Film, drama star Korean presidents
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Whatever their intentions, anybody attempting to pry open Korea's recent history opens a Pandora's Box. The clamor over declassified documents on secret reparations agreements between Korea and Japan serves as the latest proof of the dangers involved in reopening the history books.
Despite the risks, individuals in the film and television industry are taking a stab at historical subjects long prohibited from being portrayed on the screen. One man in particular seems to have drawn writers, directors and producers like moths to a flame: the elusive, at times revered and at others despised, Park Chung-hee.
Presidents were once Korea's untouchables, addressed solely as "gakha", or "Your Excellency", after assuming their seat of power at the Blue House. Their power remained uncontested - until a military coup or assassination dethroned them.
Director Im Sang-soo's new film, "Those People Back Then - The President's Last Bang", recasts the assassination of Park Chung-hee, also known as the October 26 Incident, as a black comedy. Im is known as a risque director who made his debut in 1998 with "Girls' Night Out", a film that explored three women's sexual appetites. "A Good Lawyer's Wife", a film about a family's infidelities had Moon So-ri in the lead role and brought Im attention on the international film festival circuit in 2003.
His latest film, expected to hit theaters Feb. 3, looks at the personalities involved in the incident where Kim Jae-gyu, presidential confidante and then chief of the Korea Central Intelligence Agency, assassinated Park. Baek Yoon-sik stars as Kim and Han Suk-kyu plays his right-hand man.
"The Fifth Republic", a political drama airing on Munwha Broadcasting Corporation beginning in March, looks back at the situation of the Korean government following Park's assassination, when Chun Doo-whan, Roh Tae-woo, Jung Ho-yong and a group of Army generals seized power on December 12, 1979 by mobilizing their military units.
Written by Yoo Jeong-soo and directed by Lim Tae-woo, the drama stars Lee Duk-hwa as Chun Doo-whan, the military man who later became Korea's 11th and 12th president and ushered in the country's "fifth republic". Lee has been causing a stir among Netizens for the decision to cast off his ever-present, flamboyant wig and bare his head for the first time on television to play Chun. They applauded his efforts, saying that his "charisma shined forth" without his toupee.
Causing more concern than Lee's fake hair are the questions over the historical accuracy and objectivity of both the film and television productions. Im Sang-soo has recently come under fire from Park Chung-hee's son, Park Ji-man, who accused the filmmaker of slandering his father. Local newspapers reported that Park Ji-man demanded that the film be barred from theaters, because of its inaccurate portrayal of the former president. In the film, Park Chung-hee is seen speaking Japanese and shown listening to "enka", or traditional Japanese songs.
Scriptwriter Yoo Jeong-soo has not been far from the flames either. While producers of "The Fifth Republic" claimed that they would "portray the objective truth as it was" in their series, complaints have been lodged that the drama has shown events in a biased light. While preparing for the series, Yoo was said to have spent six months in Gwangju researching and gathering materials on the May 18 pro-democracy uprising that took place in the captial of South Jeolla Province in 1980. Although he had not yet been sworn in as president, Chun was seen as being instrumental in cracking down on the city's protestors.
In contrast, Yoo allegedly failed to meet with a single member of the initiators of the real fifth republic.
Hur Hwa-pyung, an officer and aide who worked closely with Chun at the time of the military coup, said that he had not received a single phone call from the director.
Hur told a local daily, "Is it possible to make a drama without calling the real parties concerned over the telephone even once and instead relying on a record of events created from political reinterpretations? If this drama distorts the truth, I am considering taking legal measures".
Japanese collaboration, secret membership into banned parties and even a centuries-old ancient kingdom can become fodder for present-day political battles fought between bickering parties. If anything, the continual outcries over distorted images and possibly tarnished reputations point to the fact that the events of a quarter century ago remain alive and pertinent.
It remains to be seen how, if at all, these inventive interpretations created by a new generation of filmmakers, directors and producers will change the way audiences perceive the events of Korea's turbulent past, and the people who shaped them.
By Iris Moon
Despite the risks, individuals in the film and television industry are taking a stab at historical subjects long prohibited from being portrayed on the screen. One man in particular seems to have drawn writers, directors and producers like moths to a flame: the elusive, at times revered and at others despised, Park Chung-hee.
Presidents were once Korea's untouchables, addressed solely as "gakha", or "Your Excellency", after assuming their seat of power at the Blue House. Their power remained uncontested - until a military coup or assassination dethroned them.
Director Im Sang-soo's new film, "Those People Back Then - The President's Last Bang", recasts the assassination of Park Chung-hee, also known as the October 26 Incident, as a black comedy. Im is known as a risque director who made his debut in 1998 with "Girls' Night Out", a film that explored three women's sexual appetites. "A Good Lawyer's Wife", a film about a family's infidelities had Moon So-ri in the lead role and brought Im attention on the international film festival circuit in 2003.
His latest film, expected to hit theaters Feb. 3, looks at the personalities involved in the incident where Kim Jae-gyu, presidential confidante and then chief of the Korea Central Intelligence Agency, assassinated Park. Baek Yoon-sik stars as Kim and Han Suk-kyu plays his right-hand man.
"The Fifth Republic", a political drama airing on Munwha Broadcasting Corporation beginning in March, looks back at the situation of the Korean government following Park's assassination, when Chun Doo-whan, Roh Tae-woo, Jung Ho-yong and a group of Army generals seized power on December 12, 1979 by mobilizing their military units.
Written by Yoo Jeong-soo and directed by Lim Tae-woo, the drama stars Lee Duk-hwa as Chun Doo-whan, the military man who later became Korea's 11th and 12th president and ushered in the country's "fifth republic". Lee has been causing a stir among Netizens for the decision to cast off his ever-present, flamboyant wig and bare his head for the first time on television to play Chun. They applauded his efforts, saying that his "charisma shined forth" without his toupee.
Causing more concern than Lee's fake hair are the questions over the historical accuracy and objectivity of both the film and television productions. Im Sang-soo has recently come under fire from Park Chung-hee's son, Park Ji-man, who accused the filmmaker of slandering his father. Local newspapers reported that Park Ji-man demanded that the film be barred from theaters, because of its inaccurate portrayal of the former president. In the film, Park Chung-hee is seen speaking Japanese and shown listening to "enka", or traditional Japanese songs.
Scriptwriter Yoo Jeong-soo has not been far from the flames either. While producers of "The Fifth Republic" claimed that they would "portray the objective truth as it was" in their series, complaints have been lodged that the drama has shown events in a biased light. While preparing for the series, Yoo was said to have spent six months in Gwangju researching and gathering materials on the May 18 pro-democracy uprising that took place in the captial of South Jeolla Province in 1980. Although he had not yet been sworn in as president, Chun was seen as being instrumental in cracking down on the city's protestors.
In contrast, Yoo allegedly failed to meet with a single member of the initiators of the real fifth republic.
Hur Hwa-pyung, an officer and aide who worked closely with Chun at the time of the military coup, said that he had not received a single phone call from the director.
Hur told a local daily, "Is it possible to make a drama without calling the real parties concerned over the telephone even once and instead relying on a record of events created from political reinterpretations? If this drama distorts the truth, I am considering taking legal measures".
Japanese collaboration, secret membership into banned parties and even a centuries-old ancient kingdom can become fodder for present-day political battles fought between bickering parties. If anything, the continual outcries over distorted images and possibly tarnished reputations point to the fact that the events of a quarter century ago remain alive and pertinent.
It remains to be seen how, if at all, these inventive interpretations created by a new generation of filmmakers, directors and producers will change the way audiences perceive the events of Korea's turbulent past, and the people who shaped them.
By Iris Moon
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