Korean Men in Western film festival: The representation of filmic masculinity in five South Korean award – winning films

Abstract

Masculinity is volatile, subject to
representation. It is both personal and collective,
interchanging with historical and cultural dynamics.
This essay holds a focus on Korean masculinities
represented in five award-winning South Korean
films. In both diachronic and international
perspectives, it differentiates between ideal, real and
filmic masculinities, illuminating that ancient and
modern Korean masculinities do not purely stick to
a fixed, expected and shared ideology. There are
variations in response to personal intention,
nationhood and cultural globalization. The main
argument of this essay is that conventional
regulation is not the sole source to influence
masculinity representation. Even violation of
idealized manhood could deliver a sense of
masculinity. Extending this argument to the concern
with international film marketing, this essay
questions about whether diversification of gender
features would blur Korean masculinity and create
new gender identification.