Why so much Violence???

After reading these blog, we assume you, our readers, are wondering why Park's films are so violent. So here is the blog post that we hope will assist in answering this question.

"Numerous times I lie in bed at night and imagine the cruellest torture. I imagine the most miserable ruining of that person's life. After that, I can fall asleep with a smile on my face. As long as it stays in the realm of imagination, the crueller the better - that's healthy. I'd like to recommend it to you all as well. I hope my films can help in any small way to help your imagination become at least a little bit crueller." (Park Chan-Wook)(Park)

Analysis of New York Times article "Mr. Vengeance" by Ian Buruma
Reviewed by Sylvia DeMarco

“Explicitly violent,” is the perfect definition for the new wave of film classified as “Asian Extreme” at the center of this article. I became enlightened about South Korean culture and why they are so fascinated with violence with the reading of this New York Times article. I found that one of the main reasons Asian films are so violent and extremely distorted is because of their history. Most of the Asian societies have lived through history’s most catastrophic wars. These wars were very blood and caused many innocent people and children to lose their lives. In essence, these wars left a lasting impression on the culture of Korea.

Throughout Korean history, citizens dealt with oppression everywhere that left un-wanted, yet; unforgettable memories. For instance, during the mid-eighties many South Koreans students were tired of being mistreated by the military regime. Their frustration caused them to begin to hold rallies against their oppressors. Sadly, far too many of these students were beat brutally, some to their death. These violent revolts had a large influence on Korea and specially Park. He himself was a student at the time, however; he was too afraid to stand up with his fellow classmates. Park uses his films as a means to overcome the guilt for not taking part, and to assist in lifting Koreas burdened caused by civil war and military dictatorship. After reading this article, I have come to believe that his films are indeed lifting their burdens. For instance, one can look at Korea’s indifference towards Japan.

South Korea actually does exercise censorship when they deem a film too extreme, however; it barely happens. The only time censorship occurs is if the movie's plot depicts Japan’s occupation of Korea as favorable. Interestingly, though mentioning Japan as being blessing on Korea is frowned upon; their pop culture is highly adored such as manga and anime. It has actually influence a few Korea films even one of Park’s own. “Oldboy” was based on a Japanese manga written by Tsuchiya Garon, and Minegishis Nobuaki. Manga comics are rooted with extremely, exaggerated sex and violence as well. The grotesque style of storytelling is not just contained in the film world. It is also heavily used within Chinese, Korean, and Japanese in many different facets. Overall, you could say that the term “Explicitly violent” is rooted within these cultures. Violence has become a part of Korean culture because of their history and in turn they utilize film as means to share that history.



New York Times Article
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/magazine/09park.html?_r=1

Other Source:
"Park Chan Wook - Biography." Park Chan Wook - South Korean Director's Website. 2009. Web. 23 Apr. 2010.
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