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    The Hidden Gems: The Undiscovered Best in Korean Cinema
    The Hidden Gems: The Undiscovered Best in Korean Cinema
    The Hidden Gems: The Undiscovered Best in Korean Cinema
    Ebook166 pages45 minutes

    The Hidden Gems: The Undiscovered Best in Korean Cinema

    By Hyounjeong Yoo

    2.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Film lovers from all around the world applauded Bong Joon-ho's achievement of winning the 2020 Academy Award for Best Picture with his film Parasite. This was the first time a non-English film won Best Picture in Oscar history.
    Although his success has brought a lot of novel attention to the realm of Korean film, this genre is still somewhat alienated from the circle of world cinema.

    As part of this important movement in Korean film, this book can act as a guide to Western audiences who are interested in Korean movies but are unsure where to start. This book includes Korean films that were released between the early 2000s and present.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTellwell Talent
    Release dateSep 2, 2020
    ISBN9780228838548
    The Hidden Gems: The Undiscovered Best in Korean Cinema
    Author

    Hyounjeong Yoo

    Hyounjeong Yoo was born in South Korea and worked at several prestigious universities as an instructor.Initially, she was keen on East Asian language and literature. She had researched 15th-century Japanese language and the relationship between other East Asian languages. Her academic interests expanded into the field of film studies and the exploration of classical cinema. After she moved to Canada, she started discovering Canadian and Indigenous cinema, which was entirely new to her.Her goal is to continue writing about East Asian cinema to provide more insights to Western spectators, and to learn more about Indigenous filmmakers and their perspective as a visual minority.

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    • 2/5
      Ok, so the book consists of a list of movies, some quite good ones, but that's about it. If you want to know what to watch next, please spend that 10 minutes on the book, but be aware that you won't find much more in it. The empty pages and poorly added posters may be confusing as well.

    Book preview

    The Hidden Gems - Hyounjeong Yoo

    Introduction

    Eight years ago, I landed at the Ottawa International Airport in the middle of the night with two bags of luggage and my 14-year-old son. You can’t imagine how hard life was for a person with no English language skills, no friends, and no clue about the city’s winter weather. Although Canada has since embraced me, I have faced enormous obstacles in my fight for survival. Whenever I feel lonely or discouraged, though, I visit my nearby tiny and cozy local cinema, the ByTowne. The venue itself is charmingly old, a comfortable change of pace from the massive chain cinemas that makes me feel at home. What I like best of all is their excellent selection of international films. Whenever I go, I encounter wonderful films and people, people who are also enamoured of films from all over the world and never shy away from the two-inch so-called barrier, the subtitle.

    A few decades ago, Korean cinema hadn’t achieved wide recognition on the world film market. Since the early 2000s, however, this situation has changed considerably, as beginning in the late 90s a number of promising Korean filmmakers have pushed a new movement in the country, a renaissance of Korean cinema. Korean cinema is now a striking example of non-Western international cinematic success, as thanks to increasing numbers of moviegoers and domestic films produced, South Korea has become one of the world’s major film markets. While participating in the graduate Film Studies program at Carleton University, I participated in promoting an annual Korean film festival held every September in Ottawa, hoping to attract both dedicated film buffs and the general public. I found that there exists a large potential audience for Korean cinema, but that many people sadly lack the resources to encourage and guide their exploration of Korean films.

    Earlier this year, Bong Joon-ho’s satirical film Parasite became the first non-English film to win Best Picture in the 91-year history of the Academy Awards. In the spirit of this increased mainstream awareness of Korean cinema, and hoping to keep the momentum going, I would like to introduce a selection of Korean films, which I would call hidden gems, to Western audiences. For those who are interested in exploring Korean films but don’t know where to begin, this book provides some information and cultural context to guide you through Korean films that are not always discussed widely in the West. I have included 36 films released from 2000 to today, focusing on Korean cinema’s recent renaissance, and I couldn’t be more excited to bring the vibrant energy of these films from South Korea to western world. By sharing my wonderful experiences as an audience member of these fascinating films, I hope to inspire even more love and enthusiasm for Korean cinema among passionate cinephiles everywhere.

    About the Author

    Hyounjeong Yoo was born in South Korea and has worked as an instructor at several universities. Intitially, her academic interests were in East Asian languages and literature, and she has researched 15th century Japanese and the relationships between various East Asian languages. Recently, she has been studying film, focusing primarily on world cinema rather than contemporary Hollywood. After moving to Canada, she was introduced to a new cinematic world through the work of Indigenous filmmakers, which she had never encountered before. She would love to further explore the intricacies of Indigenous film and cinemas produced from a minority perspective, as well as to write more about East Asian cinemas to provide insight to Western spectators.

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