Hollywood's first Korean film to be screened

A poster for “Northeast of Seoul”

By Jon Dunbar

Hollywood came to Korea in the early 1970s, filming one movie before returning to American shores and not returning for decades.

That movie, “Northeast of Seoul” (1972) directed by David Lowell Rich, is showing Saturday at the Seoul Film Society (SFC), which screens movies about once a month in Haechi Hall at the Seoul Global Cultural Center in Myeong-dong, central Seoul.

Scottish expat Barry Welsh, an assistant professor at Dongguk University, started SFC. Welsh, a columnist for the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, also runs the Seoul Book and Culture Club.

“I started organizing (these events) at first just as a way to learn more about Korean literature, culture and history,” Welsh told The Korea Times.

“And I wanted to, in my own small way, make some kind of positive contribution to the society I was living in. I’ve been very lucky to meet lots of wonderful and interesting people through the events,” he added.

He formed SFC with cooperation from the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), which was also looking to start a film club. Events were run with help from Matt Van Volkenburg, a Canadian expat with thorough knowledge of Korea’s film history who prefaced movies with a short lecture and ran discussion sessions afterward.

After Van Volkenburg moved away to earn his Ph.D. in Korean studies, Welsh has been assisted by Professor Hwang Young-mee of Sookmyung Women’s University and film critic Kim Nemo.

They have shown many more films from throughout Korea’s cinema history, even inviting Korean film directors to present their movies and answer questions. This includes Jeong Jae-eun presenting “Take Care of My Cat,” Lee Myung-se’s “Nowhere to Hide” and Lee Sang-woo’s “Speed.”

This week’s movie will be presented by Korean studies scholar Jacco Zwetsloot who will set the context for appreciating it.

“This movie is not a good movie in any aspect of the word ― cinematography, scriptwriting, acting, or directing,” said Zwetsloot, “but it is significant in that it was the first Korean-American joint movie production, and one of the first movies in which Korean actors actually played Korean characters.”

Released under MGM/UA, “Northeast of Seoul” stars Canadian actor John Ireland, Swedish bombshell Anita Ekberg and Victor Buono, best remembered as King Tut from the 60s “Batman” TV show. Joined by a large supporting cast of Koreans, it’s basically a low-budget remake of “The Maltese Falcon,” transplanted to a still-developing Korea.

“It has a so bad it’s good appeal,” Zwetsloot said.

The event starts this Saturday at 3 p.m. and is free to attend. For more information, visit facebook.com/seoulfilmsociety.