The Status of Historical Drama Films in South Korea in the 1960s: The Relevance between the Film Industry and Genre Films

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to reexamine sageuk (historical dramas) that were screened from the late 1950s to the 1960s in regards to the Korean film industry and their reception by the audience. During this time, historical dramas occupied an important position in the film industry and were the leading genre during the peak box office seasons. In an effort to examine the status and the significance of historical films, this paper divides the relevant time period into three phases. The first phase, the latter half of the 1950s, was a time when historical films were being established as big pictures. The second phase, the first half of the 1960s, established the custom of screening these big-budget historical films during the peak box office seasons around major holidays. The Third phase was the latter half of the 1960s, during which the popularity of historical dramas declined due to the industrial crisis and the rise of a younger audience. This article attempts to expand the scope of the discourse on historical dramas, which has been focused on the text analysis and their socio-historical significance, and examine the perspective of the film industry and reception of the films at the time. Based on this discussion, I aim to take a multifaceted look at the study of genre films.