Best timing for Korean cinema to leap forward
By Kim Rahn
The film industry was one of the sectors hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing guidelines prevented a large number of people from gathering at indoor places, and this directly meant theaters could not admit enough moviegoers to makes ends meet. The guidelines also gave people the impression that theaters were not safe from virus infection. Food bans inside the theaters also became one of the major factors here to chase away people who used to like the combo of eating popcorn and watching movies.
So film producers and distributors pushed back the release dates of already finished films ― sometimes for months and sometimes even for nearly two years ― waiting for the time when the social distancing rules would be lifted and people would come back to see movies, without knowing when it would be.
As the harsh period prolonged over a year without signs of ending, numbers of film-related companies and individuals began to wither one by one. In 2020 alone, 81 movie theaters were shut down nationwide. Even the nation's three largest theater chains ― CGV, Megabox and Lotte Cinema ― closed or suspended operations at some of their outlets. Seoul Cinema, which was one of the three symbolic movie theaters for decades in downtown Seoul's Jongno District, also shut down last August after 42 years of operation.
Production companies, not only small but also big, suffered financial hardships, while individuals, especially those engaged in indie film creations ranging from directors and crews to actors, were forced to resort to other means of making a living.
Now, however, it seems “the time” has come.
With the pandemic being treated like an endemic and people being weary of two-year-long social distancing rules ― plus the fact that movie theaters, at least in Korea, have never been a hotbed of mass infection ― most of the guidelines placed on cinemas have been lifted other than for keeping facemasks on. And filmgoers are now rushing to cinemas as if they've been waiting for this moment.
Immediately after the food ban was lifted in late April, the weekly number of movie viewers jumped 37.5 percent.
A string of blockbuster movies also hit local theaters, and “The Roundup” marked 10 million viewers last Saturday, becoming the first to do so since before the pandemic. In 2019 before the global health crisis, two Korean and three Hollywood films sold more than 10 million tickets each.
Films at theaters are also expanding in terms of not only quantity but also quality. “Broker,” a creation by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda and Korean actors which is now showing, earned Song Kang-ho the Best Actor award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival last month. Another Cannes-winning film, “Decision to Leave” by winning director Park Chan-wook, will be released at the end of this month.
The Korean film industry will have to seize this moment ― when the public is willing to pay for movie watching as if they are making up for missed entertainment for the last two years, and when the attention to Korean content is at an all-time high.
The attention is from not only moviegoers here but also those in other countries, and it's expanding, so not only films by big-name directors or actors but also indie and short films are seeing unprecedented attention, with many of such films winning awards at international film festivals.
Also a growing number of works are created as multinational projects, like “Broker,” as well as “Decision to Leave” starring Chinese actress Tang Wei, and “Vanishing,” French director Denis Dercourt's thriller starring Korean actors and set in Korea.
The source of content in filmmaking is also diversifying, with a number of webtoons and web novels becoming the basis for movies and TV dramas.
Still quite a lot of people and companies in the film industry have not recovered from the shockwave sent by the pandemic. But they have to brace themselves not to miss this timing to rebuild the industry in order to make it stronger, more diverse and more global.