| Since the 1990s, South Korean cinema has emerged as the latest noteworthy national cinema by virtue of both its commercial and critical success. In this dissertation, I examine the role of a new generation of filmmakers in bringing out a second film renaissance in Korea. This new generation of directors can be identified as the 386 Generation---born in the 1960s, enrolled in college during the 1980s, and trained in film schools domestic and abroad. While in college during the 1980s, members of the 386 Generation witnessed the uprising in Kwang-ju, endured the dictatorship of then president Chun Doo-hwan, and became politically active by being involved in demonstrations and pro-labor movements.; When the 386 Generation directors debuted in the early 1990s, the Korean industry was in the process of restructuring under pressures from the U.S. to lift protective measures and allow direct distribution by major U.S. studios. The efforts to cope with this crisis were bifurcated. The Korean film industry attempted to compete with Hollywood cinema by producing commercially viable films, including blockbusters and new genre films, while directors such as Lee Chang-dong, Kim Ki-duk, and Hong Sang-soo found a niche in the art cinema circuit.; In this project, I underscore the specificities of contemporary Korean cinema by focusing on both commercially driven films and art cinema. I delineate how the ambitions and film expertise of the 386 Generation directors met the industrial demands of both conglomerates and a new generation of financiers backed up by venture capital. I explore how the shared experiences of the 386 Generation are manifest in generic norms and constraints, with specific directors adopting, incorporating, replacing, and reworking the generic norms of Hollywood cinema and other national cinemas, such as Hong Kong cinema. Finally, I also attempt to examine how festival-driven directors continue and depart from the previous generation of art cinema directors, domestic and abroad, in terms of both film style and theme. |
