong Kong film industry. HK gangster films achieved huge success and went into the Korean market well. When these gangster movies were imported, they received large profits and somewhat simulated local Korean film directors to create gangster films which had not been produced since the 1970s. In the 1990s, the number of Hong Kong action films declined; the need from audiences for gangster films further propelled the production of Korean’s national gangster film. In the meantime, because Korean film industry changed from artist-leading to producer-leading, money always counted as the priority, even surpass movie’s artistic values. Releasing companies required consistent lucrative creations, so once a gangster film succeeded, others followed. Friend marked the starting point and since then, Korean gangster films were produced in an assembly line.
高清
