Gagman (개그맨) (1989)
Director: Lee Myung-se
Writers: Bae Chang-ho, Lee Myung-se
Actors: Ahn Sung-Ki, Hwang Sin-hye, Bae Chang-ho
This is an excerpt from my University paper on Gagman (1989) for my Korean Cinema Course:
With the unfortunate end to the booming golden age of cinema in South Korea in the 1960s, the film industry was starting to decline. As people started to lose interest in Korean films, they began demanding for more foreign films, especially from America and also from Hong Kong. This lead to a huge drop in quality and passion when it came to Korean movies. Ultimately, this drop in interest coupled with the willingness to make quick cash from films lead filmmakers to make cheap, unartistic erotic films. With the film industry in turmoil many passionate directors have been eager to jump to the opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas through film. Their passion was also fueled with the current state of the country and more specifically the government at that time. Since the beginning of Korean cinema, directors and the government have been at each other’s heads. Directors wish to express their beliefs and messages through their films, while the government tried to censor any element that was anti-government or also elements that were against Korean tradition at the time.
This was especially important during the end of the 1970s where many political events occurred that would ultimately effect the Korean film industry. First and foremost, President Park Chung-hee was assassinated in October of 1979. By December of the same year, General Chun Doo-Hwan led a military coup and ultimately seized the government and came into power. This current government used a lot of military force and acted in a very aggressive way. This tight grip on the country lead people to protest against their government. A key event in took place in Gwang-Ju in May of 1980, where many citizens were killed for peacefully protesting against the government. All of these events were building up the anger of many passionate Koreans who were trying to express it in any way possible. However due to rigorous censorship policies, many could not vocalize their opinions on the current situation. Conversely, in efforts to promote the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, many political censorships were loosened and filmmakers were finally able to freely express their ideas. So during 1988 and 1989, a new group of directors jumped at the opportunity to start making films that they actually cared about. This was the new era of Korean cinema, and it was aptly called the Korean New Wave. The directors of the new wave genre sought out to “recreate the relationship between films and society by utilizing the expansion of materials and topics since democratization and contemplating on the art of cinematography aroused” [1]. Some of the most famous directors of this generation included Park Kwang-Su, Jang Sun-Woo, Chung, Ji-Young and finally Lee Myung-Se. Although each director had possessed his own unique style in order to convey their message, this paper will focus on Lee Myung-Se and his debut film “Gagman”. This paper will try to dissect the hidden meaning behind this film, and how director Lee Myung-Se utilized film in order to convey his ideas on Korean society and politics.
As explained before, many of the new wave directors used their own unique style in order to convey their ideas and messages to the general public. For example, when looking at the director Park kwang-su, his style differs greatly from others of this genre. As stated by Cho Jun-Hyoung, "His movies portray heavy social nature in picturesque Mis-en-scene. He preferred cinematic intervention into reality from a progressive position, but later, moved towards a more in-depth perspective on modern Korean history" [1]. However, when looking at Jang Sun-woo for example we see a huge difference in style. His style is much more political and also much more forward with his messages in his movies. This drastic difference in style is what makes the new wave genre such a unique time in Korea's film history. For this paper however, I will focus on the prolific director Lee Myung-Se and his debut film Gagman (1989). The most interesting aspect about this film is that it uses surrealism in order to convey its messages. Surrealism started out as an art movement in Paris from 1924 to 1941. Surrealism uses "shocking, irrational, or absurd imagery and Freudian dream symbolism to challenge the traditional function of art to represent reality" [2]. So during the viewing of Gagman (1989) many of these surrealist elements can be seen throughout the film. To most people the film has a very simple plot. A washed-up comedian who dreams of being a director sets off to make a film with his barber friend. However, as with all surrealist films, there is always something hidden within the film. I will try to explain what the images in this film meant to me personally, and also how it related to Korean society at the time.
In my opinion, the film's themes mainly revolve around the state of the Korean film industry at the time and also the struggles of a new director. A key scene which convinces me that these themes are present in the film occurs during the first quarter of the film. The comedian, interrupts an ongoing interview and starts talking. In this scene, the character is looking directly at the camera lens and at the audience watching this film. He states that he is a new director, and that “soon a new movie that all Koreans will watch will come out”. This to me is clear that the director is using the character of the comedian as a way to talk to the audience watching his film. Lee Myung-Se is a new director, and this film is his first one. So he uses this clever scene in order to directly talk to the audience watching his film and telling them how this is something “new”. This can also be inferred as attributing his film to the new wave genre. Another scene also proves this idea, as the comedian walks in on a famous director. He asks him “what is the theme of the movie? Isn’t it too old fashioned?” This as well symbolizes that Lee Myung-Se does not agree with the directions that old movies used when it comes to theme. This further cements the fact that he is trying to throw out the old ways and come into the Korean film industry with something new. Also, throughout the film it is noticed that the comedian is very different from everyone else in the film industry, he stands out from the crowd. This again, is self-commentary on the way directors of the new wave genre have been feeling in the movie making industry.
So from the scenes discussed above, we see that Lee Myung-Se is trying to use the comedian as a vessel to talk to his audience watching his films. Although he is not as political as other directors in the new wave genre, he still sometimes uses his films to talk about certain issues in Korean society as well as politics. In Gagman (1989) a key scene in the movie happens half way through. This scene acts as a turning point in the film and also carries a political message in my opinion. The scene starts with the comedian practicing in an empty comedy club, when suddenly a Korean soldier comes in and starts intimidating the comedian. When the soldier notices that no one is there, he gives up, gives his gun to the comedian and goes to the bathroom. When he is in the bathroom we hear a gunshot. Most people watching this scene might be very confused as to why this is all suddenly happening and how it feels very random. However, if you think about the time in which this movie was filmed you would be able to infer many themes and messages from this scene. In my opinion, in this scene, the soldier represents the government who at the time were very prone to using military force. Whereas the comedian represents all of the film directors at the time. When analyzing this scene, we see in the beginning the soldier asks the comedian to put his hands up and stay quiet. This in my opinion, represents the government silencing directors at the time and not allowing them to freely express any idea they wanted in their films. However, the scene continues and the soldier realizes no one is listening to him. This again indicates that the people are not listening to what the government are trying to force on them. Eventually the soldier gives the gun to the comedian and goes to the bathroom. This scene holds great symbolism as the gun here basically represents power, and more specifically the power of free speech. This scene is showing us how the government gave up power by allowing people and also film makers to criticize the government through their words. We see the soldier turning his back and then we hear a gunshot. This indicates that by loosening up on censorship laws the government is basically shooting themselves in the foot. Then directly after, we have an immediate cut, and we see a taxi driver criticizing the actions of a soldier whom he heard on the radio. This sudden cut perfectly reflects the message that Lee Myung-Se was trying to convey. By giving up power of censorship, the government gave people opportunity to criticize them and ultimately shooting themselves in the foot. This is just one of the ways that Lee Myung-Se was able to use his unique style in order to convey a political message.
As the film continues, the gun becomes the main focal point of the plot. As previously stated, I believe the gun represents the power of freedom of speech that new wave directors have gotten from the government at the time. We see throughout the film many scenes that help support this idea. For example, a strange scene happens halfway through the film where the comedian is seen to be surrounded by nature with his gun. The comedian points the gun and tries to shoot at something yet nothing comes out. As he checks the barrel of the gun, he almost accidentally shoots himself. Then we go back to the normal setting of the film. To many watching the film, this scene may make no sense whatsoever and question why it is even in the film. However, if you try and think of the hidden meaning in certain elements you will start having a much clearer image. In line with what I explained before, the gun represents power. Here we see the comedian pointing the gun directly at the camera screen, as if trying to shoot the audience. This to me represents, directors trying to use their power to literally hit audiences with their ideas and words, now that they have the freedom to do it. However we see that the gun does not shoot, which indicates that they have no things to actually say. When the scene progresses and the comedian nearly shoots himself, this represents that new directors should be careful with this power. It also shows that by misusing this freedom, they might shoot themselves and cause harm to their careers. Again and again, Lee Myung-se is giving us a total self-commentary on the film industry. This again is cemented when a character asks if the comedian is serious about using his gun. The comedian aptly replies “do you think I’m joking with you? We are in the era of no masterpiece. Gone with the wind, Ben Hur….” This shows us that Lee Myung-Se is tired of there being no well-made movies during that time and how he intends to change that with the new wave genre. All in all, Lee Myung-Se was able to brilliantly paint an obscure and abstract canvas that can be interpreted in many ways by many people.
Due to the unique style Lee Myung-Se decided to utilize for this film, it can be interpreted in many diverse ways. Each person may have a different opinion on what the true hidden meaning of the film might be. This is the strength of surrealism, it offers tools that no other style could possibly give in order to convey a message through film. However, the obvious downside is that it may not be accepted by many of the general public as they may not find the randomness and confusion very appealing. In my opinion though, Lee Myung-Se did a very admirable job, especially considering this was his debut film. By making it a comedy, he was able to find some sort of balance between presenting an artistic film while also trying to appeal to the general audience. In conclusion, Gagman (1989) is an important film in the catalogue of Korean New Wave movies, as it offers a different style of film that was not seen before in Korean cinema.
References:
[1] Cho, J. (n.d.). Korean New Wave. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/korean-new-wave/wQzbiZh6
[2] D. (n.d.). Surrealist Cinema? Retrieved October 30, 2016, from http://cinecollage.net/surrealism.html
