Localized Globalization and A Monster National

Society for Cinema & Media Studies
Localized Globalization and a Monster National: "The Host" and the South Korean Film Industry
Author(s): Nikki J. Y. Lee
Source: Cinema Journal, Vol. 50, No. 3 (Spring 2011), pp. 45-61
Published by: University of Texas Press on behalf of the Society for Cinema & Media Studies
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Localized Globalizationand a
MonsterNational: The Host and
the South Korean FilmIndustry
by NikkiJ. Y. Lee
Abstract:This essay examines the industrialpractices behind the domestic success of

the South Korean filmThe Host (Goemuh, Bong Joon-ho,2006), highlighting the Ko-
rean filmindustry'sambivalentnationalist-globalideological stance and its increasingly
monopolizingand globalizingtendencies, and arguingthatKorea's pursuitof indigenous
movie blockbustershas turneditintoan internationalproducerand distributor of local-
ized global movies.
therecentlyburgeoningSouth Korean cinema offera model forhow to

defeatthe global dominanceof Hollywood?In his discussionof the emer-
gence and popularityof the Korean movieblockbuster, Chris Berryclaims
that"theidea [of theblockbuster] maybe borrowedand translated, but this
shouldnotbe understoodin termsof theoriginaland the copy,wheredivergence
fromthe originalmarksa failureof authenticity." Instead,forBerry,the Korean
blockbuster"de-Westernizes"the American-centered conception of the block-
buster.He contendsthatwhileblockbusters are locallyunderstoodand made into
CO local versions,"the activeparticipationof local filmcriticsand filmmakers . . .
1^
00
makesa difference and constitutes 'de-Westernization' as wellas pluralization."He
"theimportanceof graspingde-Westernization withinglobalization
X
I- also highlights
c"
as a fundamentally ambivalentpractice."1
<
<>
I agree withBerrythatthe processof producing,distributing, and marketing
00
1^ Korean blockbusters differsin certainkeywaysfromHollywoodpractice.However,
o
DQ
whetherthesedifferences signifyde-Westernizationrequiresfurther discussion.Sim-
-
O
QJ
the
plyput, problem with thede-Westernizing thesis namely, in non-Western
that
<S
countriestheblockbuster can be translatedintosomethingelse and thenrecreated
intoitsown distinctive and pluralforms - is thatit is
likelyto re-invoke thedichot-
of "theWest" and "the and thusworks further to solidify idea of a
the
t
O
omy
dichotomy between
Other,"
Hollywood cinema, identifiedas Western, and non-Hollywood
>;<
> 1 Chris Berry,'"What's Big Aboutthe Big Film?': 'De-Westernizing'the Blockbusterin Korea and China," in Movie
'E
Z) Blockbusters,ed. JulianStringer(London: Routledge, 2003), 218.
<u
_Q
T.Leereceived
MkkiJ. a PhDinCultural atGoldsmiths
Studies College, Shehastaught
ofLondon.
University atTonsei
O
C'l
andKorea
University National haspublished
ofArts,
University several
articles
onKorean anddirectors,
films andiscoedi-
© torof The Korean Cinema Book (forthcoming).
www.cmstudies.org 50 | No. 3 ; Spring2011 45
Cinema Journal50 | No. 3 | Spring2011
cinema,identified as non-Western. The notionof de-Westernizing Hollywoodpresup-

poses the existence of two exclusiveentities(Hollywoodvs. Korean, the Westvs. the
non-West) and mayobscuretheverysignificant ambivalencetowardHollywoodthatlies
at theheartof theSouthKorean filmindustry. Afterall,theKorean blockbuster strives
to emulateHollywoodwhilealso demonizingitbycastingitin theroleof Other.
This articleexploresthe industrialconditionsstructuring the recentemergence
of the Korean blockbusterand suggeststhatthe Korean filmindustry's ambivalent
practices do not necessarilyconstitute
de-Westernization. In the contemporary South
Korean context,localizingHollywooddoes notde-Westernize thepracticeof making
blockbusters so muchas it globalizesthe domesticfilmindustry. Globalizationin this
sense refers to how the Korean filmindustry has been reorganizedand integrated
into an internationally standardizedsystem established and promulgatedby "global
Hollywood."2The international expansionof the contemporary Hollywoodfilmin-
dustryappears to be movingbeyondconceptssuch as "international"or "multina-
tional." New allianceswithlocal or othermultinationalmultimediacompaniesfor
the production,distribution, and exhibitionof moviesmake it almostimpossibleto
differentiateHollywoodfromglobalfilmnetworks and industries.3
Bearingall of the above in mind,I considerhow in the case of TheHost(Goemul;
BongJoon-ho,2006), the Korean filmindustry'snationalisticstancewas mobilized
forthe purpose of mediatingthe integrationof the domesticfilmindustryinto the
globalizedsystemcenteredon Hollywood.4Fromthisvantagepoint,the "fictional"
(sociallyconstructed) dichotomybetweenHollywoodand Korean cinemamaybe un-
derstoodas a prerequisiteforfacilitating the localized globalizationof the Korean
filmindustry supportedby a ideologicaldiscourse.In whatfollows,I first
nationalistic
brieflydiscuss TheHost's record-breaking officesignificance
box exam-
beforecritically
the
ining concept of the Korean blockbuster as initiated
originally by Shiri
(Swiri;Kang
Je-gyu,1999). Next,I explainhow TheHostowes itscommercialsuccessto theindus-
trialpracticesdrivingKorean blockbusters. Finally,I outlinewhat the film'ssuccess
revealsabout therecenttransformation of theSouth Korean filmindustry.
The Monstrous Success of The Host. TheHostis directorBongJoon-ho'sthird

featurefilm.It openswitha scene setin a darklaboratorywherea US military officer
ordersa Korean militaryofficerto discardmanybottlesof toxicliquid in the Han
River.Two yearslater,twofishermen finda disgusting shaped tinymu-
and strangely
tantcreaturein theriver.Fouryearsafterthat,thefullygrownmutantmonsterdevours
a man who jumps froma bridgeinto the darkwaterto commitsuicide.Eventually,
the monstercomes out of the waterone brightafternoonto attackand killpeople,
creatingpanic and chaos. Beforeit leaps back intothewater,themonstergraspsand
carriesawaya younggirl.The fourmembersof thegirl'sfamilydesperately attemptto
locatethemonster'slairand saveher.However,theUS government spreadsa warning
2 See Toby Milleret al., Global Hollywood2 (London: BritishFilm Institute,2005), forfurtherdiscussion of the glo-
balizationof the Hollywoodfilmindustry.
3 in Global
On "glocalization," see Roland Robertson,"Globalization: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity,"
Modernities,ed. Mike Featherstone,Scott Lash, and Roland Robertson(London: Sage, 1995), 40.
4 In this article, I followKorean conventionin puttingsurname firstand given name last.
46
Cinema Journal50 j No. 3 j Spring2011
about thedangersof a nonexistent virusallegedlytransmitted by themonster, forcing

theSouthKorean government to shutthearea downin orderto preventthespreadof
thefictional virus,thuspreventing thegirl'sfamilyfromrescuingherand thwarting the
authorities'abilityto trackdownboththemonsterand thetruth.
TheHostdominatedtheSouthKorean box officein thesummerof 2006. It became
thebiggestdomestichitever,drawingapproximately13,010,000viewersnationwide.
Given thatthepopulationof South Korea currently standsat 48 million,thismeans
thatpotentially morethana quarterof the entirepopulationsaw themoviein a the-
ater.In termsof the numberof payingcustomers,The Host held its top statusfor
morethanthreeyearsuntilitsrecordwas finallybroken(if onlyby a close margin)in
early2010 byAvatar(JamesCameron, 2009). Avatarrecordedmore than 13,080,000
admissionsin Korea withinseventy-three daysof itstheatricalopening.5Certainly,the
recordnumberof viewersof TheHostheld symbolicvalue in the domesticKorean
filmindustry, not onlyin termsof marketingbut also as an index of the industry's
currentscale. Rayna Denison suggeststhatone of thespecificmarketing of
strategies
Korean blockbustermoviesis the foregrounding of audience figuresratherthanbox
officerevenue.Althoughsuch marketing strategieshave been effectivein makingbox
officesuccessa nationalevent,her argumentis onlypartlyvalid,forit was inevitable
thatmarketing agencieswould use audience figuresinsteadof box officereceipts,es-
pecially in thecase of Shiri,as a nationwidesystemforrecordingbox officeticketsales
was notin use untilveryrecently, and box officerecordsfromareas otherthanSeoul
were hence consideredunreliableand inaccurate.As a result,moststatisticalfigures
providedby the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) are based on box officefiguresfrom
Seoul alone. In its reporton the Korean filmindustryduringthe firsthalf of 2008,
KOFIC began usingnationwidebox officerecordsforthefirsttime.6
Afterconqueringthedomesticbox office, Bong'smoviewas releasedconsecutivelyin
variousotherAsian countriesin September2006. It opened inJapan on September2,
in Singaporeon September7, in Hong Kong on September14, and in Taiwan on
September15,all whilestillbeingscreenedin South Korea. This consecutiveregional
release strategy-
althoughit cannot matchthe phenomenonof simultaneousinter-
nationalreleasesforthe biggestHollywood blockbusters - echoes the
synchronized
regionalreleasepatternof majorUS movies.
TheHostwas initiallytargetedat international territories
and garneredmoderate
successin the regionalAsian market.For example,inJapan it tookseventhplace in
7
grossbox officereceiptsin itsfirstweekof releaseand earned SI, 478,657. The Japa-
nese distributor had anticipatedthatthe filmwould have a much biggerbox office
successby appealingtoJapanesekaiju(monster)moviefans.Yet the filmwas actually
5 Kim Sung-hun, "Korean Movies Over-RulingForeignMovies Again AfterFour Months" [in Korean], Cine21, http://
www.cine21.com/lndex/magazine.php7magjck59968 (accessed June 10, 2010). All translationsfromthe Korean
are mine.
6 Rayna Denison, "The Language of the Blockbuster: Promotion,Princess Mononoke and the Daihitto in Japanese
FilmCulture,"in East Asian Cinemas: ExploringTransnationalConnectionson Film,ed. Leon Huntand Leung Wing-
Fai (London: I. B. Tauris, 2008), 103-119; Jean Noh, "Korean Film ExportsUp by 37% in FirstHalf of 2008,"
Screen Daily,July24, 2008, http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStorylD=40008
(accessed July
28, 2008).
7 Box OfficeMojo, http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=host.htm
(accessed July25, 2008).
47
Cinema Journal50 | No. 3 j Spring2011
greetedwithnegativeand at timeshostileresponsesfromthesefans,who accusedit of

copyinga Japaneseanimefilm,WXIII: Patlabor theMovie3 (Weisuteddo satinkidokeisatsu
patoreibd;
Takuji Endo and In
Takayama Fumihiko, 1).8 Singapore,it was ranked
200
second at the box officein itsopeningweek. TheHostwas also screenedin China in
March 2007, whereit stayedat the top of the box officefortwo weeksand earned
Sl,848,333.9
The preciseEnglishwordfortheKorean titleGoemul is "monster," not"host."How-
ever,since a movie called Monster (PattyJenkins,2003) alreadyexisted,and a famous
Japanesemanga had been adapted into an animatedtelevisionserieswiththe same
name,theproducersof TheHostfeltthatitstitlecould notbe translatedas "monster."
UnlikeGodzilla,themonsterin thismoviewas notgivenanyparticularname,which
maybe one reasonwhythefilmwas oftenretitledTheMonster ofHan Riverforreleasein
otherAsian countries.This titleis lessvague thanthefilm'sEnglishand Korean titles,
endowingthemonsterwitha particulargeographicidentity and regionalcharacter.
As a marketing taglineforthemovie'stheatricalrunin theUnitedKingdom,distri-
butioncompanyOptimumReleasingborroweda quotationfromthepopularmaga-
zine TotalFilm:"It'sJawsvia Jurassic Park.Hugely Entertaining"(Figure 1). Clearly,
thiswas a part of an opportunistic promotionaleffort to associate TheHostwiththe
large-scaleproductionvalues of hugelysuccessfulHollywoodmonstermovies.The
UK DVD coverof TheHostalso indicatesthatOptimumReleasingattemptedto fit
themovieintothegenericexpectationssurrounding blockbuster monstermovies.
These particularanalogiesare highlysuggestive, and interesting parallelsmaycer-
tainlybe drawn between The Hostand Jaws(StevenSpielberg,1975). In the 1970s,the
successofJawsmarkedthebeginningof the"New Hollywood."10The film'sachieve-
mentin raisingthe bar forwhat mightbe accomplishedby a "highconcept" com-
mercialmovieis oftenattributed to itsambitiousmarketing campaign,whichincluded
intensetelevisionadvertising, wide release in multiplexcinemas,and promotionof
directorStevenSpielbergas a superstar.11 The tremendoussuccessofJawsmarkeda
turningpoint forthe Hollywood film industry,whichat thetimewas facingan uncer-
tainfuture. Producedmorethanthreedecades afterthereleaseofJaws,TheHostrelied
- - thebox office
on similar thoughnotquite thesame industrialpractices.Arguably,
successof TheHostalso markeda transitional momentthroughwhichtheKorean film
industry enteredanotherphase in itsdevelopment.
The Shiri Syndrome and Korean Blockbusters. The South Korean filmindus-
tryhas evolvedconsiderablyoverthepast decade, producinga stringof blockbusters.
Of the manytitlesto launch the nascentmarketing term"Korean blockbuster," Shiri
(costingapproximately was
$2.75 million) the first
big-budgetmovie to set a domestic
box officerecordforthe SouthKorean filmindustry, by outperformingTitanic(James
8 "Is Korea's Latest BlockbusterFilm a Shameless Copy of a Japanese Anime?" Japan Probe, http://www.japanprobe
.com/?p=480 (accessed July31, 2008).
9 Box OfficeMojo, http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=host.htm
(accessed July25, 2008).
10 Thomas Schatz, "The New Hollywood,"in Stringer,Movie Blockbusters,15-44.
11 Ibid.
48
Cinema Journal 50 | No. 3 | Spring 201 1
Figure 1. The UK DVD cover of The Host advertises the movie in connection with Hollywood monster movies
like Steven Spielberg's 1975 Jaws and his 1993 Jurassic Park (Optimum Releasing, 2006).
Cameron, 1997). The successof Shiriwas significant in thatit reorganizedthe struc-

tureand theprincipalorientationof the South Korean filmindustry.12 The resulting
"Shirisyndrome"was the social and culturaloutcomeof a successfulmobilizationof
nationalistsentiment duringa periodof intenseeconomiccrisis.As one Korean film
scholarputsit,"The box officecompetition betweenShiriand Titanicwas takenrather
as a virtualwarbetweenSouthKorea and theUSA as theinvadingforeign power.The
[Korean] people watched Shirias if theywere a
fighting war."13 The Shirisyndrome
was,in otherwords,notonlya publiceventbutalso a national eventin whichaudiences
wereidentified as patriots.14
Since Shin'ssuccess,widespreadmarketing employingna-
tionalistrhetoric,
suchas "SupportKorean moviesagainsttheinvasionof Hollywood,"
has become theindustry norm.The film'sreleaseand phenomenalbox officereturns
createda generalhypefordomesticmovies,and fanaticalmedia coverageof a record-
breakingparade of subsequentKorean moviehits,combinedwithnationalistmarket-
ing,has maintainedongoingpublicinterest in domestichits.SouthKorean newspapers
reportedon thebox office successof record-breaking domesticmoviesin a "suspenseful,
12 David Scott Diffrient,

"Seoul as Cinematic Cityscape: Shiriand the Politico-Aestheticsof Invisibility,"
Asian Cinema
11, no. 2:76-91.
13 Kim Kyung-wook,
Fantasyof Blockbuster,Narcissismof Korean Cinema [in Korean](Seoul: Chaek Sesang, 2002), 19.
14 Chi-YunShin and JulianStringer,"Stormingthe Big Screen: The Shiri Syndrome,"in Seoul Searching: Cultureand
Identityin ContemporaryKorean Cinema, ed. Frances Gateward(Albany:State Universityof New YorkPress, 2007),
55-72.
15 Chris Howard, "ContemporarySouth Korean Cinema: 'National Conjunction' and 'Diversity,'"in Hunt and Leung,
East Asian Cinemas, 94.
49
stage-by-stage count-down."15 Prime-time television

newsprograms, film-related
televi-
sionentertainment programs, and online news websites all provided similarcoverage.
The periodimmediately precedingtheproductionof Shiriwitnessedthereleaseof
a numberof otherbig-budget projectseagerto takeadvantageof a financialenviron-
mentfriendly to eventmovies.TheSoulGuardians (Toemarok; ParkGwang-chun,1998),
a science-fictionactionmoviesaturatedwithcomputer-generated imagery(CGI), was
marketedas the first"Korean blockbuster"and thusintroducedthisnovel termto
thefilmindustry, thepress,and audiences.As the case of TheSoulGuardians demon-
strates,the term "Korean blockbuster" provokedpopular desire throughadvertising
campaigns.Whileotherfilmsfailedfullyto sparksuchpopulardesire,Shiriignitedthe
flamebypromotingitselfas fullof Hollywood-style actionscenesand as representa-
tiveof Korean cinema'sfightagainstHollywood.Shirihelped raise the marketshare
of domestictitlesto 35.8 percentin 1999 and changedKorean audiences'expectations
of Korean movies.
Subsequentbig-budgettitlesfromthisperiodincludethedramaticthriller A Mys-
teryof theCube(Geonchukmuhan yukmyeongakcheui bimil;Yu Sang-wook,1999), the war
action drama Phantom, theSubmarine (Turyeong;Min Byeong-cheon,1999), the martial
artsepics Bichunmoo (Bicheonmu;Kim Young-jun,2000) and TheLegendof Ginko(Dan-
jeokbiyeonsu; Parkjye-hyun, 2000), and disastermoviessuchas LiberaMe(YangYun-ho,
2000), among others.However,thesetitlesfellshortof becomingbox officerecord
breakersin thewaythatShirihad, perhapsbecause Shiriengagedwithone of themost
pressingquestionsfacingthe Korean nation-state, the conflictbetweenNorthand
South Korea.16
In short,post-Shirihitshavebecome nationaleventsbytouchingon historicaltrau-
mas. Forexample,JSA:Joint SecurityArea(Gongdong gyeongbiguyeokJSA; ParkGhan-wook,
2000) engages with the tragedy and anxiety of cold war ideologyand the ongoing
divisionof the Korean peninsula.Silmido (Kang Woo-suk,2003) retrieves the hidden
history of a South Korean military terroristgroup trained for a secretmission.Brother-
hood(Taegukgi Kang Je-gyu,2004)
hwinallimyeo; stirsup painful memories of the Ko-
rean War.May 18 (Hwaryeohan hyuga;Kim Ji-hoon,2007) resurrects memories of the
traumatic1980 Kwangju Massacre,a tragicincidentin whichciviliansfromthe city
of Kwangjuweremercilessly woundedand killedby thegovernment's specialtroops.
Such filmsaim to appeal to thewidestpossibleaudience by turningmoviegoersinto
an audienceof patriotsthroughhypecreatedbynationalistmarketing.
The cinematicdeployment of realhistoricaleventsand socialissuesbytheseblock-
bustermoviesvalidatesthe Korean filmindustry's nationaliststance.Because of the
sharedhistoricalmemoriesand social issuestheyrepresent, such filmsare identified
by domestic audiencesas cultural textsembodying the nation. Kim Sung Kyungsug-
gests thatthese blockbusters construct a "socio-culturalverisimilitude" throughwhich
Korean audiencesaccept whatis projectedonto the screenas theactual narrativeof
nationalhistoryand therefore an accuratereflection of Korean society.17 Kim claims
16 Lee Kyung-eun,"Sing a TragicNarrativeof One Nation,Two States," in Korean Blockbuster:Atlantisor America[in
Korean],ed. Kim Soyoung (Seoul: HyunsilMunhwaYeongu, 2001), 155-175.
17 Kim Sung Kyung,"Globalisation,Film,and Authenticity:
The Renaissance of Korean National Cinema," (PhD diss.,
of Essex, 2005), 144-149, 171.
University
50
thatthisexplainswhyKoreanblockbusters begantobe identified

as representative
of
Koreannationalcinema,displacingmoviesmadebytheKorean"NewWave"direc-
torsof thelate 1990s.The newblockbusters havethuscometo constitute Korean
nationalcinema.
However, somecommentators castdoubton thesocialvalueof Koreanblock-
busters,
arguing thathistorical
eventsand socialissuesareemployedbythesemovies
simplytomaximize thethrill
ofcinematic spectacle,
therebymakingtheirrepresenta-
tionsof history
moreconvincing becausetheyareso emotionally
overwhelming.One
Koreanfilmcriticstates,
Certainlythenationaldivisionis veryimportant here.However, itis notbe-
causeKangJe-gyu (thedirectorof has
Brotherhood)anyparticular message
thathe is eagerto deliveraboutthesituation of thenationaldivision. The
realreasonthatKangmadesucha movieis becausethehistorical event,the
KoreanWarthatshattered thiscountryhalfa century ago,is fantasticmate-
rialformakinga movie,whichwe,theKoreanfilmindustry, can deal with
Shiri
exclusively. is notan exceptiontothis.18
Otherscomplainthattheexcessive melodramatic fictionalization
present in these
moviesnullifies thehistorical weight of realevents, rendering them mere cinematic
spectacleforpopularentertainment: "The tragicsacrifice of brotherseffectively con-
veysthe antiwar as
message, originally intended. Yet the historical
specificity still
that
throws a deepshadowover[Koreansociety] is erasedand eventually endsup being
replacedby virtualspectacles."19 Either way, these movies transform livedhistorical
into
memory popular cinematic memories of national historyand thus interpellate
audiencesas members of "an imaginedcommunity," theKoreannation.20 In other
words,as thefilms take thenation as their subjectmatter, thecommercial movie in-
dustryproducing these blockbusters is identified as a key cultural
agentmaintaining
Koreannational identity.21
Of course, itisnotuncommon forthedomestic marketing ofnon-Hollywood local
orregional blockbusters tocapitalizeonnational prideornationalistsentiments. How-
thenationalist
ever, marketing ofSouthKoreanblockbusters isparticularly
interesting
forthehypecreatedaroundKoreancinemain general,notjustindividual movies.
Nationalistdiscourse is mobilized intheinterests of thefilmindustry itself.
One of thedistinguishing features of thecontemporary Koreanfilmindustry is
thatdomestic theatrical releasesgenerate thevastmajority of theindustry's revenue.
Filmcompanies earnaround80 percentof theirtotalrevenuefromthesedomestic
releases.The international market forKoreancinemais unstableand at a nascent
18 Djuna, "Kang Je-gyu'sHollywoodComplex" [in Korean], Cine21 440 (February24, 2004), 100-101.
19 Kim Byung-chul,Lightand Shadow of Korean Blockbusters: The Universalityand Particularity

of Korean Blockbust-
erstin Korean] (Seoul: Hanguk Haksul Jeongbo,2005), 176-177.
20 Benedict Anderson,Imagined Communities:Reflectionson the Originsand Spread of Nationalism(London: Verso,
1983).
21 Kim, "Globalisation,Film and Authenticity."
22 See Kim Mi-hyunand Do Dong-jun,"2006 Annual Reporton the Korean Film Industry";and KOFIC, "2007 Report
on the Korean Film Industry,"www.kofic.or.kr
[both in Korean] (accessed July28, 2008).
51
Cinema Journal50 No. 3 Spring2011
andexportrevenues on a singleoverseasmarket -
stageof development, relyheavily
22
in 2005; 42.4 percentin 2006). International
namely,Japan(79.4percent exports
havestarted todropsharply,
by68 percent in 2006and50 percent in 2007,owingto
a decreaseinJapaneseimportsof Koreanmovies.However, in thefirsthalfof 2008,
international increased
exports 37
by percent, mostly owing to salesof homevideo
and remakerights to NorthAmerican companies and to thepresale titlesbased
of
onJapanesemangaand featuring KoreanstarspopularinJapan.23 Indeed,Korean
have
companies begun tocustomize their
productsforthe Japanese market (e.g.,Saying
Oneday[Sayonaraitsuka;John H. Lee, 2009]).
Good-bye,
In addition, theDVD market, whichin thecaseof otherfilmindustries is looked
upon as one ofthe main markets,
ancillary remains in long-term limbo inSouth Korea
andhasneverreallyhadthechancetoblossomthere.24 Since2006,largetelecommu-
nication groupssuchas KoreaTelecomandSK Telecomhavemerged film production
anddistribution companies in
intotheirfold order to secure enough cultural content
fornewmediasuchas digital mediabroadcasting. Thereis a realpossibility thatsuch
groupscouldcreatesubstantial ancillary markets forKoreanmovies inthenearfuture.
At thesametime,however, a verycommonwayof watching moviesamongyoung
-
peoplein Koreatodayis through Internet filesharing and downloading practices
whichhavethrived thanksto thecountry's high-quality Internet infrastructure and
an accompanying lackof regulation. Underthesecircumstances, theKoreanfilmin-
dustry can expandfurther onlybymaximizing thenumber of domestic filmgoers at-
tending moviesin theaters. Creating and maintaining hypearounddomestic movies
hasbeeninstrumental inattracting filmgoers of allagestomovietheaters. Asa result,
nationalist filmculture comesintobeingin tandemwiththewidereleaseof Korean
blockbusters inmultiplex cinemachains.
ChrisHowarddiagnoses thissituation as "a nationalconjunction." According to
him, Korean audiences' cinema-going practices are constructed in line with "the na-
tional"as theKoreanfilmindustry, ruledbyan oligopoly of a fewlargecompanies,
maximizes profits in the domestic theatrical market through widereleasesto multi-
plex cinema chains and nationalist marketing which turns consumption of domestic
moviesinto"patriotic consumption."25 However, this astute observation fallsshortby
overlooking Korean blockbusters' ambivalent role in reconstructing the local market
in favorof Hollywood movies, and italso failsto detect a key transitional phasethat
a
betrays gradual disarticulation (ordisjuncture) between the nationalist ideological
imperative andtheunderlying conditions of theKoreanfilmindustry.
AtthispointI wanttounderline theimportance ofHollywood's presence, whether
or as a
symbolic actual, prerequisite forthe success of Korean blockbusters. One ofthe
essential conditions fortheinculcation of nationalist valuesamongtheKoreanpublic
is thedomestic filmindustry's projection of Hollywood as a monster trying todevour
Koreannational cinema.In practice, however, the relations between the Korean film
and
industry Hollywood are more complicated and rather ambivalent. For example,
23 Noh, "Korean Film ExportsUp by 37% in FirstHalf of 2008."

24 Kim and Do, "2006 Annual Report"; and KOFIC, "2007 Report."
25 Howard,"ContemporarySouth Korean Cinema," 89-90, 91.
52
Cinema Journal50 : No. 3 j Spring2011
Shiriseeksto emulateHollywoodmoviesat thesame timethatitoffers a fantasyof local

resistanceto Hollywood.Regardingthis,Kim SoyoungstressesthatKorean blockbust-
ersare "asymmetrical counterparts" of Hollywoodblockbusters unlesstheyachievethe
same levelof "hegemonicpower" over the international market.26 Kang Je-gyu,the
directorof Shiri,proclaimedat a pressconferenceat the timeof thefilm'sproduction
thathe was goingto make Korean actionblockbusters thatcould competewiththose
of Hollywood.Korean filmscholarKim Kyung-wookconsidersthe Shirisyndromea
crucialturningpointin the South Korean filmindustry, underlining thatShiriwas the
firstultrapopular Korean movieto tryhardto emulateHollywoodmovies,fromprepro-
ductionthroughdistribution. Kim refersto suchemulationas an "Americacomplex,"
whileothercommentators call it a "Hollywoodcomplex."27ActionscenesfromShiri
resemblesmall-scalereplicasof similarmomentsfromHollywoodmovies,whilethe
portrayal of espionage,spies,killers, and terrorists, alongwiththefilm'splotof a bomb
plantedat a publicevent,"reconstitutes countlessHollywoodizedgenericcodes of Cold
War paranoia,"accordingto David ScottDiffrient.28
Similarly, itis wellknownthatKangJe-gyu 's Brotherhoodwas made toprovethatKo-
reanfilmmakers could producescenesas impressiveas thebattlesequence thatopens
StevenSpielberg'sSavingPrivate Ryan(1998). Brotherhood includesa plotlinewhereinan
attempt is made to save a private from the fierce battleground of the Korean War-
notbythestategovernment, butbyhisown brother, who is killedin theprocess.Kang
appropriates traumatic historical events, the lingeringeffectsof whichstillconstrain
manyaspects of Korean social life,in order to producea moviecomparableto a Hol-
lywood blockbuster.
In sum,Korean blockbusters epitomizesocial and economicresponsesto anxieties
overglobalization.To quoteKim Soyoung,"The transition toglobalsociety, whichcan-
notbe containedwithintheboundaryof a state,incessantly generates a sense of anxi-
ety. It is what motivates and is the effect of Korean blockbusters."29Yet ironicallyfilms
suchas Shirialso embraceHollywood'sgenericconventions and relentlesslypursuethe
Hollywood mode of production so as to create a type of blockbuster that can support
thenational filmindustry. Putdifferently, Korean blockbusters are unimaginablewithout
the strongpresenceand dominationof Hollywoodblockbusters. The term"Korean
blockbuster" therefore denotesa complicatedand ambivalentarticulation of a nation-
alistideologicalstancewitha multivalent connectionto theHollywoodblockbuster.
The Host and the South Korean Film Industry.In contrastto the otherKorean
blockbusters discussedso far,TheHostdoes notappear to drawovertlyon nationalism
or theconceptof theKorean nation.The same is also trueof KingandtheClown(Wang-
ui namja;Lee Joon-ik,2005), a gay-themedperiodmelodramareleasedearlierin 2006
thatunexpectedlybecame a record-breaking box officehit,drawingapproximately
26 Kim Soyoung, "South Korean Women Vanish: The Unconscious Optic of the Korean Blockbuster" [in Korean], in
Kim, Korean Blockbuster,17-39.
27 See Kim, Fantasy of Blockbuster,18. Also see Djuna, "Kang Je-gyu'sHollywoodComplex."
28 Diffrient,
"Seoul as Cinematic Cityscape," 78.
29 Kim, "South Korean Women Vanish," 33.
30 Kim and Do, "2006 Annual Report."
53
12,030,000filmgoers nationwide.30 What,then,

does the successof theseless explicitlynation-
alistblockbusters revealabout the currentcon-
figuration of the South Korean filmindustry?
The box officesuccessof TheHostmarksa
consummation of theintenseindustrial momen-
tuminitiated by the Shiri syndrome. Equally,how-
it
ever, provides evidence of a marked disjuncture
betweenthenationalist ideologyappropriated by
the domesticfilmindustry and its economicin-
terests.The film'ssuccessopened up criticaland
public debate on the currentstateof the South
Koreanfilmindustry. On theone hand,TheHost
sharescertainkey characteristics withotherKo-
rean blockbusters: it depictsthe Han River- - a
familiargeographiclocationfordomesticmovie-
-
goers and it refersto real-life historicalevents,
in this case the McFarland Incidentof 2000,
Figure2. The Korean posterof The Host fore- whereina US army officerwas chargedwith
groundsthe maincharactersas a family(Cheon-
georahmFilm,2006). orderinghis men to leak thetoxicliquidformal-
dehydedirectlyintothe sewage system.On the
otherhand,whileplayingdownovertly national-
istsentiments and not directlytacklingany par-
ticularnationalissues,thefilmoffers multilayered
of
points entry for viewers of different national
and social backgrounds,rangingfromKorean
multiplexaudiences to internationalart-house
audiences.
For example, like many Hollywood block-
busters,TheHostis a "highconcept"movie.Its
plot may be summarizedand marketedto do-
mesticaudiencesin a singlesentence:"Monster
appearsin theHan River."It was advertiseddo-
mestically as a familyactiondrama,as expressed
in the tagline"One family'smortalcombatbe-
gins"(Figure2). Usinga family-centered drama
ensuresthat the filmappeals to audiences of
-
multiplegenerations thus, the character of
theyounguncle speaksto the 1980s and 1990s
studentmovementgeneration,the youngaunt
speaks to twentysomethings, and the character
Figure3. The monsterin The Host is not par- of the middle-schoolgirlspeaks to teen audi-
ticularlyoverwhelmingor impressive.The film attracta wide
ences.The moviecould therefore
is moreconcernedwithsocial and political is-
sues than withspectacle (CheongeorahmFilm, of
range demographicgroups into theatersand
2006). succeedin maximizingthenumberof domestic
54
audience members.The originalKorean titleof TheHost,Geomul, declaresthefilmto

be a monstermovie.Indeed, the monsterwas centralto thefilm'spromotionalcam-
paign,withmarketing materialspiquingcuriosity about how themonsterwas created.
Yet, the movie'smonster is not particularly overwhelming as a spectacle,and thefilm
centersmoreon social issuesthanspecialeffects (Figure3).
Noted forits"messy"qualities,TheHostinvitesmultiplereadings.31 While drawing
on particular historicalmemories of South Korean society, the film also toucheson
contemporary global politicalissues.Many criticsand audience memberstherefore
read themovieas a politicalsatireof theUS government's recentmilitary campaigns
(its"waron terror")and itsrelationship withtheSouthKorean government.32 Because
thismovie'smonsteris unnamedand lacks overtsymbolicconnotations - it does not
- the
servean allegorical,nationalist function meaningsaudiencestakeawayfromThe
Hostare multifaceted, not one-dimensionally nationalistic.There is also ample pos-
sibilityto interpretthe monster, in Barbara Creed's terms,as a projectionof horrific
anxietiesconcerningthe"archaicmother."33 (The priorbox officesuccessof Kingand
theClownhas also been attributed to strategies of multipleaddress,althoughitdoes not
appear to have offereda wide rangeof readingsto international audiences.)34
While The Hostdoes not conveyovertlynationalistattitudes,it stillowes its box
officesuccessto the same industrialconditionsand practicesestablishedby previous
Korean blockbusters. An expensivenationwidenationalistmarketingefforttapping
intotheready-madehypeforKorean moviesin general,along withmultiplexcinema
chainsundermonopolizedcontroland guaranteeing wide theatricalrelease,was a pre-
conditionforTheHost'ssuccess.In whatfollows,I discussfurther themarketing of The
Hostbeforetakinga closerlook at theindustrialconditionsthatenabled it to become
sucha massivebox officesuccess.
The Korean publicitycampaign for The Host demonstrateshow- regardlessof
the actual contentof the movieitself - nationalist can stillaffectdomestic
marketing
audiencesby mobilizingpreexisting hype for Korean movies and directors.Market-
ing stressedthe film'sstatus as the very firstbig-budget, high-quality Korean monster
movie.Forexample,beforethemovie'sopening,thebestselling weeklyfilmmagazine
Cine21carrieda detailedspecialreporton themakingof themonster.35 In orderto dis-
tinguish thehighqualityof The Host from the implied lower quality B-grademonster
of
moviesas wellas suchdisappointing earlierexperiments as Tonggari (ShimHyung-rae,
1999), publicitydrew on the popular and criticalperceptionof directorBong as a
well-known nationalauteur-director - a statusestablished the box officesuccessof
by
Bong'spreviousfilm,Memories ofMurder in 2003. Althoughitwas nota
(Salinuichueok),
record-breaking movie,Memories ofMurder toppedtheKorean box office.Based on an
31 Manohla Dargis calls The Host "a loose, almost borderlinemessy film." Dargis, "It Came fromthe River,Hungryfor
Humans (Burp)," New YorkTimes,March 9, 2007.
32 Kim Soyoung, JungSeong-il, and Huh Moon-young,"The New Cartographyof Popular Movies: TalkingAbout The
Host and Hanbando" [in Korean], Cine21 567 (August 29, 2006), 98-105.
33 Barbara Creed, The Monstrous-Feminine:Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis (London: Routledge, 1993). See also
NikkiJ. Y. Lee, "The Host," Science Fiction Film and Television1, no. 2 (2008), 349-352.
34 Howard,"ContemporarySouth Korean Cinema," 92.
35 Moon Seok and Lee Da-hye, "Making the Monsterin The Host" [in Korean], Cine21 557 (June 20, 2006), 58-62.
55
Cinema Journal50 | No. 3 Spring2011
unsolvedreal-life serialrape and murdercase of the 1980s,themovieplaces comedy,

chillinghorror, and the investigating detectives'frustrations againstsociallyrealistic
backgroundsettings. Through its critical acclaim and commercial success,Bong'ssec-
ond featurefilmwas considered"a saviorof theKorean filmindustry."36
It was hoped thatTheHostwouldmakea similarimpact.As one markof itsquality,
publicityreleasesand advertising emphasizedthefactthatTheHosthad been invitedto
theCannes FilmFestival.Footageof Bong'sappearance at a Cannes screeningof the
movieamong an applaudingforeignaudience was includedin televisionadvertising
spotsand servedto cementperceptionsof thedirectoras an internationally recognized
talent.TheHostwas thuspositionedas a vehicleallowingtheexcellentqualityof South
Korean cinemato be knownto theworld.
Afterthe initialverysuccessfultheatricalreleaseof TheHost,thefilmwas further
promotedin Korea througha secondtelevisionadvertisement witha simplemessage:
TheHostis breakingall box officerecordsand is quicklysellingout at everymovie
house. The advertisement cross-edited imagesof "Sold Out" signsin frontof movie
theaterswithshotsof people liningup to get tickets.In thisway,the successof the
movie'sfirstfewweekswas used to make it even morepopularand further bolsterits
success.In addition,a media frenzyprovidedstep-by-step commentary on TheHost's
record-breaking achievements.Only a fewdays afteritsrelease,the storybrokethat
TheHost'saudience numbershad exceeded thoseof previousrecordholdersKingand
theClownand Brotherhood, and thatthefilmhad surpassedone millionbox officeadmis-
sionsin theshortest timeever.Afterfivedays,"totalaudiencenumberssurpassedthree
millionwithintheshortest period";afterone week,"totalaudiencenumberssurpassed
fourmillionwithintheshortest period";and so on.37TheHostwas thebiggestnational
newstopicof itsday.
At thispointin thediscussionit is usefulto bear in mindthatTheHostwas notthe
firstmonstermoviein SouthKoreanfilmhistory. In collaboration withJapaneseproduc-
tioncompanies,Monster Tongary(Taekoesu Kim
Tonggary; Ki-duk,1967; also knownas Ton-
gary,Monster the
from Deep) was created as a Korean copyof theJapanesemonstermovie
Godzilla Honda
(Gojira; Ishiro,1954). It was revivedin 1999 as Tonggari and againin 2000
as 2001 Tonggari (Shim Hyung-rae; also known as Reptile 2001 or The 1999
Reptilian).
Tonggari movie was hyped as a big-budget Korean blockbuster with high-qualityCGI.
But it actuallyhad poor soundand specialeffects, and a crudeplotand dialogue.The
secondmoviewas thusproducedas an improvedversionof thefirst one. In 2007, Shim
-
Hyung-rae, thedirector of both Ibnggaris, brought to cinematic lifeImugi a legendary
monsterfrommanyKorean stories - inD-War also known as
(2007; DragonWars).
The huge box officesuccessof D-Warin the summerof 2007 echoed the success
of TheHostone yearearlier.Althoughmostof the CGI and specialeffects werepro-
vided by Korean companies,D- Waraimed to targetthe US market:it was filmedin
US locationswithan Americancast and Englishdialogue (Figure4). Yet in contrast
to suchefforts to makethemovieappealingto global(or at leastAmerican)audiences,
36 "Critic:Findingthe Path of Realityin a Jungleof Genre" [in Korean], in BongJoon-ho: Mapping Reality Withinthe
Maze of Genre(Seoul: KOFIC, 2005), 8-25.
37 For instance, see "The Host DrewTen MillionAudiences Withinthe ShortestPeriod" [in Korean], Sports Hankook,
http://sports.hankooki.com/lpage/cinet/200608/sp2006081620105858470.htm(accessed July28, 2008).
56
Figure4. D-War(Shim Hyung-rae,2007) was mainlyfilmedin US locations withan Americancast and

2007).
Englishdialogue (YoungguEntertainment,
on itsdomesticreleasethemovieemployed a marketing strategy thatappealedto

Koreannationalism. The Koreanversion ofD- Warincludesan epiloguein theform
of a voice-overfrom thedirector directlyaddressingthedomestic audience.Thisepi-
loguehighlights thedirector'spersonalstruggles andpatriotic motivation formaking
a moviethatso graphically displays thehightechnological achievements of Korean
cinemaat thesametimethatit managesto generatedemandin theinternational
marketplace. Suchmarketing stuntsconveythegapingdisjuncture betweenthefilm
industry'sglobalizingtendencies andnationalist moviegoing practices. In otherwords,
whileD-Warobliterates itsnationalorigins initsquesttobecomea globally successful
product,domestic marketing appeals tonationalistsentiment so as to maximize profit
in SouthKoreaitself. Suchnationalist marketing gave birth to a fanaticalfanbase
thatalmostblindly defended thefilmfromcriticism. Onlineadvocates, forexample,
violentlyattackedanyonewhodaredtoexpress negative viewsaboutD-War.
The consecutive boxoffice successes of TheHostandD-Warcannothelpbutraise
concerns regarding theworkings ofa distributionandexhibition system whichpropels
monopolization of the Korean filmmarket by a small number of big-budgetmov-
iesandlargecompanies. Whilethedomestic mediawereunanimously the
celebrating
successof TheHostin 2006,problems createdbytheKoreancinema'sreconfigured
industrialsystem wereelsewhere beingbrought tothepublic'sattention. KimKi-duk,
famedontheinternational filmfestival as theenfant
circuit terrible ofKoreancinema,
provoked controversybypublicly denouncing thefilm's qualityanditsaudiences.38
In additiontonationalistmarketing, The Hostowed itssuccess tothefilmindustry's
of
practice producing expensive blockbustersand these
exhibiting through multiplex
cinemachains.The factthatTheHostcouldsimultaneously be releasedon around
620 screens- morethanone-third of thetotalnumberof screensin Korea- dem-
onstrates howdependent thefilm'srecord-breaking successwas on thewiderelease
patternsmade possibleby the control over themultiplexes heldbya smalloligopoly of
38 See Kim Eun-hyung,"Kim Ki-dukTalk, No Communicationbut Only Scandal Ensued" [in Korean], Cine21, http://
www.cine21.com/Article/article_view.php?mm=001001001&article_id=40998(accessed July28, 2008).
57
companies.When it opened onJuly27, 2006, thefilmwas called "a saviorof Korean

cinemain crisis,"in thatit succeededin drivingthe totaldomesticshareof the 2006
theatricalmoviemarketup to morethan60 percent.39
However,the film'ssuccessprovedto be a mixedblessingbecause TheHost'stri-
umphcame at a huge costto the independentfilmsector.As partof the negotiating
conditionsof theFreeTrade AgreementwiththeUS government, theSouth Korean
decided to cut half- from146 to 73- the allocated forthe do-
government by days
mesticscreenquota as of July2006.40AfterTheHosthad filledup the limiteddays
reservedfordomesticmoviesin mosttheaters,independentdistributors and produc-
tioncompaniesstruggled to secureextrascreensfortheirown releases.Althoughthey
managedto securesome additionaldays,theatersmercilessly droppedanytitlewhose
profitswerenotdeemedimpressiveenoughafterthefirstweekor twoof release.The
situationdid not improvein 2007. During the peak of the screeningof two Korean
blockbusters, D-Warand May 18, whichdominatedoverone thousandscreensat mul-
tiplexcinemas,otherKorean movieshad a hard timesecuringscreensformorethan
threeweeks.Fans of twohorrorfilms,TheEpitaph(Gidam; JeongSik andJungBum-sik,
2007) and WideAwake(Riteon; Lee Gyu-man,2007), had to signa public petitionto
securefurther screeningsaftertheirthirdweek of release.The "cross-screening" of
movies(i.e., showingmore than one filmon one screenduringa singleday),which
has become customaryformultiplexcinemas,onlyworsensthe situation.A fewdays
aftera film'sopening,theaterssharplyreducethe numberof screeningsper day and
allocateworsescreeningtimes - theearliest at 8:30 AM) or latestones
(usuallystarting
around 9:00 PM or - if thefilmis
(usuallybeginning later) under-performing.
The industry practicethatcombinesblockbuster movieproductionwithmultiplex
cinema exhibitionis not a uniquelyKorean or de-Westernized one. Neitherdoes it
worksolelyin theinterests of thedomesticfilmindustry. Buildingand extendingmul-
tiplexchains internationally is one means by which Hollywoodsecuresinternational
revenue:in the 1990s,forexample,the US filmindustryexpanded itsinternational
marketby buildingmultiplexcinemasin European countriesin an attemptto boost
revenuestreamsin thefaceof fallingdomestictheatricaladmissions.41 In thisrespect,
thecontemporary exhibitionenvironment centeredon multiplexcinemachainsis one
outcomeof theSouthKorean filmindustry's localizationof Hollywood'sglobaldistri-
butionpractices.
The developmentof theKorean filmindustry sinceShiriis therefore mostnotable
in termsof thegrowthin cinemaattendanceand theproliferation of multiplexcinema
screens.Whilethedomesticmarketshareof Korean filmsrosesharplyfrom39.7 per-
centin 1999 to 63.8 percentin 2006, thetotalnumberof moviegoersalso grew,from
approximately 89,360,000 in 2001 to 163,850,000in 2006. In addition,the number
of multiplexscreensnationwideincreasedfrom818 in 2001 to 1,847 in 2006, while
39 Im Bum, "Bong Joon-hoAgain Appears at a CriticalMoment" [in Korean], Cine21, http://www.cine21.com/Article

/article_view.php?mm=001001001&article_id=40374 (accessed July31, 2008).
40 For more historicaldetails of the screen quota system, see Berry,"What's Big About the Big Film?"; and Darcy
Paquet, New Korean Cinema: Breakingthe Waves(London: Wallflower, 2009), 68-70.
41 Charles R. Acland, Screen Traffic-
Movies, Multiplexes,and Global Culture(Durham, IMC:Duke UniversityPress,
2003).
58
the totalnumberof theatersnationwidedecreasedfrom344 in 2001 to 306 in 2006.

During thisperiod,manysmalllocal movietheaterswere shutdown if theydid not
transform themselvesinto multiplexes.Multiplexcinema chains now dominatethe
exhibitionsectorin Korea: among 1,847 screens,1,131 (61.2 percent)are part of a
multiplexcinema;in 2006, multiplexcinemasdrew75 percentof thetotaltheaterau-
dience.In addition,thetotalrevenuethatUS moviesmake in theKorean markethas
grownin tandemwiththeriseof multiplexcinemas,althoughtherelativepercentage
thatHollywoodearns in the Korean markethas diminished.Statisticspublishedby
KOFIC statethatin 2001 Americanmoviestook46.4 percentof thedomesticmarket,
drawing16,233,078attendeesto theatersin Seoul. In 2006, althoughthemarketshare
forAmericanmovieshad droppeddown to 35 percent,theystilldrewapproximately
17,660,000attendeesin Seoul.42
In otherwords,recentindustrydevelopmentscenteredon the riseof cinema at-
tendanceat multiplextheatersdrivethe expansionof everylevel of the South Ko-
rean filmmarket.Under the rulingnationalistrhetoric,however,thisexpansionof
the filmmarketis oftenidentified misleadingly as the achievementof South Korean
cinemaitself.The expansionof themarketis,indeed,drivenbythesuccessof Korean
blockbusters like TheHost.But the developmentof the Korean filmindustryhas also
ended up providingstableand standardizedexhibitionsitesforHollywoodmovies.In
2007, forexample,the HollywoodblockbusterTransformers (Michael Bay) garnered
itsbiggestrevenueoutsideNorthAmerica($5 1,511,860) in the Korean market,and
in 2009, Transformers:Revengeof theFallen(Michael Bay) capturedits second biggest
revenueoutsideNorthAmerica($43,392,124)in the Korean market.43 In 2008, The
DarkKnight (ChristopherNolan, 2008), the highestgrossingHollywood movie of the
yearinternationally,grossed$25,024,391 in the Korean market,helping to make the
Korean marketthefilm'sfifth largest overseasterritory,
bigger than or
Japan Italy.44 In
2009, the Korean marketbecame the eighthlargest overseas for
territory Avataras it
broketheworldbox officerecordpreviouslysetby Titanic.45
As thebox officesuccessof TheHostdemonstrates, a fewbig-budgetmoviesdomi-
nate,in the processdrivingup the average market share of domesticmovies.In 2006,
thetop threetitlesat thebox officewereall domesticproductions, and thesemovies-
TheHost,KingandtheClown,and The Warof Flower(Tazza; Choi Dong-hoon,2006)-
drew 20 percentof total audience figures,out of 110 domestictitlesreleased that
year.The extremepolarizationrepresented bythesebox officestatistics has been con-
solidatedbythemonopolistichold exertedbyfourproduction-distribution companies.
In 2006, CJ Entertainment took 34.6 percentof the domesticmovies'marketshare
(distributing34.5 domestictitlesout of 110),Showbox/Mediaplex,Inc. took31.2 per-
cent(23 titles),Cinema Servicetook 16.9 percent(1 1.5 titles)and LotteEntertainment
took7.1 percent(12 titles).Each companyalso operatesa multiplexcinemachain: CJ
42 See KOFIC, "2002 Korean and ForeignMovie Box OfficeStatistics" [in Korean], http://www.kofic.or.kr/
(accessed
July28, 2008). See also KOFIC, "2007 Report."
43 Box Office Mojo, http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=transformers06.htm,
http://boxofficemojo.com
(accessed June 14, 2010).
/movies/?page=intl&id=transformers2.htm
44 Box OfficeMojo, http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=darkknight.htm
45 Box OfficeMojo, http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=avatar.htm
59
Entertainment runs CGV, Cinema Service runs Primers,and Lotte Entertainment

runsLotteCinema. (Showbox/Mediaplex,Inc. sold itsmultiplexchain,Megabox, in
2007.)46In total,thesebig companiesdistributed almost90 percentof Korean films,
farsurpassingthe 75 percentthatis supposedlythe highestlimitformarketshareas
establishedbyantitrust law.In addition,CJEntertainment holdsa significant
percent-
age of the shares in Cinema Service, and the two companiescombinedtookhalf the
market.In January2008, the Korean Fair Trade Committeeofficially warned four
major multiplex chains (CGV, Megabox, Primers, and Lotte Cinema) and fivebig
distributioncompanies(CJ Entertainment, Showbox/Mediaplex,Inc., Korean Sony
Pictures,UIP, and Twentieth Century Fox Korea) about unfairbusinessagreements.
One of the specificfilmindustryconventionsdesignatedas unfairpracticeis fora
multiplexcinema to end the screeningof a moviewithinsix days,thusnot following
thegivenconventionof guaranteeinga screeningdurationof at leasttwoweeks.47
Despitesuchwarnings, themarketshareof themajorcompanies(CJEntertainment,
Showbox/Mediaplex, Inc.,and LotteEntertainment) didnotdecrease;in 2009,theytook
around80 percentof thetheatrical revenueof domestictitles(CJEntertainment, 36.8
percent;Showbox/Mediaplex, Inc., 27.9 percent;LotteEntertainment, 15.0 percent).48
By2009,CJEntertainment's CGV chainoperated792 screensnationwide (among1,996
screenstotal),includingPrimerschains.CJEntertainment has exclusively
distributedthe
filmsof Dreamworks SKG sinceDreamworks'establishment in 1996and since2007 has
distributed
exclusively ParamountPicturestitles.(Forexample,CJEntertainment distrib-
uted both Transformers
and Transformers: of theFallenin South Korea.)
Revenge
Given all this,it is reasonableto concludethatthe recentgrowthof commercially
successfulbig-budgetKorean filmmaking and distribution
has reshapedthe domestic
filmmarketby integrating it into a globallystandardizedindustrialsystemin which
big-budgetblockbusters are distributed to multiplexcinemachainsregardlessof their
of
country production. This arrangementdoes not hinderso much as sustainthe
global dominance of Hollywoodmovies.If,forthe Korean filmindustry, Hollywood
is an unbeatableexternalmonster,thenKorean blockbustermoviesmay be thought
of as internalmonstersthathave grownup withinthedomesticindustry. The success
of TheHostin 2006 therefore marksthemomentwhenambivalentand ironicarticu-
lationsbetweennationallymobilizedmoviegoingpracticesand globalizingindustrial
orientations are disarticulated as thereconstructionand expansionof thelocal market
ensuresitis becominglocallystabilizedand globallystandardized.
Localized Globalization: A National-Global Disjunctive. In sum,at thesame time

projectsHollywoodas theOther,theSouthKorean filmindus-
thatit self-consciously
tryalso promotes itself filmindustry
as a nationalist essentialforsustaining
Korean na-
tionalcinema.Whilemobilizingdomesticaudiencesundernationalistrubric("Watch
ourmoviesand save Korean cinema fromthe invasionof Hollywood"),the industry
46 In July2007 Showbox/Mediaplex,Inc. sold Megabox chains to KMIC (Korean MultiplexInvestmentCooperation),

which is led by Australianinvestmentbank Macquarie InternationalHoldings.
47 Im Soon-hye, "Multiplex, Killing Korean Cinema in Crisis" [in Korean], Ecumenian, http://www.ecumenian.com
/news/articleView.html?idxno=4732 (accessed July28, 2008).
48 KOFIC, "Analysisof Korean Film Industry,"Korean Cinema 2009 (Seoul: KOFIC, 2010), 32.
60
has been reorganizing thebusinessenvironment withinwhichit operatesthroughver-

tical integrationof the productionand distribution sectorsand consolidationof a
of
monopoly multiplex cinema chains. Such industrial transformations standardize
audiences'tastesand moviegoinghabits,thusmakingit easierfora smallnumberof
largecompaniesto dominatethe market.Today a selectfewproduction-distribution
companiesown themajormultiplexcinemachainsand distribute theirmoviesas wide
releaseswithheavytelevisionand Internetmarketing. Withtheircontroloverthepri-
marymeans of marketing and distribution, thesecompaniescan thencreateenough
hype around a blockbuster to turnit into a national event.
In thecourseof hisdiscussionof thestaggering growthof thedomesticfilmindus-
try,KyungHyun Kim remarksthat"[t]he ironyof the Korean filmindustryis that
it has localized the conventionsand praxisof Hollywoodto such a successfuldegree
thatit has producedformulaicfilmsthatare appealingeven to Hollywood."49Kim's
commentsaptlyidentify the distinctive featuresof the contemporarySouth Korean
filmindustry. However,I would add thatthe practicesKim alludes to are not ironic
so much as theyare an integralpart of the Korean filmindustry's localizingactivi-
ties.The phenomenonof producinglocallyembeddedbutgloballymarketablemovies
and thendistributing and exhibiting themin monopoly-controlled multiplexchainsis
merelythe resultof the Korean filmindustry's efforts to become anotherHollywood
(domestically and internationally).
AndrewHigson once commentedon "theparadox" of a nationalcinema thatat-
temptsto be "nationallypopular,"arguingthatsinceitis usuallyHollywoodfilmsthat
are popular and enjoy nationalbox officesuccess,a domesticfilmindustryseeking
to attainthe same levelof popularityand commercialachievement"mustattemptto
reproducethestandard,whichin practicemeans colludingwithHollywood'ssystems
of funding, productioncontrol,distribution and marketing."50 The currentconfigura-
tion of the Korean filmindustrysuggeststhatsuch argumentsoughtto be probed
further in thecontemporary climateof unbridledglobalization.Despite itsinevitable
economiclimitations, the Korean filmindustrydoes pursueHollywood'ssystemsof
funding, productioncontrol,distribution, and marketing, in thecreationof a
resulting
local systemthatis partof a globallystandardizedindustrialnetwork.
South Korea is an exampleof a local filmindustrythat,as Tom O'Regan putsit,
initiates"international integration" in the "guiseof a local filmindustry producinga
variety of filmsor ... a purveyor of the nationalculture."51 When it assertsitselfas the
essentialagentof nationalcinema,the Korean industrybecomes a global-localforce
thatmediatesbetweenmultinational and local interests.As a result,theproductionof
highly successful Korean blockbusters like The Hosthas not de-Westernized thedomes-
tic filmindustryso much as it has reorganizedit into a localized pseudo-Hollywood
system.In otherwords,Korea's pursuitof indigenousmovieblockbusters has turned
itintoan international producer and distributorof localized global movies. *
49 KyungHyun Kim, The Remasculinizationof Korean Cinema (Durham, NC: Duke UniversityPress, 2004), 273.
50 AndrewHigson, "The Concept of National Cinema," in Film and Nationalism,ed. Alan Williams (New Brunswick,
NJ: RutgersUniversityPress, 2002), 58.
51 Tom O'Regan, "AustralianCinema as a National Cinema," in Williams,Film and Nationalism,97.
61

Localized Globalization and A Monster National

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Localized Globalization and A Monster National

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Abstract:This essay examines the industrialpractices behind the domestic success of

therecentlyburgeoningSouth Korean cinema offera model forhow to

www.cmstudies.org 50 | No. 3 ; Spring2011 45

cinema,identified as non-Western. The notionof de-Westernizing Hollywoodpresup-

The Monstrous Success of The Host. TheHostis directorBongJoon-ho'sthird

about thedangersof a nonexistent virusallegedlytransmitted by themonster, forcing

greetedwithnegativeand at timeshostileresponsesfromthesefans,who accusedit of

Cameron, 1997). The successof Shiriwas significant in thatit reorganizedthe struc-

12 David Scott Diffrient,

stage-by-stage count-down."15 Prime-time television

thatthisexplainswhyKoreanblockbusters begantobe identified

19 Kim Byung-chul,Lightand Shadow of Korean Blockbusters: The Universalityand Particularity

23 Noh, "Korean Film ExportsUp by 37% in FirstHalf of 2008."

25 Howard,"ContemporarySouth Korean Cinema," 89-90, 91.

Shiriseeksto emulateHollywoodmoviesat thesame timethatitoffers a fantasyof local

29 Kim, "South Korean Women Vanish," 33.

30 Kim and Do, "2006 Annual Report."

12,030,000filmgoers nationwide.30 What,then,

audience members.The originalKorean titleof TheHost,Geomul, declaresthefilmto

34 Howard,"ContemporarySouth Korean Cinema," 92.

unsolvedreal-life serialrape and murdercase of the 1980s,themovieplaces comedy,

Figure4. D-War(Shim Hyung-rae,2007) was mainlyfilmedin US locations withan Americancast and

on itsdomesticreleasethemovieemployed a marketing strategy thatappealedto

companies.When it opened onJuly27, 2006, thefilmwas called "a saviorof Korean

39 Im Bum, "Bong Joon-hoAgain Appears at a CriticalMoment" [in Korean], Cine21, http://www.cine21.com/Article

the totalnumberof theatersnationwidedecreasedfrom344 in 2001 to 306 in 2006.

Entertainment runs CGV, Cinema Service runs Primers,and Lotte Entertainment

Localized Globalization: A National-Global Disjunctive. In sum,at thesame time

46 In July2007 Showbox/Mediaplex,Inc. sold Megabox chains to KMIC (Korean MultiplexInvestmentCooperation),

has been reorganizing thebusinessenvironment withinwhichit operatesthroughver-

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