Korean Cinema's Celluloid Fever: The 1970s
The 1970s appeared to be devastating for Korean cinema: television decimated theatrical attendance, while Park Chung-hee’s military government imposed a complex censorship system that rejected scripts and tore apart completed films. Yet within this repressive climate, a generation of filmmakers devised bold visual styles, smuggled sharp social critique into commercial genres, and quietly laid the groundwork for the global prominence Korean cinema enjoys today. The program spans this “dark decade,” from Kim Ki-young’s Woman of Fire (1970), starring Academy Award winner Youn Yuh-jung in her debut role, to Lee Doo-yong’s The Last Witness (1980), capturing a cinematic landscape shaped by repression, innovation, and transformation.
A central focus is “The Era of the Image,” Korea’s first film art movement, whose directors drew inspiration from European New Waves to depict a changing Korean society through stories of youth, urbanization, and social tension. Films such as Lee Jang-ho’s Heavenly Homecoming to Stars (1974), Kim Ho-sun’s Yeongja’s Heydays (1975), and Ha Gil-jong’s The March of Fools (1975) and The Pollen of Flowers (1972) reflect the aspirations and frustrations of a generation navigating rapid industrialization and cultural shifts.
During this period, leading directors were working at the height of their creative powers—from Kim Ki-young’s audacious, genre-blending works Ieodo (1977) and A Woman After a Killer Butterfly (1978) to Kim Soo-yong’s psychologically probing Night Journey (1977) and A Splendid Outing (1977). The program also spotlights visionary directors at the moment their brilliance begins to emerge—among them Im Kwon-taek with his quietly introspective masterworks Wangsimni, My Hometown (1976) and Genealogy (1978). Alongside these features, a shorts program showcases experimental filmmakers such as Han Okhi and Kaidu Club, Korea’s first feminist film collective, whose formally radical works reject narrative in favor of texture, repetition, and performance, transforming film itself into a medium of feminist resistance.
This era produced some wild genre experiments and international collaborations, notably action star Park No-sik’s absurdist comedy Why? (1972) and Jang Il-ho’s manga-inspired horror A Remodeled Beauty (1975), which screens in a world premiere new 4K remaster. The Korean Connection, part of the tae kwon do action cycle Lee Doo-yong made with Han Yong-cheol, reveals an industry looking outward even as the state tightened control at home. Paired with Kim Jee-woon’s Cobweb (2023)—a satirical portrait of a 1970s director battling censorship—these films show how directors reworked melodrama, horror, and political thrillers to probe power and survival in a decade of rapid, disorienting change.
The generation responsible for these films mentored the Korean New Wave directors of the 1980s and ’90s and paved the way for contemporary auteurs like Bong Joon Ho, Park Chan-wook, and Kim Jee-woon, underscoring that the “celluloid fever” of the 1970s never truly broke.
Following the May 16 screening of Lee Jang-ho’s seminal Heavenly Homecoming to Stars, audiences will be treated to a discussion about the Korean film industry and major trends and filmmakers in Korean cinema in the 1970s, a primer for the series as a whole. Two additional free screenings will be held at the Korean Cultural Center New York on May 21: Lee Man-hee’s Break the Chain (1971) and the 2008 Kim Jee-woon film that it heavily influenced, The Good, the Bad, the Weird.
Tickets are on sale now! Along with full write-ups of the movies!
Organized by Young Jin Eric Choi & Goran Topalovic, and Madeline Whittle.
Co-presented by Subway Cinema in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Center New York (KCCNY) and the Korean Film Archive (KOFA).
Additional support provided by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).
“Korean Cinema’s Celluloid Fever: The 1970s” is sponsored by MUBI, the global streaming service, production company, and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema.
Special thanks to: Choi Jee-Woong / PROPAGANDA, Shin Haeok and Shin Donghyeok / Shin Shin, Yasu Inoue, Park Kyung-ae, Hah Myung-joong, Hah Jun-won, Park Chong-chan, Kim Hong-joon, Darcy Paquet, Kim Kyungmi, Goh Taekyung, Chae Yunsun, Han Ok-hi, Kim Jiha / Asian Culture Center, Jang Hey-yeun, and Oh Miseon.
