As the Korean Blogathon continues, today we thought we would take a look at the Korean cinema landscape in Australia. In our first edition of this analysis, we take a look at DVDs, Genre and Co-productions. Korean cinema's presence in Australia has not always been as good as it looks today, but the passion from the fans that have searched out the cinematic works from the Korean Peninsula has been. At this point in time almost 50 Korean films have been released on DVD, which may not be anywhere near the amount of Japanese films, but is gradually improving.
According to all the information I can find, (based off of reports from the OFLC, Distributor databases and my general knowledge), it appears that the 1st Korean film ever released on DVD in Australia was the sexual thriller "Lies", which was released by Madman Entertainment in July 2003. A film that centres around an S&M relationship between a 38 year old sculptor and an 18 year old high school girl, it would fit right in to the Asian Extreme range released by Tartan Video. This is in fact the likely reason as to how it came on the radar of Australian distributors, and eventuated in its release. The DVD appears to be OOP at this point in time, but remains an important point in the history of the Korean film in Australia. Below is a breakdown of Korean film releases in Australia on DVD:
Year | DVD Releases | % |
2003 | 1 | 2.0% |
2004 | 4 | 8.2% |
2005 | 10 | 20.4% |
2006 | 9 | 18.4% |
2007 | 11 | 22.4% |
2008 | 6 | 12.2% |
2009 | 2 | 4.1% |
2010 | 4 | 8.2% |
2011 | 2 | 4.1% |
49 | 100.0% |
The pattern of release almost matches that of Korean cinema worldwide and the Korean Wave phenomenon. The overseas revenue of Korean films jumped from $31 million in 2004 to $75 million in 2005 as Hallyu spread throughout Asia. The international success of Korean films in the late 1990's and exposure of Korean dramas throughout South-east Asia continued this widespread craze, that eventuated in Korea being dubbed the Hollywood of the East.
This great jump in the worldwide success and popularity of Korean cinema was not just by luck though, as the Korean Film and Television industry embraced interest from Foreign lands. Soap operas and K-Pop groups were subsidized by the Korean Government to Asian territories for consumption, and they were lapped up. The just passed Super K-Pop concert in Sydney showed that this fever is still going strong. It is not uncommon to see a Korean drama or film take place in another country, "I'm Sorry, I Love You" begins in Australia for example. Every opportunity to expose the industry is undertaken by those that market it.
Today the trend from the Korean media industry is for partnerships with Thailand, which has produced Banjong Pisanthanakun's "Sorry Sarangheyo", Wisit Sasanatieng's "Pussy: A Kimchi Affair", Aditya Assarat's "Phuket" and the forthcoming Pracha Pinkaew vehicle "The Kick". The K-Pop band 2PM even has a Thai member amongst its ranks, Nickhun. Not to mention the 1st Thai film ever released in theatres in Australia, Banjong's "Hello Stranger", distributed by a friend of mine, is about two Thai teens who travel to Korea and embrace all things Hallyu. In fact I would say that GTH itself operates in much the same fashion as the likes of JYP, and probably even took its name for similar structure. Anyone for a Korea-Australia KoProduction??
KOFFIA Marketing Director Kieran Tully with P'Ter and P'Tong
By my records there are now a total of 49 Korean films released on DVD in Australia, with the latest release being that of the Period Action Comedy "Woochi: Goblin Island" by Reel DVD. 9 Different distributors have ventured into Korean film distribution in the land downunder, ranging from large conglomerates (Sony, Warner, Universal) to Educational Institutions (AFTRS) and Independents (Reel DVD, Shock). The breakdown is listed below.
Distributor | DVD Releases | % |
Madman | 34 | 69.4% |
Paramount | 4 | 8.2% |
Shock | 3 | 6.1% |
Beyond Home | 3 | 6.1% |
Sony Pictures | 1 | 2.0% |
AFTRS/Accent | 1 | 2.0% |
Universal | 1 | 2.0% |
Warner Bros | 1 | 2.0% |
Reel DVD | 1 | 2.0% |
49 | 100.0% |
As evident by the numbers, the vast majority come from Madman Entertainment, which was precisely the reason why we made sure to bring them on as a Major Sponsor for KOFFIA 2010. The cinematic landscape of Korean film in this country would be completely different without them, and their support for Korean film should be commended. The melodrama and comedy craze has not quite been reflected in the film release landscape though. The most popular films at KOFFIA 2010 were in fact comedies, and people were craving for more.
Asian comedies do have the limitation of often being as long as Western action films, nearing 2 hours of more. This is in contrast to the regular comedy run time or 80-90 minutes, and has seen even the works of master Stephen Chow edited down. Often their length is due to a merging of multiple genres, and thus needing more time to develop story and character. Hopefully the results of more studies like our report from last years festival will convince local distributors to release Korean romance and comedy feature films in the near future. The most popular film of the festival was 200 Pounds Beauty, which was released in Korea in 2006 but still has no DVD release in Australia. See below the breakdown in genre of those films released on DVD in Australia. Drama here refers to the western definition of drama, not the Asian Soap-opera romance view.
Genre | DVD Releases | % |
Action | 11 | 22.4% |
Thriller | 8 | 16.3% |
Horror | 8 | 16.3% |
Crime | 7 | 14.3% |
Drama (Western def) | 3 | 6.1% |
Arthouse | 3 | 6.1% |
Disaster | 3 | 6.1% |
Animation | 2 | 4.1% |
War | 2 | 4.1% |
Comedy | 1 | 2.0% |
Sci-Fi | 1 | 2.0% |
49 | 100.0% |
Now classifying a Korean film into 1 strict Genre is a task in itself, but that is the general breakdown. For reference at KOFFIA 2010 we had 3 comedies, 2 dramas and 1 each from crime, art house and documentary. These statistics do not distinguish Korea from other Asian countries in terms of having their films released internationally. Thai films generally only succeed in having Horror and Action films distributed, and the vast majority of comedies out of China and HK (Stephen Chows collection included) are not released unless they have a notable sell factor (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer).
Japan has been the most successful in this area, possibly aided by having a Film Festival in Australia that is now nearing its 15th edition. But even Japanese cinema has had a difficult time selling films in Drama and Comedy genres, with the likes of Kurosawa and Ozu classics selling only moderately well. The most successful drama release has been The Japan Foundation Sydney's educational resource DVD "Happy Family Plan", again distributed by Madman and pushed mainly to schools and language programs. This project has been so successful in Australia it now has plans to be released worldwide, a project I myself have been involved with. The interesting thing here is that Shochiku initially left Tsutomu Abe's "Happy Family Plan" in the collection vault and it did not secure a release even in Japan. Thanks to the J Cinema Project, it not only secured a release, but a large following.
Whatever the 50th Korean film released on DVD in Australia is, be it yet another crime thriller or a fresh comedic masterpiece, it will be a landmark release that will complete a significant 9 years for cinema from that region. Today figures revealed by Darcy Paquet, the primary source of information about Korean film in English language, indicate that Korean films hold a 61.5% market share at the 2011 boxoffice in Korea. This is a stunning statistic, that should not doubt be analysed by the Australian film industry, if they aim to generate our own "Aussiewood".
Stay tuned for Vol 2 of Korean Film Downunder which covers film festivals, theatrical releases and more!
Kieran Tully,
Marketing Director, KOFFIA.
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