Korea invades Hollywood

TWO Korean movies about a mysterious killer¹ and a vampire² who turns into a schoolgirl are trying to make it big in Hollywood.

"Korean film is now a distinct type of cinema and can be talked about in the same breath as French, Spanish or Japanese films," said Tony Safford, senior vice-president of film acquisitions for 20th Century Fox.

Following Kim Yun-jim's success in the US TV hit Lost this year, Korean acting³ talent is getting higher visibility in international productions.

Heartthrob Jang Dong-kun, 35, will make his Hollywood debut⁴ in Laundry Warrior⁵. Jang plays a killer who ends up in a sleepy, desert town, where he struggles to find peace, friendship and love.

Also, My Sassy Girl actress Jun Ji-hyun has wrapped up her Hollywood debut film Blood: The Last Vampire. Jun plays a vampire woman, who is inserted into a military school by the army. Her mission is to discover who in her class is a demon⁶ in disguise.

To this day, there are still deeply imbedded stereotypes⁷ of Asians as nerds or evil sideline characters.

"But I feel that there's a shift in the industry, that they're not seeing me as just my race; but they're seeing my personality and seeing me more as a person and an Asian in general," said Korean-American actor John Cho, 35, who appeared in Ugly Betty and will act in Star Trek⁸. He was voted one of "Sexiest Men Alive" by People magazine in 2006.

What the world likes about Korean films is their fresh approach compared with the boring big budget films and endless sequels that Hollywood churns out on a regular basis.

South Korea is known for its support for domestic movies. Traditional costumes, music and local products play an important part in films. It's one of eight countries with screen quota⁹ policies. The policy prescribes 40 percent of the films on screen should be domestic and at least 149 days of a year are dedicated¹⁰ to local productions.

While these nationalistic characteristics set Korean movies apart from American films, they may also hinder their chances in Hollywood.

For example, Dragon Wars, a recent Korean epic¹¹ about heroes saving humanity from an evil dragon, was tailored for the US market.

But director Shim Hyung-rae still used a marketing¹² strategy that appealed to the Korean public's nationalistic side. He emphasized the use of Korean-made computer graphics¹³ and injected Arirang, a Korean folk song, into the soundtrack. It received low ratings from US critics.

"Ironically, some argue this nationalistic support hurts the overseas image of the Korean movie industry," said David Chung, a contributing writer for Korean Times. "The film should be supported based on content and quality, not on where it was produced."

The films show human beings from a unique Korean point of view, in a novel cultural setting, but non-Korean audiences can still identify with the characters

Lee-Suji, a student at Konkuk University, on Korean Times.