KJCKorea
Journal Central

In this paper, I examined the representations of real people in existing feature films of colonial Joseon. The films, released in the early 1940s have something in common in that they reveal the keynote of the colonial power policy. First, two children's films, <Tuition>(1940) and <Homeless Angel>(1941) are based on true stories written about the real experience by a fourth-grade student of an elementary school, Woo Soo-young, and a social worker, a people Bang Soo-won pastor. In doing this, the films reflect policies of the colonial education and the children which embodied a dominant ideology representing the reconciliation between Japan and Joseon(naseonyounghwa) and the subjecting to Japan imperialism. Next, in the <A Volunteer>(1941) which is a propaganda film for supporting the army special volunteer system(1938), Ito Hirobumi, the first Resident-General of Joseon and Minami Jiro, the current Governor General of Joseon appear through the portraits and documentary clips in the real and imagination of the main character. Then, factual images of Japanese rulers who represent the past and the present each, emphasize the necessity of introducing the volunteer system and the justice of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity. In the case of <You and Me>(1941), it was a Japanese language film produced from the press section of Japanese Joseon Army. In the middle of the film, Minami Jiro, a Governor General of Joseon and Itagaki Seisiro, the commander of the Japanese Joseon Army appear. Moreover, the scene of Lee In-suk who was the first Joseon volunteer soldier died in battle, is displayed at the beginning of the film. By heroizing his actions, the film presents an exemplary case of the Joseon volunteer soldiers.

Joseon Films, Colonial Joseon, 1940s, Real People, Representation