South Korean cinema both borrowing and rejecting Hollywood
“South Korean cinema both borrows from and rejects Hollywood.”
How far is this true in Save the Green Planet?
In order to discuss the extent to which Jang Joon-Hwan’s ‘Save The Green Planet!’ (2003) borrows from and Rejects Hollywood, it is important to identify exactly what type of film it is and what it is trying to do. Save the Green Planet (STGP) is a very typical South Korean New Wave film. ‘New Waves’ in cinema are basically film movements which involve a series of experimental (and often young) film-makers who want to challenge the preconceptions of how films should be made, primarily because they are bored of watching the same tired concept be re-made over and over again. Ultimately, their biggest goal is to do something different, something unexpected, something which criticises the way that films were made in the past and, in a sense, wash these old and overused techniques away, leaving behind it something which is completely new and creative. They are very much ‘Art Films’ which focus much more on the style and messages presented in the film rather than creating a sense of verisimilitude and a believable diegisis for the viewer. “Art cinema defines itself explicitly against the classical narrative mode, and especially against the cause-effect linkage of events” (D.Bordwell)
In this essay, I will look at the extent to which STGP both borrows from and rejects Hollywood, looking at both the macro and micro-elements of the film, making close reference to key-scenes throughout the film to add emphasis to my argument.
The predominant form of film-making, known as the Classical Narrative System, was established in Hollywood in the 1930-1960’s and is still widely used in Cinema today. Most contemporary mainstream cinema will share many elements of the Classical Narrative System, however many New Wave and Art-Cinema films will try to reject, and even undermine as much of this film-making system as possible. STGP, for example, borrows very little
How far is this true in Save the Green Planet?
In order to discuss the extent to which Jang Joon-Hwan’s ‘Save The Green Planet!’ (2003) borrows from and Rejects Hollywood, it is important to identify exactly what type of film it is and what it is trying to do. Save the Green Planet (STGP) is a very typical South Korean New Wave film. ‘New Waves’ in cinema are basically film movements which involve a series of experimental (and often young) film-makers who want to challenge the preconceptions of how films should be made, primarily because they are bored of watching the same tired concept be re-made over and over again. Ultimately, their biggest goal is to do something different, something unexpected, something which criticises the way that films were made in the past and, in a sense, wash these old and overused techniques away, leaving behind it something which is completely new and creative. They are very much ‘Art Films’ which focus much more on the style and messages presented in the film rather than creating a sense of verisimilitude and a believable diegisis for the viewer. “Art cinema defines itself explicitly against the classical narrative mode, and especially against the cause-effect linkage of events” (D.Bordwell)
In this essay, I will look at the extent to which STGP both borrows from and rejects Hollywood, looking at both the macro and micro-elements of the film, making close reference to key-scenes throughout the film to add emphasis to my argument.
The predominant form of film-making, known as the Classical Narrative System, was established in Hollywood in the 1930-1960’s and is still widely used in Cinema today. Most contemporary mainstream cinema will share many elements of the Classical Narrative System, however many New Wave and Art-Cinema films will try to reject, and even undermine as much of this film-making system as possible. STGP, for example, borrows very little