Korean Cinema, Nationalism, and Gender Politics: Two Reviews
This paper summarizes and analyzes two academic articles on contemporary Korean cinema. The first, by Sung Kyung Kim, examines how the Korean blockbusters Shiri (1999) and JSA (2000) blend Hollywood spectacle with nationalist sentiment to appeal to domestic audiences during a period of cultural renaissance. The second, by Kim Soyoung, critiques Peppermint Candy (2000) for its male-centered retelling of the Gwangju Uprising, arguing that the film erases female trauma and promotes a homosocial, politically progressive narrative that functions as a form of gendered historiography. Together, the two reviews illuminate the intersection of global film trends, national identity, and political representation in Korean cinema.
- Overview of the Korean Cinema Renaissance: Korean cinema blends Hollywood style with local identity
- Hollywood Influence and Nationalist Sentiment in Shiri and JSA: Nationalism and Western film trends shape Korean blockbusters
- Audience Appeal and the Blockbuster Phenomenon: Films succeed by balancing Korean themes with global spectacle
- Peppermint Candy and Gendered Historiography: Film reframes Gwangju Uprising through male-centered narrative
- Homosocial Narrative and the Erasure of Female Trauma: Homosocial storytelling erases women's historical experience
- Cinematic Representation as Ideological Instrument: Cinema deployed to serve specific ideological interests
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What makes this paper effective
- Concisely captures the central argument of each source article without overextending or misrepresenting the scholars' claims.
- Draws a meaningful thematic connection between the two reviewed articles — both deal with how Korean cinema negotiates identity, whether nationally or through gender — giving the paper coherence beyond a simple list of summaries.
- Balances descriptive summary with analytical observation, noting, for example, that Peppermint Candy functions as a "decoded form of totalitarian theory" rather than merely describing its plot.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates source-driven analytical summary: the writer distills complex scholarly arguments into accessible prose while preserving the key theoretical vocabulary (e.g., "homosocial narrative," "political historiography," "cinematic pleasure"). This technique is essential in literature review and article response assignments, where accurate representation of a source's argument matters as much as the student's own commentary.
Structure breakdown
The paper is organized into two clearly delineated sections, each corresponding to one scholarly article. Within each section, the writer first identifies the article's central claim, then unpacks the supporting arguments in sequence, mirroring the logic of the original source. This parallel structure makes the paper easy to follow and signals a command of both texts. The conclusion of each section ties the argument back to broader questions of representation and identity in Korean cinema.
Overview of the Korean Cinema Renaissance
In "Renaissance of Korean National Cinema as a Terrain of Negotiation and Contention between the Global and the Local: Analyzing Two Korean Blockbusters, Shiri (1999) and JSA (2000)," Sung Kyung Kim analyzes the state of nationalistic cinema in Korea as it borrows film trends from Hollywood in order to carve out a better foothold among Korean audiences. Those audiences have developed a taste for Hollywood fare but still want to see local sentiment expressed on screen. As a result, both Shiri and JSA look Hollywood but feel Korean — films working on several levels to affect Korean audiences and widely regarded as part of a renaissance in Korean filmmaking.
Hollywood Influence and Nationalist Sentiment in Shiri and JSA
Kim examines the way nationalistic sentiment functions in Korean cinema by serving as an underlying guide in the overall movement and moral of the story. Korea's financial crisis of the 1990s generated animosity toward the West, and a concurrent relaxation of censorship in film allowed audiences to embrace their cultural cinema — not only because it reflected a nationalistic sensibility, but also because it carried a recognizable Hollywood feel. These two forces, national feeling and global style, combined to make films like Shiri and JSA uniquely resonant with domestic viewers.
Audience Appeal and the Blockbuster Phenomenon
Kim also examines the textual dimensions and the specific enjoyment that Korean audiences derive from Shiri and JSA. JSA is a film about friends from North and South Korea, touching directly on Korean history and culture. Shiri similarly concerns the conflict between North and South, centering on a love affair between two secret agents. Both films engage with the enduring division of Korean society, making them deeply meaningful to Korean audiences — yet both also embrace the Hollywood spectacle style, contributing to their broad popularity. This dual appeal accounts for their blockbuster status: the texts reflect real Korean concerns while the style aligns with global filmmaking trends and Hollywood's international influence.
Peppermint Candy and Gendered Historiography
In "Do Not Include Me in Your 'Us': Peppermint Candy and the Politics of Difference," Kim Soyoung argues that Peppermint Candy (2000), a film dealing with the Gwangju Uprising, reflects male trauma rather than the broader, general trauma of Korean society. The film obfuscates the trauma experienced by women and promotes male-gendered trauma as a supposedly "progressive" representation of history. In doing so, it functions as a gendered example of political historiography — a retelling of history shaped by current political ideologies rather than a comprehensive account of what occurred.
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