Train to Busan and the South Korean Film Industry (2016)

Introduction

​

Korean cinema has come a long way from the early 1990s, where the market share of local films hit their lowest in 1993, to the current day where domestic film market share is the highest outside of America and India, and Korean films are rapidly gaining global attention. As Asian blockbusters are a fairly recent phenomenon, it is easy to view them as films modelling after Hollywood – a perspective that not so subtly situates Asian blockbusters as inferior to Hollywood. For example, Korean blockbuster The Thieves (Choi Dong-hoon, 2012) strikes many viewers as reminiscent of Hollywood’s Ocean’s Eleven (Steven Soderburgh, 2001), effectively downplaying its status to that of a Hollywood “remake”[1]. While Korean blockbusters do borrow Hollywood’s blockbuster strategy and stylistic conventions, it is clear that Korean blockbusters have been differentiating themselves by incorporating Korean historicity and contemporary shared experiences[2]. Efforts have paid off as Korean films are now increasingly being recognized for excellence in their own right, and “no longer labelled or perceived as poor Hollywood imitations”[3].

​

In this paper, I will use Train to Busan (Yeon Sang-ho, 2016) as a current case study and compare it to several other Korean blockbusters from past years to analyze how audience reception has transformed over the years, as well as the factors affecting the reception of a Korean blockbuster movie.

Train to Busan’s Success and Growth of the Korean Film Scene

​

Train to Busan’s potential in creating new breakthroughs for the Korean film scene was recognized by the Korean Film Council less than a month since its release, owing to its exceptional opening day score which set a new domestic record[4]. Indeed, after a well-received premiere at the non-competitive Midnight Screenings of the Cannes Film Festival[5], South Korea’s first zombie blockbuster Train to Busan went on to set multiple domestic box office records such as the highest opening sales, highest single-day performance, and fastest movie to hit 5 million admissions[6]. It also became the 14th movie in Korean film history to surpass 10 million viewers[7].

​

The Thieves enjoyed a similar form of domestic success in South Korea when it was released[8], yet the scale of accomplishment has been continually pushed higher by the blockbusters that came after it – e.g. The Admiral: Roaring Currents (Kim Han-min, 2014) and Ode to My Father (Yoon Je-kyoon, 2014)[9]. In 2012, The Thieves became the sixth film to hit 10 million viewers[10], but just four years later, Train to Busan is the 14th film in line when it hit 10 million viewers. This trend shows great promise for Korean cinema – Korean blockbusters in particular. Almost every one of these blockbusters – beginning with The Host (Bong Joon-ho, 2006) as a 21st century example – were observed to have set new domestic box office records, showing that Korean blockbusters have been rapidly setting the bar higher and higher, indicative of the Korean film scene’s quick growth in recent years.

​

However, Train to Busan, in particular, performed exceptionally well internationally. Aside from the phenomenal local success, Train to Busan also received unprecedented attention in international theaters[11], especially those in Asia – becoming the highest grossing Korean film in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan[12]. Even as the film is still screening in theaters worldwide as of 27th September 2016, Train to Busan has already more than doubled the opening and total domestic gross box office of The Thieves in the U.S. (refer to fig.1).

​

Moreover, in comparison to previous hits, Train to Busan has a significantly lower percentage of its total worldwide gross contributed by South Korea, indicating its superior reception outside the country. As of September 2016, Train to Busan has approximately 84.3%[13] of its total worldwide gross contributed by South Korea, while The Thieves and Roaring Currents have 94.9%[14] and 94.4%[15] respectively. This shows that Train to Busan has gathered a larger international audience than its successful precedents. This is in spite of Roaring Currents having a larger total gross in the U.S. (refer to fig. 2) at the point of computation, exemplifying that Train to Busan has achieved exceptional success in Asia. Furthermore, the film is still yet to be released in Spain, United Kingdom, Argentina and Chile[16], which means that there is potential for the international box office to take an even larger share of its total worldwide gross.

​

Apart from box office, Train to Busan has also received majority positive reviews by both critics and the public. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a positive review from 94% of the critics and an above average rating from 90% of the public audience[17]. The average rating on IMDb is also a fairly high 7.7 out of 10[18] and Metacritic’s consolidation of reviews from various sources resulted in a score of 73[19]. Critic consensus showed praise for the film’s unique take on the zombie genre and appreciation for the social commentary that accompanied spectacular action. Variety pointed out the film’s originality in making zombies “agile” and in exploring human condition by having the main character act on his “self-preserving instincts”[20]. South China Morning Post also describes the film as a “scathing indictment of modern society”[21] and Roger Ebert complimented the film’s balance of “character and horror”. Its visuals and cinematography has also been praised[22]. Away from the internet, Train to Busan also won recognition at the Fantasia International Film Festival, clinching the Cheval Noir trophy for best feature and the audience award for best Asian feature[23]. Less positive reviews argue that the characters and their victory over the zombies are predictable[24], that the geography is unclear[25] and characters unbelievable[26].

Localization of Films through Shared Experiences

​

As in many Korean blockbusters, shared experiences from historical events have also been utilized to enhance Train to Busan’s national identity. This is done in a subtle way so as not to alienate global viewers, thereby producing a “locally embedded but globally marketable” movie in a similar strategy as employed by Hollywood[27]. Through its theme of corporate greed and selfishness, the film conveys nationalist anti-government sentiments – those in authority and the media were portrayed as “easily manipulated”. This is said to reference the 2014 Sewol ferry incident, where human greed and selfishness led to many deaths[28]. The government’s cover-up response led to displeasure, and it happened again with how they handled the MERS incident in 2015. In light of these events, Korean audiences were more likely to identify the film as a “cultural [text] embodying the nation”, appealing to the “widest possible audience” and solidifying the concept of Korean national cinema[29].

Political Relationships and their Impact on Film Reception

​

Despite being a huge hit in East Asia, Train to Busan had a slim chance of being screened in mainland China from the start due to censorship against supernatural content. However, it has reportedly not stopped the film’s popularity from extending to China – as mentioned in an article by Global Times, the movie critic Dark Knight joked that the film “broke the record for most illegal downloads of a South Korean film in Chinese mainland” which revealed that “a large number of Chinese moviegoers have been finding all kinds of ways” to watch the film. The film was even observed to leave such an impact on Chinese viewers to the extent where they reflected on the “failure” of Chinese films in comparison.[30]

​

Going beyond censorship issues, changes in political relationships between the countries involved could also affect the distribution and even entry of a film into a country. Train to Busan was reported to have made it past censorship and originally scheduled for screening in early August but these plans are now “postponed indefinitely”[31]. As explained in the same article, this is likely linked to Seoul’s decision to “deploy a U.S.-made anti-missile system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, in Seongju with the help of the U.S. Army”. Viewing THAAD as a threat to its national security, Beijing has “repeatedly asserted its opposition” and in response to South Korea’s move, began a “crackdown on South Korean exports” which led to the withholding of Train to Busan’s screening.

​

Considering the large size of the Chinese market, the fact that China is “a primary export market for Korean cultural products”[32] and Chinese viewers’ enthusiastic reception of Train to Busan as described above, being unable to screen in China definitely dealt a huge blow to the film’s international box office and prevented it from enjoying even greater international success than it presently does. To give a reference for the potential that was lost, The Thieves made a total gross of US$2,950,000 in China and Roaring Currents made $3,980,000. As a result, if one were to measure Train to Busan’s reception by its worldwide box office, the figures would fall short of its actual accomplishment.

Conclusion

​

Keeping films localized by incorporating contemporary shared experiences in a non-overbearing way, Korean blockbusters are able to appeal to their domestic audience with nationalist sentiments, yet at the same time attract global audiences without necessarily evoking thoughts of Hollywood. With a balanced strategy that covers production, marketing and distribution, Korean blockbusters have contributed to a fast-growing Korean film industry, achieving one after another breakthrough in domestic and global audience reception. However, many uncertainties underlie the success of a film industry and politics is one area in which challenges could arise.