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Kim Ki-Young: Making of a Reputation - From ‘stinker’ moviemaker to ‘heretic of our Cinema’

  • The Journal of Korean drama and theatre
  • 2024, (82), pp.125-161
  • DOI : 10.17938/tjkdat.2024..82.125
  • Publisher : The Learned Society Of Korean Drama And Theatre
  • Research Area : Arts and Kinesiology > Other Arts and Kinesiology
  • Received : June 26, 2024
  • Accepted : August 8, 2024
  • Published : August 31, 2024

Dong-Hyeon, Geum 1

1경북대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This article examines the construction and evolution of the reputation of director Kim Ki-young from 1955 to 1973, with a particular focus on the period from 1955 to 1960, in two aspects. First, it analyzes how journalists and critics evaluated Kim Ki-young. His reputation positively shifted from that of a “melodrama director” to an “art film director.” The key turning points were the films “The Snowy Road(Choseol)” (1958) and “The Housemaid” (1960). Through “The Snowy Road”, Kim was recognized as an “artist director”, and through “The Housemaid”, he established himself as the “maverick of Korean cinema”. This change is attributed not to the intrinsic changes in Kim’s films but to a shift in critical discourse from realism-based standards to the advocacy of subjective ‘film aesthetics’. Second, the study investigates how Kim Ki-young actively managed his reputation through marketing materials. Since Kim handled production and publicity himself, the marketing materials reflect his intentions. This paper analyzes how the marketing of “The Snowy Road” and “The Housemaid”, identified as pivotal points in Chapter 2, facilitated their distinction as art films and the affirmation of their unique style. In particular, this process highlights producer Park Won-seok, who has not been previously discussed in Kim Ki-young’s research. Through this examination, the paper contributes to the history of Korean film criticism and studies on Kim Ki-young as an auteur.

Citation status

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