청년문화, 영상시대와 새로운 성 해석, 낭만적 저항의 1970년대 한국영화(1972~1979)

Abstract

Korean films in the 1970s is closely related to the launch of Yushin Regime that determined the culture and art of Korean society. This means that it is difficult to feature exclusively characteristics of Korean films in this period beyond Yushin Regime. For this reason, it is valid that Korean films in the 1970s were formed by the intervention of Yushin Regime ideology and by responses to various policies derived from the ideology. However, more important elements that affected Korean film industry’s shrinkage in this period are the spread of television sets according to industrialization and the change of the audience’s scope because of baby boom generation’s growth. This sparked a debate on youth culture and a new concept of film in Yongsang Sidae(The Visual Age). This means that the popular culture era arrived in Korea in the 1970s. At the same time, this indicates that while youth culture and the Visual Age are physically combined with the popular culture era, Korean films could not be developed into its concrete or alternative practices. This is the distinct limitation of the Visual Age. Key figures in the Visual Age, including Ha Gil-jong and Byun In-shik, maintained a critical perspective on film censorship and institutions during Yushin Regime. However, more importantly, the fundamental problem was a film industry’s shrinkage, which resulted in the change of movie-goers’ behavior because of the television sets’ spread. In order to break through the difficulties in the film industry, the Visual Age attempted to move away from traditional production pattern and set a production strategy for targeted audience. This also took into account a problem that the subject who enjoys popular culture was changed because of baby boomers’ growth. Therefore, the Visual Age’s goal in this period was to rescue Korean films at stake by securing the core of popular culture, namely popularity. As a result, bold interpretation on sexuality was represented in the films. Plus, university students and young people who emerged as mainstream of popular culture through discourse of youth culture were targeted in the films. For this reason, oppressive elements were implied in the films, but they are marked by romantic resistance and compliance within the realm of Yushin Regime. By admitting the ideology of Yushin Regime in the 1970s, the films revealed the bold interpretation on sexuality, romantic resistance and compliance. This shows new attempts of Korean films during this period.