A Whirlpool of History: Roaring Currents between A Determined War Film and A Deifying Biopic
Journal Title: International Journal of Korean History - Year 2014, Vol 19, Issue 2
Abstract
The summer season of 2014 has been a boon for fans of the cinematic genre of Korean historical drama or period pieces (sagŭk). Three blockbuster productions with sizable production budgets, ranging from 12 to 20 billion won, including: The Admiral: Roaring Currents (Myŏngnyang), a rousing account of the Myŏngnyang sea battle (1597) starring Choi Minshik [Ch'oe Min-sik] as Admiral Yi Sun-sin facing off an armada of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Japanese forces; Kundo: The Age of the Rampant (Kundo) a spaghetti Western-inflected action film set in the 19th century in which a group of mountain bandits, including a former butcher who uses a pair of meat cleavers like samurai swords, square off against a corrupt yangban notable; The Pirates (Haejŏk: Padaro kan sanjŏk), ostensibly set in the period of the late Koryŏ-early Chosŏn dynasty transition, concerned with a group of pirates, court officials and other motley crew of characters desperately looking for the royal seal swallowed by a whale. Each production was the subject of much industry speculation in terms of ameliorating (or exacerbating) the anxiety about the markedly poor performance of Korean domestic films in the first half of 2014. When the curtain dropped, however, Roaring Currents emerged as the uncontested winner. Not only did the film best Kundo and The Pirates (with approximately 4.7 million and 6.8 million tickets sold as of August 31, 2014, both films have managed to recoup their production costs and can be safely considered substantial hits) in the box office competition, it also beat James Cameron's Avatar (2009) to become the all-time box office champion in Korea, having sold a whopping 16.8 million tickets (the film's revenue is estimated at an equally mind-boggling 129.5 billion won, about six and a half times more money than its estimated production cost) in less than a month since its theatrical release.
Authors and Affiliations
Kyu Hyun Kim
Keywords
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