Analysing South Korean Cinema to Create a Contemporary Australian Nationalist Cinema
In trying to uncover the specific space my creative work fits within, I’ve discovered a consistent word I use to describe myself as a writer – Australian. Despite the prevalence of this word when I pitch my work, I don’t believe I know why I am using it.
Being presented with a framework that 80’s-90’s Australian cinema existed within was incredibly useful and allowed me the language necessary to deconstruct some of my favourite Australian films in the concept of a nationalist cinema.
Exploring South Korean cinema was the turning point for my thoughts regarding a nationalist cinema for Australia and what that means for my work. Learning about South Korea’s incredible audience engagement with domestic cinema astounded me when coupled with the realisation that a very small percentage of Australian productions make a profit. Our two countries origins can be described as similar in the context of cinema – we both are/were dominated by the powerhouse of Hollywood. If South Korea can overcome Hollywood, why can’t we?
Preliminary thoughts led me to believe that the difference was our language. South Korea is not an English-speaking country, therefore there is a privilege in carving your own space, rather than competing in an overcrowded one.
However, it wasn’t until Duncan McLean hypothesised that South Korean films have a tendency to finish on partially positive endings that I realised the issue went deeper – South Korean filmmakers have a steady grip on their society’s zeitgeist. Pinpointing a zeitgeist is a difficult space for Australians to investigate; Australia is a vastly multicultural land with diverse histories. Perhaps one of the reasons that Australian cinema focuses so heavily on the presence of the landscape is due to the fact that it’s one of our only shared features.
A deeper investigation also uncovered another point of dissimilarity – South Korean citizens tend to attend movies almost doubly as often as Australians. I’ve been considering the thought that the act of going to the cinema is a ritual, similar to a family dinner at a table. Although un-investigated, I believe that contemporary Australians don’t participate in such social rituals as often anymore due to a reduction in an unreplaced nationalist culture since the progressive positive embrace of our multicultural identity. It can be difficult to find a singular shared culture in a multicultural space. The incorporation of international cultures through technology into our modern life has enlarged this through both the introduction of another facet of internationalism, as well as a further isolation of social activities.
To determine a distinctive national cinema is a multifaceted problem; we must pinpoint a zeitgeist as well as encourage Australians to participate in art through cultural rituals (despite not having a singular, shared culture)
As a writer who describes their work as Australian, a distinctive national cinema is key to a national and international audience engagement. Not only that, its crucial to uncovering the purpose of my work in a society that rejects Australian films, and an industry that is on unsteady grounds.
Although I doubt I’ll be the one who uncovers the route necessary to create a distinctive nationalist cinema, the incorporation of the limited shared Australian culture that can be found in our diverse society is a space I’m genuinely excited to play within. Our landscape, our slang-filled dialogue, the multiculturalism that defines us…these are all starting points for a diverse national cinema, and starting points for my own personal work.
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