The first comprehensive scholarly volume on Kim Ki-young and his films in English
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Offers an innovative critical analysis of Kim Ki-young’s films from a range of fresh and nuanced perspectives
Introduces a significant South Korean film auteur within the history of global cinema whose work has been previously overlooked
Increases the understanding of modern South Korean history and culture through an analysis of the trajectory of Kim Ki-young’s work
World-renowned South Korean directors, including Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon Ho, cite Kim Ki-young as being the greatest Korean influence on their work. During his thirty year career, Kim Ki-young produced thirty-three films and became revered by critics within the national and international community as one of the few South Korean ‘auteurs’. As the first comprehensive scholarly volume on Kim Ki-young in English, ReFocus: The Films of Kim Ki-young covers his entire career and history of cinematic work, highlighting the thematic and stylistic singularity of Kim’s oeuvre, which was produced relative to the specific historical and cultural conditions of post-war South Korea. It offers an innovative departure point from which to explore South Korean film relative to the wider history of world cinema, in addition to situating Kim’s work within the broader fields of Korean modern history, transnational cinema and cultural studies.
Notes on Film Titles, Romanization of Korean Names, and Film Festival
Acknowledgement
Notes on Contributors Introduction: Kim Ki-young, The First Global South Korean Auteur - Chung-kang Kim Part 1: Beyond the Border: Transnational/Hybridity/Border-Crossing 1. Kim Ki-young at the Intersection of Cold War Alliance, Reconstruction, and the Artistic Impulse - Han Sang Kim 2. ‘We Shall All Need That Basket/A-Frame Carrier’ A Comparative Analysis of Goryeojang (1963) and Ballad of Narayama (1958/1983) - Kyu Hyun Kim 3. Love Thy Enemy: Kim Ki-young’s exploration of Korean-Japanese romance in The Sea Knows (1961) - Russell Edwards Part 2: Beyond the Norm: Psychology, Biopolitics, and Sexuality 4. Refiguring The Housemaid (1960)’s Singularity: from Dualism to Triadism Based on the Lacanian Perspective - Sohyoun Kim 5. Men, Women, and the Electric Household: Kim Ki-young’s Housemaid Films - Steve Choe 6. To Speak and To Be Spoken For: Deafness, Stuttering and the Women in the Films of Kim Ki-young - Ariel Schudson Part 3: Becoming an (Global) Auteur 7. The Intersection of Authorship and Film Regulation During the Period of Military Rule: An Analysis of Kim Ki-young’s National Policy Films, Soil (1978) and Water Lady (1979) - Molly Kim 8. Rediscovering Kim Ki-young: The Rise of the South Korean Auteur on the Film Festival Circuit - Jason Bechevaise Appendix
By historically engaging with the first Korean auteur director, this book not only rediscovers Kim Ki-young as one of the most respectable directors but also connects his films to contemporary Korean cinema. It provides fascinating discussions fully supported by diverse voices, which are solid, well-grounded, and academically sound.
This illuminating volume on one of South Korea’s most fascinating and eccentric directors provides in-depth readings of Kim’s films, while at the same time examining key themes relevant to Korean cinema as a whole: national identity, gender, state control, and Korea’s complex relationship with its former colonizer Japan.
Chung-kang Kim is Associate Professor in the Department of Theater and Film at Hanyang University, South Korea. Her research considers the realms of Korean and East Asian cinema, cultural studies, gender, race, sexuality studies, and (trans)national visual culture. She is a co-author of Queer Korea (2020), Rediscovering Korean Cinema (2019), The Holy Nation: Gender and Sexuality in Law and Science (2017), and Orphans, People of No Heritage (2014). Her articles appear in various journals including Journal of the History of Sexuality, The Journal of Korean Studies, and The Journal of Literature and Film.
