SYNOPSIS
This film creates a "video mixtape" by assembling fragments from over 50 films produced by the now-defunct Korean film company Nama-jinheung between the late 1960s and early 1990s. Through these carefully curated scenes, it captures the inner landscape of Koreans during the Cold War and the era of rapid economic growth, offering a unique reflection of a nation in transformation.
REVIEW
Nama-jinheung, a South Korean film production company that flourished from the 1960s to the 1980s, recently restored over 40 of its films in 4K resolution. These works, representing an important yet less mainstream current in Korean film history, form part of Season 4 of the "Modern Korea - KBS Archive Project." Directed by producer Lee Taewoong, KOREAN DREAM: The Nama-jinheung Mixtape is an essay film on modern history, crafted from a montage of scenes from Nama-jinheung's extensive catalog. The film redefines modernity's characteristics—often marked by dreams and wealth pursuit—through the texture of these vividly colored, vintage films. It spans from Im Kwon-taek's Three Generations of Men(1969), showcasing his genre auteur skills, to the Mountain Strawberries series emblematic of 1980s eroticism, and Park Kwang-soo's Berlin Report(1991). The juxtaposition of Nama-jinheung's films with KBS archives creates an intriguing contrast between actors' fictional roles and their real lives. For instance, singer and actress Hey Eun-e's roles are contrasted with her involvement in entertaining the new regime's clandestine parties following the Coup d'état of December Twelfth. The film's motifs of composition, combination, and transition provide an audiovisual continuity, serializing elements into a cohesive theme. The impressive interplay of image and sound creates a captivating sketch that offers inspiration for an essayistic approach to historiography
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
One day, while browsing YouTube, I stumbled upon clips from lesser-known old Korean movies, their vivid, beautiful colors catching my eye. These digitized and color-corrected snippets from original 35mm films captivated me with their beauty and the glimpses they offered into Korea's past. Intrigued, I contacted the company that had uploaded them. From that chance encounter, this documentary was born.