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Film director： The director of vengeance—Park Chan Wook Park Chan wook, born in 1963, after graduating from Sogang University with a degree in philosophy, Park Chan-wook began his career as a movie critic before becoming an assistant director in 1988 on "Kkamdong" and then making his directorial debut in 1992 with "Moon Is ... Sun's Dream." But Park's name really took off in 2000 with "Joint Security Area: JSA," a mystery-thriller about North and South Korean border guards along the Demilitarized Zone that became the highest-grossing film ever in Korea at the time. (re.1) While Park’s films have specific theme and his own style, this essay will analysis three films, including “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance,” “Cut” in “three…..extremes” and “Old Boy”. From these films, this essay will discuss Park’s specific techniques used, his personal own style, and also his specific themes. Before that, firstly, I will briefly introduce these three films. “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” (2002) is about a deaf-mute man, Ryu, who has a sister with series kidney disease, in order to find money for a surgical operation, Ryu and his girl friend decided to kidnap Yoo-sun, the daughter of Ryu’s boss. Ryu did not decided to kill Yoo-sun, but Ryu’s sister found Ryu’s crime, she didn’t want Ryu doing wrong, so she committed suicide. While Ryu was so sad for his sister’s dead, he interred his sister besides the lake, and he didn’t know that Yoo-sun fell into the river, so Yoo-sun died. And Yoo’s father found Ryu, he killed Ryu and his girl friend, young-mi, as revenge, but finally, he also killed by young-mi’s organization…… Then, “Cut”(2004)is about the man who called RYO Ji-Ho, he is a famous film director, with the generous body house, free from worldly cares reputation , virtuous wife, life happy one can not be happier really. Until one day, when he wanted home, he found that his wife was seized on both sides by the arms by the strange guy. He gave two choices to Ryo: Ryo needs to kill the child on the sofa, or he will cut all the fingers of his wife. Finally, his wife killed the strange guy, while Ryo became crazy and killed his wife…….. The third film is “Old boy”(2003), it is about the man Dae-su, who finds himself suddenly abducted and imprisoned for 15 years without any explanation. When he finally is freed, he is left to try to discover who jailed him and why.(Re.1) Finally, he found the reason: it was because he talked too much! When he was a secondary student, he found one girl fell in love with her brother and had sex with him. Then Dae-su spread this scandal everywhere, and the brother and his sister cannot bare the pressure, so the brother killed his sister. And the brother decided to take the revenge, he imprisoned Dae-su for 15 years, and though hypotenuses, he made Dae-su fell in love with his daughter…… Specific Techniques： Crime, violence, blood becomes the ‘trade mark’of Park’s film, but how he uses his special techniques to present such things, here will discuss the still but beautiful shot and setting, extreme close up of mouth, the specific sound effect, the use of off-screen sound. Beautiful shots and setting: Watching Park’s film, just like watching the beautiful pictures. It is because in his films, there are many beautiful setting, for example, the still, quiet lake in “Sympathy for Mr. vengeance”, the classic and western stylish blue house in “cut”, and the old 50s’style house which imprison Das-su for 15 years in “old boy”. Besides the beautiful setting, the actors sometimes will hold and still for few seconds, the dead air time with the beautiful setting, making audience feel that Park’s films just like made by many pictures rather than a series of movement. Such still shots can be clap as the beautiful posters, here is the example: Lake in “Sympathy for Mr. vengeance” Old house in “Old Boy” Extreme close up of mouth: Extreme close up of mouth shots are found in both three films. The purposes are partially similar. Usually, Park uses the close up of mouth, and the words come from this mouth is very important or the theme of the film. For example, there is an extreme close up of Ryo’s mouth, and he said ‘cut’, it’s the name of the film. While in “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance”, mouth is much important because the main character is deaf, he needs to watch people’s mouth in order to get what the people said, then, there is an extreme close up of doctor’s mouth, to stress the disappointed message to the main character at the beginning : ‘the kidney cannot be transplant’, that means his sister cannot be cured. The specific sound effect: Park usually uses the same sound effect or background music through the whole theme, in order to create the continuity. For example, the classic music used in “cut”, the violin music used in “old boy”. It should be notice that there is no music used in “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance”, these is only the sound of cicadas, giving the summer and still feeling. And sometimes, as the main character is deaf, there is even no sound, let the audience feel the world of deaf with the character ‘point of sound’.

The use of off-screen sound: Another interesting point is, when there are extreme plot, like cutting the fingers( in “cut”), tongue ( in “Old boy”), heel (in “sympathy for Mr. vengeance”) the shots firstly are not directly zoom to the hurt part, but zoom to other parts, with the discordant shout (off –screen sound)of the injured, it is interesting that by using the off-screen sound, audience feel much horrible rather than directly watch the bloody shot first, it was because the off-screen sound gives the chances for imagine, and imagine is always terrible than see it in real ( this sentence is said in “old boy”)

Personal style: And in Park’s film, there are so many recognized personal own style, it includes: Repetition, black humor, bloody and violence, using camera movement to present the emotions(360 and shake movement).

Repetition: Park’s films are well-organized; the beginning always links with the end! And each repetition brings the message. In “cut”, the beginning is the vampire in Ryo’s film sucks the blood of the man through his neck, while after sucking; she feels sick and vomits the blood. In the end, Ryo’s wife bark strange man’s neck, with the same sucking and eating sound effect, then the wife also vomits the blood. It brings the message: ‘film is like life’. Then, at the beginning in “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance”, Ryu plays with his sister near the lake when they are child, then Ryu is also killed in the lake. As Ryu plants the hatred in the lake, he takes his own result in the lake. In “old boy”, the first shot is Dau-su catching the stranger, the position just likes at the end of the movie, the brother catches her sister in the dam. As Dau-su has the similar density with that brother, the repetition used to imply their similarity.

Blood and violence: As Park said, the violence used in the film is a way of vent (re2), Park uses it to express the disorder in the society. Thus the blood and violence is so real, it shows the reality in the society. There are a lot of bloody scenes in Park’s movie; the wife barks the neck of strange guy, and breaks his artery, then the blood flow out, the floor is though of blood in “cut”. Actually, it is not necessary to give many examples, once you watch Park’s film, you will know what is the meaning of bloody scene. Black humor: Although there are lots of bloody and violence scenes, Park adds some gags in his bloody movie. For example, the strange guy give an Broadway dance before he cuts the woman fingers ( “cut”), the dot line link from Dae-su hammer and the head of the victim (“old boy”). And the abnormal still shot used before the violence, all these make audience to relax, but at the next moment, the horrible scene showed. Park is used to use this kind of black humor, to make the audience emotion fluctuated in a great extends. The abnormal dotted line. Camera movement brings emotion: In Park’s film, long shot is used most of time, in order to make the audience become the well-knower of the story, and enjoy the picture-liked shot. But when the characters have extreme emotion, the camera has special movement to match the characters or brings up the emotion of the audience. For example, when Ryo was deciding rather kill the child to save his wife or not, the camera shakes to represent his confuse and dilemma. (“cut”); The 360 degree movement around Dae-su when he was imprisoned, the movement represents his confuse, being isolated.

Interior meaning: “ I think ‘vengeance’ is the most dramatic emotion in the world, by using different ways and format, vengeance can derive many interesting stories” said by Park Chan Wook.(re2) It explains why “vengeance” becomes the important part of Park’s movies. There is no clear cut, moral value, right or wrong in Park’s film. Everyone commits their own crime, if Ryu did not kidnap Yoo-Sun, Yoo’s father will not kill him, Yoo’s father will not die if he did not revenge and kills Ryu’s girlfriend…….in “sympathy for Mr. Vengeance”, everyone can be victim, but at the same time be a perpetrator. In “cut”, the reason of vengeance is jealous. The strange guy jealous Ryo, he cannot accept there is the prefect man in the world. Through vengeance, Park’s expresses his view: the world is so unfair. The strange gay turn out died, but Ryo also goes mad. In tradition, Ryo, as a good gay, is so innocent and should not have the sad end, but in Park’s film, Ryo also has his “bad face”, no one is innocent in the real world! Again, the victim is not perfectly innocent. “Old boy”brings the similar message, audience think Dae-su is so poor, being imprisoned without reasons, while actually, his gossip kills a girl. However, this time, Park adds more on this film. “Seeking revenge is the best cure for someone who got hurt……revenge is healthy, but after you revenge, the hidden pain will come back again”said by brother in the film. Although the brother uses revenge to cure his hurt, but turn out, he gets nothing and committed suicide, and Dae-su needs to forget every hatred or he can’t live anymore. Revenge, although derives interesting story, it is also the root of tragedy, hurtful and meaningless. This is what I get in the park’s films. Reference： 1)	The Hollywood reporter site: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/interviews/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000552276 2)	Magazine: City entertainment P.45

4) 分析韓國電影表現暴力的獨特手法及文化意義.     分析韓國軍事電影的暴力及歷史文化意義.     隨著韓國政府於一九九八年取消了電影審查制度，以分級製取以代之，韓國導演一下子脫離枷鎖，近十年的電影血腥暴力程度不亞於日本電影. 然而，在一幕幕被鮮血染紅的鏡頭下，卻有其獨特的文化意義.     本文將以『JSA安全地帶』(2000, 朴贊郁) 及『海岸線』(2002, 金基德) 探討韓國軍事電影中表現暴力的獨特手法及片中所表的南北韓歷史意義.     對比他國的暴力電影，如日本的『大逃殺』(深作欣二, 2001)，韓國暴力電影最大差異在於片中行使暴力者皆是受環境壓迫下，不得不行使暴力. 『大逃殺』中，老師舉行殺人遊戲是因為一個荒謬的「新世紀教育改革」. 反觀『JSA』及『海』，片中主角都因為身分角色衝突，迫不得以行使暴力.     先論述『JSA』，當四人聚會被發現時，人倫與國家之間的衝突提升至最高點，建基於南北韓衝突的友誼變得脆弱，除北韓軍官吳敬必外，三人立時拔槍相向，是因為在角色衝突下，他們毫無疑問地選擇了國家. 那一刻自小被灌輸仇視北韓的理念傾巢而出，令南韓士兵南成植發瘋似的向原本為朋友的北韓士兵狂射幾槍. 南身在的環境也令他要開槍自保，正如吳後來提及︰「若那時我身在南韓邊境，我也一定會開槍. 」此透露了環境迫人. 至南與李相繼自殺，表達他們對槍殺朋友的自責，也表明施暴者在環境壓迫下的不甘愿與無奈. 正如黑格爾對希臘悲劇的看法一樣︰當兩種同樣偉大的倫理力量──人倫和國家，產生矛盾時，人要做出抉擇是最痛苦的，因為兩種選擇都是對的. 環境迫使一個個體做出抉擇犧牲一方，正是悲劇的震撼力所在. 而片中最能表達個人與國家的矛盾，莫過於當李壽赫在受審席上似乎激動到要說出真話時，北韓中士吳敬必卻忽然大聲斥罵他是資本主義、美方的走狗，又大呼北韓偉大領袖萬歲，來掩飾他們的相識. 這場戲充分表現出一個軍人的難處︰在個人層面，他們曾經是祕密好友；而在國家層面，他們卻是不共戴天的仇敵. 個體為了要成全國家政治，要連個體的感情也要犧牲，這是一種無可奈何的選擇.

而『海』片則描述了個人與組織間的衝突. 姜上兵將軍令奉若聖旨，卻在誤殺平民後，受不了良心責備而變得瘋狂，並被他最信奉的軍隊拋棄；Mi-young親眼目睹男友遇害後，變得精神失常，後更被大兵輪奸，士兵更強為Mi-young墮胎；上級打下級等. 他們都有值到同情的地方，卻也有啟由自取的一面. 環境所迫下，任何人都可以是施暴者，也可以是受害者. 所以Mi-young被墮胎後，她對無反坑力的魚施暴. 可見，韓國暴力電影中，少對施暴者帶有強烈的批判. 除上述的「環境壓迫論」外，『JSA』用柔和的背影音樂、『海』用帶有宗教救贖色彩的音樂都淡化了血腥畫面. 兩片最後一幕亦用平靜及和諧的畫面結束. 可見韓國暴力電影獨有的表達手法. 另外，韓國暴力片的另一大特色就是當中表現中的「悲情」. 除上述提及，施暴者是迫不得已這種悲情外，暴力韓片總是描寫者一些無可挽回的局面. 『JSA』一開始已將悲慘的結局展現出來. 即使吳與李盡多大努力去隱暪事實，真相還是被步步揭開；蘇菲亦無力阻止南與李的相繼自殺. 『海』片亦然，沒有人能阻止姜與Mi-young的瘋狂. 兩片中的角色甚至成為悲劇發生的推進者. 這種對過去悔恨，卻無能為力的感覺，正是暴力韓片悲情所在，這種悲情是為了舒發韓國人對自己歷史的悲痛. 自韓國建國以來，一直都受外國欺壓、統治. 韓戰更令韓國成為現今世界上唯一分裂的國家，流著同人種血，說著同一種語言的同胞，因政治分裂而造成南北韓敵對的局面，每個韓國人都為這樣的歷史悲痛不已，即使是暴力電影，也著重表達無奈、無可挽回的悲情，成為暴力韓片的獨特之處. 當然，除對前塵往史悔恨不已外，韓國軍事暴力電影對清楚表達南韓人對北韓人的觀感及寄望將來南北韓的關係. 細觀兩片，發現片中角色施暴的原因，是因為對北韓的恐懼. 『JSA』中南北韓士兵雖有過真摯的友誼，但當被第三個北韓人看見後，南就恐懼得射殺朋友. 『海』中「懼北」的情感更明顯. 片中一直沒有出現過北韓間諜，但片中軍隊卻多次被「隱形的北韓間諜」嚇倒，甚至嚇得做出瘋狂的反坑行為. 這種麻目的「懼北」心態，是軍事韓片都現今政治情勢的一種諷刺. 除了舒發對歷史的悲痛外，揭開血腥畫面，是一幕幕寄予南北韓和平相處的希望. 『JSA』中，當四人放下芥蒂後，同根同血的韓國人成為好友是多么自然和容易的事. 即使最後悲劇收場，但片尾那一幅相片中，四個主角同時出現下同一幅照片中，四人距離是那么的近，但背負著的卻是那么對反的國家身分. 片中所謂南、北韓的安全地帶，正好體現出南、北軍人既對峙又親近的特殊物理與心理關係. 影像的空間說出了一個深刻的訊息，站著對方面前，渴望卻不能修復彼此關係的無奈感. 而『JSA』更是少有地正面描寫北韓人，片中北韓軍人表現比南韓人更友善，出事後吳更維護槍殺同伴的南韓朋友，可見南北韓敵對的關係非必然和永恆的. 而『海』亦含蓄表達希望南北韓和平相處. 片中、片末都強調軍隊打排球，排球場上繪畫著韓國地圖，士軍分別站在南北韓兩邊，和平地打排球. 韓國軍事暴力片涉透著寄望南北韓和平共的訊息，亦有其獨特的歷史文化意義. (1980字)

參考資料： 『JSA安全地帶』(2000, 朴贊郁) 『海岸線』(2002, 金基德) http://www.cinespot.com/fmreviews/cjsa.html 動映地帶 http://www.filmsea.com.cn/movie_review/200410260003.htm 銀海網 http://forums.chinatimes.com.tw/report/korea/relation.htm韓國歷史