KJCKorea
Journal Central

This paper deals with the tendency of recent teen film in Korean independent cinema and especially focuses on the cinematic representation of adolescent masculine subject formation. The peculiar tendency of recent independent Korean teen film, dealing the juveniles is that it is derailed from the usual format of teen film, according to Wood's categorization of teem movie, which often prioritizes juvenile sexuality. The insecure and fragile juvenile masculine subject in Korean independent teen film is often inclined to resort to violence which leads to juvenile deviation, reminding the social problem such as school bullying and adolescent suicide. The question of affinitive relationship between the subject formation and aggression is discussed in relation to Lacan's mirror stage and death instinct, together with Donald Winnicott's different interpretation of aggression. The principal film texts which are analyzed in detail in relation to this specific tendency are <Bleak Night> (2010) and <Pluto> (2012). In case of those two films, they strongly exemplify the repetitive movement of death drive that is resided in Korean teen films in the 2010s and the distinct cinematic style in those films, which visualizes the aggression of adolescent male subject is also discussed.

Korean independent teen movie, aggression, Mirror Stage, R. Wood, J. Lacan and Winnicott