Comedian Comedy: The Intertextuality of North Korean Film Culture

Abstract

This article discusses the idea of comedian comedy, a cinematic genre in which actors reference themselves and each other and thereby highlight the interconnected nature of their careers and performances for the pleasure of the audience. I argue that North Korean cinema has fostered a culture of comedian comedy through which actors recognize and acknowledge each other in the filmic world as a way of affirming their history of working together for the viewers in society. Our Meaningful Life [보람찬 우리 생활] (1979) presents North Korean audiences with an entertaining and self-reflexive spectacle in which a famous comedian plays the role of an awkward and ignorant visitor to the film studio in Pyongyang. The film celebrates in a playful manner the performers of the North Korean film industry by having them play themselves in brief appearances where they engage with the disruptive and naïve elderly man played by Kim Se-yŏng, one of the most recognizable stars of North Korean cinema. Our Meaningful Life abounds in references to earlier North Korean films, restaging some of their most iconic scenes. In addition to being successful and popular comedy for North Korean moviegoers, it also serves as a repository of collective consciousness of North Korean film history.