Retro fever sweeps entertainment industry
A scene from the film “Gangnam Blues” / Courtesy of Show Box Mediaplex
By Kwon Ji-youn
Korean films, dramas and entertainment shows are undergoing an unprecedented retro fever.
The retro boom emerged in 2012 with tvN dramas “Reply 1997” and “Reply 1994,” which recounted the lives of high school and college students back in the 90s.
Watching the Reply series, fans relived the dominance of first generation K-pop bands like H.O.T. and Sechs Kies, conjured up memories of Seo Taiji & Boys and their retirement while recalling the days of the beeper.
Top singers of the 1990s took turns topping charts throughout the first week of January this year, after an episode of “Infinite Challenge” recorded a 22-percent viewer rating. This episode, subtitled “Saturday, Saturday is for Singers,” also known as “Totoga,” featured performances by groups and soloists who dominated the music scene in the 1990s, including dance duo Turbo, girl band S.E.S. and hip hop duo Jinusean. Other programs like “Immortal Song 2” have steadily stockpiled viewers with episodes featuring young artists performing the music of veteran singers.
Why are Koreans so hung up on reminiscing the old times?
“The recent economic recession has created struggles for the working class, and these people tend to look to the past for comfort,” said culture critic Ha Jae-keun.
“If circumstances don’t improve, retro will develop into a sustainable market, especially among an aging society. The current popular culture does not fulfill the older generations’ cultural needs.”
The 2015 film line-up has confirmed that the trend is in for the long haul.
Director Youn Je-kyun’s “Ode to My Father” has become the first film this year to cap the 10 million viewer mark, and further films to come will also cover the mid-to-late 1900s, including “C’est Si Bon,” “Chronicle of a Blood Merchant” and “Gangnam Blues.”.
“C’est Si Bon,” starring Reply 1994 star Jung Woo and veteran actor Kim Yun-seok, will take audiences back to the folk craze of the 1960s, when musicians like Jo Young-nam, Lee Jang-hee, Song Chang-sik and Yoon Hyeong-joo set off an acoustic guitar boom. It will center in on C’est Si Bon, a music cafe home to such big name stars including Twin Folio, a legendary folk duo. The film will be released in February.
“Gangnam Blues,” featuring Lee Min-ho and Kim Rae-won, is an action-noir film that tells the story of two childhood friends who are separated in a political clash after their shanty homes are torn down by thugs. The film, in theaters today, is set in Gangnam, the now upscale neighborhood south of the Han River, when it was being transformed into a developed area in the 1970s.
“Chronicle of a Blood Merchant” also cycles back to the 1950s and is based on a Chinese novel that tells the story of a man who sells his blood to feed his family. In the film adaptation, the protagonists are placed in a fictional village in the 1950s following the Korean War (1950-53).
Follow Kwon Ji-youn on Twitter @jennajykwon