Exhibition shows 100-year history of women in film
Each of the six sections of “The Bad Women, The Weird Women, The Dope Women” exhibition shows movie clips compiling different concepts of female characters in Korean cinema over the past 100 years of history. Courtesy of Korean Film Archive
By Lee Gyu-lee
A special exhibition on female characters in Korean cinema breaking the norms of the male-dominated film industry over its 100-year history is being held at the Korean Film Museum.
“The Bad Women, The Weird Women, The Dope Women” is the Korean Film Archive's second special exhibition of the year and centers on movies with females as protagonists.
“In Korean cinema, women have a limited stance and are somewhat excluded,” curator and organizer of the exhibition Cho So-youn said, during a curating session at the museum in Sangam, western Seoul, July 19. “I felt uncomfortable to see how women were illustrated in past films, especially in the 1970s and '80s, females were seen through male-oriented and distorted views.”
A poster for the exhibition “The Bad Women, The Weird Women, The Dope Women” with pictures of the main characters from “The Housemaid” (1960), “Thirst” (2009), and “The Truth Beneath” (2015), from left to right. Courtesy of Korean Film Archive
The title of the exhibition sums up how female characters were represented in cinema in the past. In a field predominantly run by males, female characters who voice their opinion or freely express desires were portrayed as antagonists, subject to be eliminated, or as odd ones that don't deserve empathy.
This asymmetric pattern in how genders were depicted started to change from the '90s, as more awareness and gender equality rose, leading to more diverse female roles.
Cho explained that Sonia ― played by actress Choi Eun-hee ― in director Shin Sang-ok's 1958 film “The Flower in Hell” inspired her to select this theme. “When I saw the movie, I was drawn by the femme fatale character and started thinking about a project featuring attractive, strong and independent female characters in Korean cinema.”
Divided into three sections including a photo zone, the exhibition starts with a quote on a wall from British feminist film critic Laura Mulvey's essay, which points to a male-dominated film industry viewing women only as passive objects.
The first area has six screens, presenting six different concepts of female characters. Cho invited six feminist film critics and experts to come up with one section each to demonstrate their perspectives of strong female characters in cinema. Each screen plays clips of movies selected by those critics on the themes ― sensuality, queer sexuality, monsters, supernatural, law-breaking and maternal.
The second part features a three-sided screen of immersive media art and famous quotes by symbolic female characters ― including Lee Geum-ja from director Park Chan-wook's “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.”
On top of the exhibition, six lectures will be held by the six critics and experts who designed and organized each section to provide an in-depth understanding of the exhibition.
A total of 15 films referenced in the exhibitions will be screened from Aug. 6 to 18. The center is planning four screenings with directors, critics and actress Kim Da-mi to hold talks with the audience after the showing.
The exhibition will run until Oct. 13 at the Korean Film Archive.