KJCKorea
Journal Central

Tracing the process by which a particular genre takes root in a specific region and resonates with the public can open new perspectives on the cultural landscape of the time. In this regard, this study examines the local specificity of Korean crime films produced between the late 1950s and early 1960s by analyzing the contexts in which Get on the Express Train(1963), directed by Kim Muk, was produced, distributed, screened, and adapted, in conjunction with the Korean film industry and the political and social circumstances of the period. Korean crime films of this era assimilated genre conventions such as gangster films, film noir, and thrillers from Hollywood, as well as from French and British crime films, which had been imported in large numbers in the late 1950s. At the same time, these films shared crime narratives popularized through radio dramas and literature while contending with state censorship, which was particularly sensitive to the depiction of crime due to concerns about copycat crime. Despite legal constraints, crime films were actively produced as they were recognized as a genre that embodied modernity in the formative years of Korea’s national cinema. However, the adaptation process of Get on the Express Train reveals the regional context that hindered the development of crime films as a modern genre in Korea. This film, known for plagiarizing Kurosawa Akira’s High and Low(1963), differs from its Japanese counterpart in its portrayal of an internal enemy and its foregrounding of a weeping male protagonist. These elements are closely linked to the dominant ideologies of the time, namely, the anticommunism that was proclaimed as a national doctrine after the May 16 coup and the patriarchal system that functioned as a key ideology in the reconstruction of the nation-state. This study thus argues for an interpretation of Korean crime films not as mere Western imports but as a genre shaped by local specificities.

Most existing literature has described the period from 1965 to 1972 as a time when ‘realism’ in South Korean cinema was completely discontinued. However, during the same period, there was a renewed recognition of realism across various cultural and artistic fields in South Korea, particularly in literature, where realist discourse began to proliferate. Filmmakers and film professionals of the time were well aware of these cultural and artistic trends. However, the film industry faced challenges such as censorship in domestic screenings and restrictions on submissions to international film festivals. As a result, the prevalence of realist films and discourse significantly diminished during this period. Several additional factors contributed to this phenomenon. Realist films were largely perceived as synonymous with art films or non-commercial works, while neorealism was considered an outdated movement. Consequently, creators, critics, and audiences alike increasingly turned their attention to modernist trends, particularly those emerging from France. This shift led to the gradual decline of (neo)realism in South Korean cinema. Contrary to previous studies, films that adhered to realist principles continued to be produced throughout the late 1960s. Nevertheless, these works were often interpreted within the frameworks of “literary cinema” or “modernist film aesthetics.” Additionally, their thematic and stylistic approaches exhibited certain limitations. Rather than being entirely severed, realism in South Korean cinema between 1965 and 1972 underwent various transformations despite inherent constraints. In other words, it is more appropriate to view the realism discourse and films of this period as having been restructured in response to contemporary political conditions and the aesthetic and industrial shifts within the film industry.

This paper examines the socio-cultural characteristics of the Hanguk Sohyeong Yeonghwa Donghohoe (Korean Small-Gauge Film Society), an amateur film collective active in 1970s South Korea, through an analysis of previously unexamined primary sources: the society’s internal bulletins Sohyeong Yeonghwa (1972, 1973) and designated scenarios for film competitions (1978, 1979). While existing scholarship has approached the society primarily through newspapers and magazines, framing it within the discourse of experimental cinema, this study seeks a more objective reassessment by investigating the class background, aesthetic orientation, and amateur practices of the group. Findings reveal that the society was composed primarily of middle-class men with a background in still photography, who approached filmmaking not as cinema (in its art-historical sense) but rather as moving pictures—extensions of photographic practice. Their preferences for photogenic subjects such as nature and women reflect a conservative middle-class taste that shaped both their themes and visual style. The technical writings in Sohyeong Yeonghwa emphasized conventions of commercial cinema such as “stable composition” and “good image quality”, indicating little resistance to dominant film grammar. Although the group explored the concept of photogénie under the influence of director Yu Hyun-mok, such engagement remained ideologically and aesthetically constrained. Moreover, two official competition scenarios—Sinrok ui Cheongchun (The Youth of Verdure, 1978) and Geurigo Tto Bom (And Yet Spring Again, 1979)—followed conventional melodramatic narratives and shooting techniques, offering further evidence of the group's aesthetic conservatism. In conclusion, the amateurism practiced by the Hanguk Sohyeong Yeonghwa Donghohoe was not a radical critique of professionalism or mainstream norms, but rather a form of leisure grounded in middle-class male culture, oriented toward stable, apolitical, and respectable visual expression.