[KS] Films dealing with the Colonial Period

[Hyung Pai]

Dear Richard,
i saw a funny one about "baseball" called YMCA with Song Kang-ho on  
DVD. Because it is a comedy, it has some stock characters' portrayal  
of the evil Japanese official but there are some plot twists such as  
the friendship between the Japanese baseball team leader and a good  
looking aristocratic young man who ultimately turns out of be a  
secret anti-Japanese activist. There are also two bland American  
missionary type characters as well as a "westernized" educated young  
woman who becomes the coach (Again as in many TV dramas picked for  
her looks and not acting skills).
The computer graphics of old Seoul were cartoonish at times (it may  
have been deliberate) but still quite nostalgic. It is not really a  
great movie but I think undergraduates will find many interesting  
viewpoints to discuss on culture change, generational conflicts, role  
of women and adaptation to westernization and esp. the theme of the  
introduction of baseball is done in a loving manner. However, it  
skipped the impact of Christianity completely. From a researcher  
angle, I also found that the images of Seoul recreated was  
fascinating since many were virtual reproductions of camera shots,  
panaromas and angles taken by early Japanese architectural historians  
and anthropologist (Sekino Tadashi, Torii Ryuzo) images of colonial  
Korea at the turn of the century.  Their camera lense in my opinion  
deliberately contrasted the old decaying Yangban houses and quaint  
"backward" customs with the symbols of "Japanese Modernity and  
civilization" such as new technological innovations including trams  
and new western buildings .
Finally I want to thank the members for sending me the movie related  
links which I hope to get to during the school break .

On Nov 4, 2005, at 12:27 PM, Richard McBride wrote:

> Dear Membes of the Korean Studies discussion list:  I would  
> appreciate any suggestions about Korean films dealing with the  
> colonial period that portray Korean interpretations about the  
> period.  I would be most interested in knowing the titles of films  
> that have English subtitles.
>
> Best
> Rick McBride
> Washington University in St. Louis
>
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