TenAsia reporter Choi Ji-ye tells the story of the movie. We analyze every aspect of movies through live on-site reporting and write fun articles with sharp perspectives. Korean movies have fallen into a slump. I thought I was going to be swayed by American blockbusters, but I also can't get enough of Japanese animation.
As quarantine guidelines related to COVID-19 were relaxed, the theater district, which had been frozen for a long time, seemed to be gradually coming to life. Accordingly, it was expected that the Korean film market would also expand and become active in earnest, but all Korean films that are shown on screens after the new year of 2023 are losing face by losing their momentum.
The first Korean films of the year, 'Negotiation' (director Im Sun-rye, cumulative audience 1.72 million) and 'Ghost' (director Lee Hae-young, cumulative audience 660,000), which were released side by side on January 18, were dishonorably released with scores far below the break-even point. 'Negotiation' was heavily promoted with actors such as Hwang Jung-min and Hyun Bin, and 'Ghost' was promoted by Lee Ha-nui, Park So-dam, and Sol Kyeong-gu, but they were forced to leave the screen and head to IP TV without even seeing the original.
Although the industry's analysis of the box office failure of the two works varies, there is a common opinion. 'Negotiation', which deals with the kidnapping incident of Saemmul Church while on missionary work in Afghanistan, initially had the limitation of dealing with a subject matter that was difficult for many audiences to sympathize with. In the case of 'Ghost', the early part of the movie, which was expected to be a secret mystery drama, was evaluated as failing to capture the audience's attention because it went by without tension.
Afterwards, 'Count' (directed by Kwon Hyuk-jae) was released on February 22nd, but it is struggling and does not make it into the top 5 daily box office. 'Confidential' (directed by Lee Won-tae) and 'Puppy' (directed by Kim Joo-hwan), which were shown in theaters side by side on March 1, are also not in a good mood even though they are in the early stages of release. In the case of 'Confidential', actors with a significant presence such as Jo Jin-woong, Lee Seong-min, and Kim Moo-yeol participated, but it is being criticized for being an obvious narrative that is indistinguishable from existing crime dramas.
However, the above is only a problem faced by the global film market and cannot be the reason for the slump in Korean films. People still don't hesitate to wear 3D glasses in theaters to see 'Avatar: Path of Water' (directed by James Cameron), and they visit theaters to watch 'The First Slam Dunk' (directed by Takehiko Inoue) for the first time. I even go to the movie theater to rewatch 'Titanic' (directed by James Cameron), which was released 25 years ago. In any case, if there is something that appeals to me, if it is fun and moving, I will watch it.
For this reason, I cannot help but make a fundamental point. Recently, Korean movies have grown in terms of production costs and scale, and CG technology has improved dramatically, but the content is not that good. What kind of emotion and pleasure can audiences feel in a work that has been pointed out as problematic for its obvious plot development and poor structure? Is there any point in wrapping contents that are neither novel nor ingenious in expensive and pretty packaging?
Korean movies have not developed over the past two years due to COVID-19. Failure to move forward means that you have regressed. Since movies are made according to the inertia of the past, they lag behind trends and there is no trace of proper experimentation and challenge. During the pandemic, opportunities to access various content through OTT have increased, and the accessibility of overseas works has also increased. Audience awareness has increased, but Korean movies are stagnant.
A film official told Ten Asia, "Movies are content that you pay for a ticket to watch, so if there are bad reviews and rumors, audiences immediately give up watching," and added, "Audiences who have become more conscious through OTT are less concerned about the quality of the movie itself." "We are more focused. Since there are many alternatives through OTT, there seems to be a trend of considering the quality and completeness of the film more," he commented.
Korean movies need to wake up. In order not to lose out to the overwhelming number of OTT works, foreign blockbusters with a huge level of technology, and Japanese movie content with a fan base, we need to go back to the beginning and focus on the value of real movies.
Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr