In my opinion Kwang-su Park’s Chilsu and Mansu, which was released in 1988 a time in when the Roh Tae Woo becomes president and it is also the year in which Seoul hosted the summer Olympics. Meaning that the city had to be cleaned up and modernized to accommodate all the people that would come to see the Olympics. Seoul in this time period was heavily influenced by American Culture. Throughout the film there are different instances where I noticed the influence of American Culture.
The soundtrack is full of classic 80s songs. The scene where Chilsu goes to Burger King looking for Ji-Na, her co-worker has told him that she has quit and he looks quite disappointed. The song that plays in the background, the lyrics say “shattered dreams” as she tells him, which mimic how Chilsu is feeling.
Another time when Chilsu is laying down in his camouflage shirt, Bob Marley plays in the background. A scene where it is more appropriate for foreign music to play is at nightclub. The scene is when Chilsu, Mansu, Ji-Na and her friend are at a night club, Rick Ashley’s Never gonna give you up plays in the background.
Another scene where it is influenced by American culture is when Chilsu calls Ji-Na at work. He speaks to her in English to impress her, she is taking English classes as she wants to move to America. Not only does the film possess United States 80s music, speaking English and talk of going to America, the sense of the modernity seen in the different spaces and settings of the film is another aspect where the viewer can see how the American Dream has influenced Seoul. Ji-Na wants to go off and chase her dream. Why does the director have so much American influence I wonder?
No comments:
Post a Comment