Posted on 11/02/2021 11:52:20 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
For Netflix, Squid Game, which cost just US$21.4 million (S$29 million) to produce, has given it a subscriber boom, pushed up its share price and is set to create an outsized windfall of almost US$900 million.
Media watchers said the global hit marked the latest, if not the biggest pop culture export so far from South Korea, whose TV shows, films and pop music have been making waves beyond the country for at least two decades.
Notable K-drama hits over the years include Winter Sonata in the early 2000s...Idol groups like Girls’ Generation began breaking out of Asia by the early 2010s but it was rapper Psy who made history in December 2012 with mega-hit Gangnam Style.
The song became the first music video to reach 1 billion views on YouTube.
Since then, BTS has emerged as arguably the country’s most successful K-pop group of all time, breaking chart records and garnering millions of fans worldwide.
Last year, the seven-member global sensation became the first K-pop group to ever receive a Grammy Award nomination. The same year, Parasite, a black comedy centred on inequality and class conflict, rewrote Korean film history by winning four Oscars, including the prestigious Best Picture award.
The biggest successes out of South Korea have been those that touch on socio-cultural issues which resonate with global audiences, said Dr Jin.
“Global hits like Squid Game and Parasite are made by a unique generation of directors who first grew up under a military dictatorship from when they were born in the 1960s and 1970s until the 1980s.
"And when they reached late 20s and early 30s, the Asian financial crisis hit so they also experienced how economic problems could change people's daily lives. These life experiences helped them to develop greater sensitivity towards political and economic issues...”
(Excerpt) Read more at channelnewsasia.com ...
Two decades ago, with the aim of diversifying its economy, South Korea set its sights on developing its cultural industries. In 1994, a government white paper famously noted that a single blockbuster movie, Jurassic Park, earned the equivalent of selling 1.5 million Hyundai cars. The government also abolished strict censorship rules, established a new commercial broadcasting system and developed legislation like the Korean Film Promotion Act of 1995.
Creators in the private sector played a “pivotal role” by developing popular content, he said. For example, MBC and KBS, the country’s two biggest network broadcasters, had by then set up their own agencies to deal with foreign exports of their dramas. Several large conglomerates, including Samsung, Hyundai and Lotte, also started investing in films.
In the realm of music, singer Lee Soo-man established entertainment house SM Studio in 1989 before renaming it as SM Entertainment in early 1995. Lee was an instrumental figure in changing the Korean music landscape, turning “a very primitive way of music creation into an industry”, said Assoc Prof Heo. This later paved the way for other music agencies, such as JYP and YG, which collectively contributed to the boom of K-pop...
Thank you for posting.
Ping
The content coming out of that country is refreshingly free of woke propaganda, and is often of decent quality and quite engaging.
Hold the kimchi please!
They Koreans sure have exported some good pro women golfers.
No wokeness in Korean (or Japanese) entertainment. They are already full on for real in your face racists. Lol.
I’ve been watching Squid Game. On the one hand it is disturbing, on the other it directly addresses human nature and how we handle situations. The mix of the two make it compelling.
Just watched The Wailing, a really creepy curse/ghost story being solved by a country cop. Also Memories of Murder, about the first confirmed serial killings in South Korea during the 80s. The same guy who directed Parasite did this while the killer was still at large in rural South Korea.
Freegards
It is refreshingly non-vulgar as well. Can’t believe the US has devolved into celebrating WAP.
The language in Squid Game is actually quite salty. The K-Pop tunes? I have no idea because I can’t understand the lyrics! (And I was born in Korea...eeks!)
I like the Joseon period dramas myself. It’s something wholesome and with good production values that the wife and I can watch together. The best of them have lots of swordplay, pageantry, chivalry, humor, and political intrigue and enough romance to keep the wife interested.
Thanks for the find. Korea has put itself on the map. I gather that the business there is still being run by movie people, as opposed to people selling subscriptions to streaming platforms. And they’re not worried about DEI committees and twitter mobs. Looping in the movie list.
My favorite Korean film clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGjIN8Pxxeg
And of course, my recurring recommendation for the best American movie you probably haven’t seen was written and directed by a Korean American director:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3dcnV6Z9Zs
Kogonada was born in Seoul, but his family immigrated when he was young. He grew up in the U.S. and speaks uninflected English. Kogonada is a workname. He prefers to guard his private life and let his work speak for itself. The name is taken from a Japanese screenwriter, Kogo Noda, who worked often with Ozu, one of Kogonada’s favorite directors.
The story mentions Parasite and Squid Game, both of which have made a splash in the U.S. I’ve not seen either. They’re on my kinda, sorta, maybe someday list, but neither rings my chimes.
Has anyone here seen them?
Absolutely correct! The wife and I have watched dozens of Korean series on Netflix, and keep going back for more. Great quality, actors, plots and free of Hollywood-crap. Wife has watched some over and over, like "Vincenzo".
This may be of interest:
This story paints a pessimistic picture for anyone interested in retaining diversity and independent voices in the U.S. film industry. The streamers control distribution and they are content to vacuum up low cost content from around the world. The money quote:
“Liesl Copland, executive vp of content and platform strategy at Participant, pointed to the transformative impact of the major streamers — from Netflix, Amazon Prime and AppleTV+ to newcomers HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+ and others — in shaping the kind of indie films that get made and what sort of financing is possible for them.
“It’s not really about ‘what format is it? Film or episodic? Or a genre?’ It’s about ‘Is it subscriber acquisition or subscriber retention content’?” she noted. “And I think we have to blend that into our thinking when we’re dealing with the streamers, and then I think what the big problem becomes — they don’t have to recoup because they’re a revenue line and their cost bases and their revenue bases are two different things — and they don’t get revenue per film.””
The industry is being taken over by people selling subscriptions, not movies.
I saw squid game a few weeks ago. Noticed it was #1 on Netflix for over a week, which is rare. So I figured either it was really good, or, people are starved for content after 16 months of shutdowns.
I am not sure it is your cup of tea. But it is a phenomenon how popular it is. A lot of violence, and some redemption themes but overshadowed by the violence. I haven’t given a whole lot of thought to the subtext but there’s some in there for sure.
I don’t like U.S. movies or entertainment and I wouldn’t like South Korean movies or entertainment and certainly not food.
bookmark
That’s good if they aren’t woke or pornographic, though.
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