Park Chan-wook Research Articles

Forging transnational feminist solidarity in neo-Victorian contexts: The case of Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden (2016)

ABSTRACT This article examines the portrayal of transnational feminist solidarity as a result of spatial movement and contextual shift in Park Chan-wook’s 2016 film The Handmaiden. In adapting Sarah Waters’s neo-Victorian novel Fingersmith (2002) and shifting to a transnational location, the South Korean The Handmaiden metaphorically evokes transnational feminist discourse and dramatises the establishment of transnational feminist solidarity by exploring interrelated past and present, local and global, concerns. This paper argues that The Handmaiden recovers an East Asian history of political tension and fragmentation that also impacts transnational East Asian feminist politics. Drawing from global neo-Victorianism and transnational feminism, I read the film as endorsing a transnational feminist politics of solidarity and healing. Its connection with Fingersmith, a text with distinct feminist concerns, facilitates the transnationalisation of feminism. Ultimately, this paper suggests that transnational feminist solidarity emerges through the intersectionality of the protagonists’ struggles, as they jointly resist their male oppressors.

Under- and Hyper-Reading in Joint Security Area and Decision to Leave

This study investigates the ways in which Joint Security Area (2000) and Decision to Leave (2022) each deal with under-reading and hyper-reading, respectively. Under-reading substitutes surface phenomena for the undergirding structure or power, assuming that, under the surface, there is nothing to plumb. Hyper-reading, on the other hand, can be bifurcated into two modes: one is perceptively discerning what lies beyond the empirical data, and the other is erroneously supposing there is an underlying basis to what is seen, which is, in fact, nonexistent. My analysis shows that Park Chan-wook’s signature style of mise-en-scéne creation turns the extraordinary into the ordinary, not vice versa, demonstrating how this distinct mise-en-scene aesthetic circumvents both the error of under-reading and of hyper-reading. This article also examines how Decision to Leave employs and coopts the theatrical devices of lighting and solo asides to stress the staged qualities of given scenes. Whereas Joint Security Area subtly criticizes the under-reading practice, Decision to Leave centers on the ambivalence of hyper-reading. This study argues that Park’s two films probing of the theme of under- and hyper-reading instantiate the cinematic aesthetic of liminality par excellence.

Translation tools in multilingual Korean films: changing ideas of translation

ABSTRACT This article examines Bong Joon-ho's, Snowpiercer and Park Chan-wook's, Decision to Leave with a view to identifying how different languages are used for characterization and a narrative, and the extent to which the meanings encoded in the interplay of different languages in the film are delivered to the audiences relying exclusively on English subtitles. We focus on the role played by these different languages and a translation device (e.g. translation machines) appearing in films. We argue that both translation devices and different languages used are carefully designed and devised by the directors not only to contribute to audiences’ meaning-making processes and to enhance affective engagement with the film but also to challenge linguistic hierarchies. Translation machines are even used to defamiliarize languages used by characters and to maximize audiences’ experiences. Yet, these are not necessarily considered during translation, which may deprive audiences relying on subtitles of affective experiences. This study ultimately argues that the differing approaches to representing translation demonstrate different public understandings of translation.

The Portrayal of Women in Park Chan-wook’s Films— Using Decision To Leave as an Example

The “patriarchy” that has developed throughout Korean history, and human civilization as a whole, has lasted for millennia. This systematic, structured and unjust system of male domination over women has conferred a higher status, value and privilege on men. These institutions and behaviours form the conceptual framework of sexism, and at the heart of patriarchy is the maintenance and rationalisation of male privilege and power. Several of Park Chan-wook’s highly representative women’s films in recent years have stood up to observe society from a woman’s point of view, creating a new image of women. This essay takes director Table Chan-wook’s latest work, The Resolution to Break up, as an example, and discusses the image of women in Park Chan-wook’s films. Park Zan- wook creates a special and tense female image with the highly contrasting character of Song Seo-rae. Furthermore, he uses this unique female figure as a leading narrative to create a film that highly combines romance, thriller and suspense. As well as the main character Song Seo-rae, a typical oriental woman, she shows the consciousness of women’s self-awareness in modern society, facing up to her emotions and making choices in her relationships, who is no longer a traditional female figure who can be swayed by her emotions.

The "Gaze" Defect Behind Revenge: On the Ways of Female Revenge and Redemption in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

In today's film and television genres that show women fighting against the powerful, women's revenge films are gaining more and more attention. These films have some positive significance in showing women's sense of independence. However, the problems behind most female revenge films are still under consideration. This article will take "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance," one of "The Vengeance Trilogy" by the famous Korean director Park Chan-wook, as an example and use the theory of gaze to analyze the otherness of the female gaze embodied in the film; from the way the female protagonist, Geum-ja Lee, takes revenge, it will analyze the otherness of the third-world female culture behind the violent revenge in the film; the similarity of women's revenge dilemma, that is, the inevitable self-alienation or self-destruction of excellent and weak women, is discussed by analyzing Geum-ja's revenge and redemption at the end of the film. Ultimately, the film tries to raise the discourse of the other and present a genuinely feminist perspective and voice.

영화 음악으로서의 기존 음악(pre-existing music) 연구

In Park Chan-wook's <Decision to Leave>, pre-existing music is used in an important way. This study examines how the 4th movement of Mahler's <Symphony No. 5>, used in this film, was applied to the film as pre-existing music. To this end, we will look into what functional characteristics pre-existing music has when used in a movie, explain the meaning of 'three codes' as pre-existing music, and how these three codes are applied to <Decision to Leave> and interact with each other. found out what to do Among the three codes of pre-existing music, the 'cultural musical codes' is not subordinated to films and has its own independence and historical background. Understanding the historical background of pre-existing music will help to understand the meaning of the film and give depth of interpretation from various angles. Research has shown that it can. In planning film music and applying it to film images, it is necessary to consider and distinguish the unique characteristics of 'cultural musical codes' of composition and pre-existing music. Therefore, this study is expected to be a meaningful study in various experiments and developments in the field of film music.

<헤어질 결심>에 나타난 대립적 이분법과 아이러니와 번역

The paper examines the notion of irony and its literary effects, and then considers the opposite dichotomy of the film, Decision to Leave, which is a mountain and sea story between a man and a woman, in terms of characters, objects, props, settings, and OST. It also analyzes the paradoxes and ironies that arise from the fissure between the opposing dichotomies in the film’s framework, lines, and plot. Director Park Chan-wook expands irony from a lowly, playful device to a metaphorical and paradoxical relationship between language and situation, and between author and reader, as opposed to viewing art as a heavy and serious theory like American writers in new criticism, including T. S. Eliot. The tensions, paradoxes, and contradictions that emerge from the signifier and the signified of various individuals and objects “finally” disclose the fateful inconsistency of human existence and seem to balance the two opposing elements. Due to their dichotomous properties, the Korean words “coincidence” and “upright” have a paradoxical impact, and materials such as whiskey and jellyfish appear to contribute to this effect. The contrast between red, which represents death, violence, and separation, and blue-green, which represents love, interest, and meeting, also plays a part in the film’s atmosphere. As the film is divided into its first and second sections, it can be compared to several opposing groups, such as mountains and seas, Seorae and Haejun, Suwan and Yeonsu, and Ki Dosu and Im Hoshin, thereby creating structural irony. Rather than simply being placed in a dualistic opposition, Decision to Leave elaborately discloses the truth paradoxically by combining opposing elements in a single object or expression, such as Park’s reference to it being both an investigation and a romance simultaneously. The director and screenwriter appear to meticulously arrange characters, materials, setting, and dialogue, resulting in a dense and substantial film.

영화의 기호학적 분석과 형상론적 이해: 박찬욱의 〈헤어질 결심〉을 중심으로

영화는 다른 유형의 텍스트와 달리 여러 가지 다양하고 이질적인 요소들로 구성되어 있어서 여러 가지 관점에서 해석될 수 있다. 그 가운데 본 논문은 기호학적 관점과 형상론적 관점에 대해 알아보고 그 두 방법론을 서로 비교해보고자 한다. 영화이론의 역사를 돌이켜보면 20세기 중반부터 의미전달 기능에 치중하여 영화 언어체계에 대한 기호학적 연구가 시작되었다. 그러나 영화 텍스트를 기호학적으로 설명할 수 없다는 비판이 대두되면서 이후에 다양한 이론적 탐색이 이루어졌다. 형상론적 관점도 그 탐색의 결과이다. 형상론은 영화를 완결된 기호, 또는 의미를 표현하는 미디어로 간주하지 않고, 그 기호의 생성과정과 연관되어 있다는 생각을 바탕으로 한다. 그리고 의미를 담지한 기호가 생성되려면 인지나 의식활동과 같은 복잡한 과정을 거치게 되는데, 영화는 바로 그것을 표현한 결과라고 본다. 본 논문은 두 입장을 구체적으로 살펴보기 위해 박찬욱 감독의 영화, 〈헤어질 결심〉을 분석해보았다. 〈헤어질 결심〉은 비슷한 내용을 지닌 고전적 할리우드 영화, 〈현기증〉에 비하여 형상론적 분석의 가능성이 더욱 풍부하다. 왜냐하면 서사영화나 장르영화에서 자주 나타나는 소재들을 다루고 있지만, 그 소재를 영상으로 서사화하는 기법이 독특하면서도 또한 영화적인 요소들을 다양하게 사용하고 있기 때문이다.

박찬욱의 <헤어질 결심>에 나타난 영화의 자기반영성

박찬욱의 <헤어질 결심>에 나타난 영화의 자기반영성

From Competition to Cooperation -- A Feminist Interpretation of The Handmaiden

Directed by Park Chan-wook, the Korean film The Handmaiden is adapted from the novel City of Briars by British writer Sarah Waters. It tells the story of money and love between an aristocratic lady who inherits a huge fortune, a deceiving count who covets her property, a maid who is hired by the count to approach the lady, and the lady's guardian during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea in 1930. This paper takes The Handmaiden as the text, Beauvoir's feminist theory in the Second Sex as the perspective, takes two female characters in the film, lady and maid, as samples, discusses the complex relationship formed by two women with completely different backgrounds, and studies how the film expresses the relationship between them from the initial competitive relationship to the relationship of cooperation and synergy. Through the analysis of Park Chan-wook's directing techniques and characteristics, this paper studies the female relationship in the traditional sense of male society, and how the relationship of solidarity, mutual aid, and mutual feelings between women are formed and transformed.

Subjective Freedom: Expressions of Lesbianism from Multiple Perspectives in the Handmaiden—Thematic Expressions of Lesbianism

In the Korean film The Handmaiden, director Park Chan-wook does not adopt conventional narrative enmities or present traditional ethics. Instead, he uses lip close-ups to amplify the lust contained within the bodies of the protagonists. This is gradually brought to the foreground, where subjective freedom is expressed through various kinds of tension between the film's characters. The present study analyses the film's thematic expression and narrative characteristics of lesbianism.

페미니즘 시야에서 박찬욱 영화 창작 전략의 전환 - [천절한 금자씨], [스토커], [아가씨]와 [헤어질 결심]을 중심으로 -

박찬욱은 한국의 유명한 감독이며, 영화 ‘올드 보이’에서 과감한 창의를 보여주었을 뿐만 아니라 많은 작품을 훌륭하게 창작하여 한국과 해외에서 큰 관심과 토론을 일으켰다. 영화 <친절한 금자씨> 창작 후 그의 작품에서 점차 독특한 페미니즘 스타일이 나타났으며, 또한 이는 박찬욱의 창작이 새로운 단계에 접어들었 다는 것을 의미하는 것이다. 박찬욱 영화에서 여성은 항상 인류의 본성과 관련된 비밀을 가지고 있으며, 여성의 복수 이유가 매우 중요할 뿐만 아니라 이유 없는 욕망과 쾌감이 특히 돋보인다. 또한 박찬욱이 창작한 영화 <스토커>와 <아가씨>, 그리고 최신 작품 <헤어질 결심>에서도 짐작할 수 없는 여성의 신비감과 모든 것을 버릴 수 있는 능력이 명쾌하게 표현되었다. 그는 항상 영화에서 일종의 낯설게 하기 효과를 구축하고, 서사 구조에서 과거 흔히 사용하던 고전적인 3막극 형식을 점차 해체하고 2단식 서사 구조로 전환하여 관객에게 무한한 상상의 공간을 제공하며, 이를 통해 자신의 영화 세계와 독특한 상상의 원천을 보여주었다. 동시에 박찬욱 영화에서 점점 더 발전하는 여성 캐릭터의 욕망 설정은 여성 캐릭터에 많은 변화를 초래하였고, 작품의 서사 시점이 원래의 남성 응시에서 여성을 주체로 하는 반응시로 전환됐으며, 이를 통해 작품의 여성 캐릭터가 진정한 의미의 정신적 해방을 얻게 되었다. 그에 따라 박찬욱의 영화 스타일뿐만 아니라 기존의 일반적인 상식을 뛰어넘는 동(動)과 정(靜)의 결합으로 영상 언어가 변화되었고, 많은 히치콕식 주밍 샷과 180도 원칙을 깨뜨린 가상선을 넘은 샷을 사용하여 영화가 원래 서사의 선행 특징에서 벗어났으며, 샷을 통해 여성 캐릭터에 자아 인격 변화와 성장의 내재적 의미를 불어넣었다. 또한 색채 측면에서 고전주의 스타일과 현실주의 스타일을 결합하고, 영화 은유 기법을 반복적으로 사용하며, 미술 수단과 색채를 결합하여 더욱 깊은 의미가 담긴 여성 캐릭터 이미지를 구축하였다. 따라서 본 연구는 페미니즘 시각에 따라 박찬욱 감독의 작품을 대상으로 서사 방식과 시청 언어 등 측면에서 그가 구축한 남녀 캐릭터의 놀라운 표현과 여성 의식의 각성을 새롭게 고찰하고, 그의 영화 창작 스타일 전환을 귀납하였다.

Reopening Wounds: Processing Korean Cultural Trauma in Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

In 1988, South Korean president Roh Tae-woo implemented democratic reforms in order to host the Olympic Games. These reforms opened the floodgates for Korean New Wave films. The reforms repealed censorship regulations and gave Korean filmmakers the autonomy to actualize their creative visions for the first time since they were colonized by Japan in 1910. The results of this newfound artistic freedom were films that grappled with the trauma of eighty years of colonialism, war, and authoritarian dictatorship through biting political commentary. This study explores Park Chan-wook’s representation of 한 (han) Korean cultural trauma in his New Wave films Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Using literature on trauma, film, and Korean history combined with original film analysis, this study works to explain the criticisms embedded in Chan-wook’s films. The films critique revenge fantasies and both conscious and unconscious ignorance of traumatic events by demonstrating they are ineffective methods of processing한. His films show that the only way to heal 한 is to acknowledge and accept all wrongdoing, even one's own, and mourn the consequences of the atrocities. While 한 is specific to Koreans, cultural trauma is not. The ubiquity of cultural trauma makes the lessons in Chan- wook’s works of paramount importance and global relevance. While resolution of trauma is never final, Chan-wook’s films serve both as a guideline for and a performance of cultural healing in the face of moral atrocities.

영화 &lt;아가씨&gt;에 표현된 페미니즘의 상징적 요소를 반영한 네일아트 디자인 연구

In a modern Korean society, feminism which pursues gender equality and targets to secure social equality has emerged as a hot topic across all sectors such as economy, politics, society, art and culture. As a dominant form of popular art &amp; culture, film has a significant influence on people. In terms of the history of movie, descriptions on women have become more elaborate. In modern films, especially, perspectives on women have evolved from sexual consciousness to feminine growth. In feminist films, it not desirable to create a myth which emphasizes women’s tough aspects only or just focus on superficial resistance or women’s liberation. Furthermore, feminism should not be satirized as a formal or commercial jest. Instead, descriptions on women have to be more serious with sincerity. In particular, Director Park Chan-wook often starred a woman as a main character in his films, and his mise-en-scène is unbelievable. His unusual pictorial sense which will never be found elsewhere around the globe also shined in ‘Agassi (The Handmaiden)’. Therefore, this study attempted to investigate this feminist movie which has a lot of symbolic fine-art elements. For this, four symbolic characteristics of feminism expressed in ‘Agassi’ were chosen through analysis on previous studies, and 4 different nail styles were created, using diverse nail art techniques and materials. The study results confirmed that symbolic feminine elements expressed in films could make a contribution to new nail art with diverse motives.

The Handmaiden

The Handmaiden

The Acoustic Mirror and Subversive Visual Strategies in Park Chan Wook’s The Handmaiden

This essay analyzes the narrative and visual tools that the Korean director, Park Chan-Wook deploys in his film that aim to dismantle this hegemonic gaze and its associated discourse by using Lacan’s visual theory, Laura Mulvey’s concept of visual pleasure and Kaja Silverman’s approach of voice as element of masculine domination. On the other hand, it will analyze how the female subject is able to challenge the traditional phonic space in which they have been limited to a mere body element that anchors them to a passive positioning, resisting the normative relationship between female voice / body through which the woman is excluded from the ability to narrate her own story.

False Redemption—The Narrative Pattern of Korean Art Cinema

Korean art cinema has an undeniable han favor, which is considered scholarly as the most characteristic aesthetic category of Korea. The iconic auteurs who pushed Korean brands to the international stages, such as Park Chan-wook, Kim Ki-duk, and Lee Chang Dong, did not only gain their fame with their han films, but also prompted the dominated style, which is the han motif. This article extracted the common narrative pattern of the internationally acclaimed Korean art films by comparing and reading the films under the assumed pattern of false redemption. The parallel Christian redemption is a good supplement for the better understanding of false redemption. The false redemption is the most popular and effective pattern for expressing the han motif.

La venganza ¿Un plato que se sirve frío?

Taking note of a certain concealment of hatred in culture, the author takes revenge as a way of problematising the issue. Filmmaker Park Chan-Wook’s revenge trilogy is an entry point to try to analyse revenge and raise some questions regarding hatred in psychoanalysis, more particularly in Sigmund Freud and Donald Winnicott.

Przewrotność dźwięku i fotografii pośród nieuniknionego odwetu: „Pan Zemsta” i „Pani Zemsta” Chan-wook Parka

The article presents an analysis of two films by Chan-wook Park in the context of the so-called sensual key, as well as in the light of selected categories, such as: acoustic space, colour, and the meaning of photography. The films mentioned are linked by the subject of retaliation, the coexistence of works as part of the “revenge trilogy”, as well as the formal layer — also in the sens e of auteur cinema. Another component of the text is the consideration of the influence of the means of cinematic expression on the viewer, as well as the correlation of the sound layer with the image layer.

Behind the Unlimited Revenge: A Review on the Narrative Style of Park Chan-wook - Focusing on the “revenge trilogy”

The development of Korean films is tortuous, and a number of outstanding films have emerged in the 21st century. Among them, the “revenge trilogy” are famous, while they also made the director Park Chan-wook become world-renowned. His films break through the restriction of film genre and set up the complicated revenge structure, the carefully constructed space-time setting and the role-building of morally ambiguous characters. The elements of blood, violence, and eroticism are all direct in his films, but beneath these dark elements, there are reflections and discussions on human nature, destiny, and the rules of society. Ultimately, this paper will take the films of the “revenge trilogy” as the main cases and analyze the narrative style from three aspects: narrative structure, narrative space and characterization, and trace how these elements worked in Park Chan-wook’s films.