KJCKorea
Journal Central

Korean film director Park Chanwook illustrated the way the incompatible were integrated and driven to extremes and exaggeration. His films that provoke fear and laughter in that situation could be defined as the grotesque world. In this research, I have analyzed the critical perception about the world implicit in the imagination of “the grotesque” and “the human being degenerating into a monster”, which is characteristic of Park Chanwook’s films. The texts studied are The Vengeance Trilogy consisting of <Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance>, <Oldboy>, <Sympathy For Lady Vengeance>, <Thirst> and <Three, Monster>(segment <Cut>). The grotesque is a way of creation that calls the absurd and dishonest world out and then face to conquer it. The worlds of the grotesque that we face through Park’s films can be divided into four aspects. First, he expresses the absurd lives of the subaltern that the contradiction of the capitalistic society brings about. This forms the discussion of criticism and resistance about the contradiction of Korean classes. Second, he shows the awareness of the times when the legal systems of the society cannot guarantee individual welfare. Through this he criticizes the world that cannot realize public justice. Third, Park’s works contain the apprehensive consciousness of destiny that the factors like coincidence and carelessness can lead to the terrible catastrophe. Lastly, they bring the disillusive awakening that human desires are the power degrading themselves to monsters. Human beings degenerate into monsters in the grotesque world illustrated by Park Chanwook. They turn into monsters like destiny led by the power of chance, in the world of capitalistic society’s contradiction and making realization of public justice impossible. There are uncontrollable desires in the inner world of human beings degenerating into monsters. Realizing the truth, the dichotomous way of thinking telling right from wrong is deconstructed and overthrown. Consequently, the grotesque in the Park Chanwook’s films can be defined as the visible or narrative expression of the world and humans. However, the grotesque trying to conquer the evil and spurious world by being faced with it create the horrible and the ridiculous. In this case laughter plays a role of the device controlling extreme fear and defense mechanism defying anxiety. In this research I studied the aspect of the grotesque and a degraded human character. In addition, I produced significant results of what the truth of the world requiring critical reflection is through examining Park Chanwook’s films as the world of the grotesque. This study can be said to break new ground in understanding Park Chanwook’s films.

the grotesque, monster, degeneration, Park Chanwook, <Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance>, <Oldboy>, < Sympathy For Lady Vengeance>, <Three, Monster>, <Thirst>