Since its first encounter with the movie camera of Burton Holmes, Seoul has become the subject matter and frequent production site for many filmmakers. The city is the emblem of modernity and ambivalent icon of fascination and corruption, and diversely represented in Korean cinema since the Korean War. Haunted by historical memories and overshadowed by an ever-changing present, the cityscape of Seoul had become a dominant theme of contemporary Korean cinema precisely because the city requires film makers to deal with both the past and the present in new and challenging ways.

From "Madame Freedom" to Hong Sang-su's internationally acclaimed "The Day When a Pig Fell Into a Well" (Doejiga umure ppajinnal, 1996), films about Seoul have captured both the pressures and pleasures of urban life. Most surprisingly, Seoul has recently become a city of active movie-goers.


Since early 1993, Korea has rapidly become the center of cinematic activity in East Asia. This film fever has translated into the remarkable commercial success of recent blockbuster films. "Swiri" (Kang Je-gyu, 1999), "Joint Security Area" (Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok, Bak Chan-uk, 2000), and "Friends" (Chin-gu, Kwak Gyeong-taek, 2001) consecutively broke all-time box office records of Korea and firmly placed domestic films at the center of film discourses. The success of these popular films comes in part from the dramatization of socially and politically pertinent issues to many Koreans. In particular, the first two films thematized the problem of national partition in popular terms, which simultaneously reflected and circumscribed South Korea's changing perception and attitudes toward North Korea.


The new cinematic culture has also played a crucial role in encouraging the young generation to use the film medium as a way to relieve themselves from the pressures of modern life. With an ever widening and sophisticated audience, young film makers today have a much better opportunity to show their works than during previous generations. And whereas film makers of the 1980s turned to the grand narrative style as a way of addressing political issues, these new filmmakers are more concerned with developing a personal vision and style unconnected with politics. The future direction of Korean cinema will inevitably be led by these creative and innovative young filmmakers.