On the Art of the Cinema

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On the Art of the Cinema
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl 영화예술론
McCune–Reischauer Yŏnghwa yesul ron

Olive-colored cover page of a book with red inscription. The text reads: "Kim Jong Il. On the Art of the Cinema. Pyongyang, Korea. 1989.

Cover page of the English edition of On the Art of the Cinema
Author Kim Jong-il
Country North Korea
Language Korean
Subject
  • Motion pictures in propaganda,
  • Government policy,
  • Korea (North)[2]
Published
Media type Print
Pages 410 (Korean ed.)[1]
329 (English ed.)[2]
OCLC 707711986

On the Art of the Cinema (Chosŏn'gŭl: 영화예술론[3]; MR: Yŏnghwa yesul ron; lit. Film Art Theory[4]), also known as The Theory of Cinematic Art,[5] is a 1973 treatise by former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. It is considered the most authoritative work on North Korean filmmaking.

The book sets forth several original theories that can be applied to the practices of filmmaking, the arts, and beyond. These ideas complement the themes of nationalistic form and socialist content of films. Many ideas presented in the book are justifications for the creation of propaganda supporting the Workers' Party of Korea's policies.

On the Art of the Cinema had major political implications on the succession of Kim Jong-il as the supreme leader and formation of the Kim dynasty. Kim Jong-il gained political and cultural influence in North Korean society and government by authoring the book. Actual impact on North Korean films themselves, however, are disputed.

Background

After his graduation in 1964, Kim Jong-il engaged in cultural, ideological and propaganda work at the Department of Organization and Guidance of the Central Committee of the party. Kim Jong-il intervened at the annual film conference, the Aesthetic Review Meeting. Discussion on 'foreign' film concepts was banned, and the entire conference archive was ordered to be burned.[6] Since then, Kim Jong-il's influence in film and literary administration grew, and he resisted liberal artistic influence from the de-Stalinizing Soviet Union.[6] From 1968, Kim Jong-il began to work on the cinematic versions of the 1930s Manchurian guerilla plays.[7] Kim Jong-il had personally taken part in the production of films, such as Sea of Blood, (parts one and two, 1969),[7] The Fate of a Self-Defence Corps Man (Chosŏn'gŭl: 한 자위단원의 운명; MR: Han chawi tanwŏn ŭi unmyŏng[7]) (1970) and The Flower Girl (1972).[8] Afterwards, Kim Jong-il began producing revolutionary operas. Having obtained around a decade of experience in the state arts bureaucracy, Kim Jong-il wrote a series of essays that were published as On the Art of the Cinema on April 11, 1973. Through the rest of the 1970s, Kim Jong-il continued to oversee cultural activities.[7]

Ideas

The cinema occupies an important place in the overall development of art and literature. As such it is a powerful ideological weapon for the revolution and construction. Therefore, concentrating efforts on the cinema, making breakthroughs and following up success in all areas of art and literature is the basic principle that we must adhere to in revolutionizing art and literature.

From the preface of On the Art of the Cinema[9]

In the treatise, Kim Jong-il seeks to apply the principles of the North Korean Juche ideology to questions of film, literature and art in general.[4] According to Kim, "revolutionizing" cinema is a means of revolutionizing the whole of art and literature and exposing society to the Workers' Party's "monolithic ideology" and Juche.[3] Building upon socialist realist literary theory and Kim Il-sung's thought,[10] Kim constructs what has been described as a "Juche realism".[11] A key aim of Kim is to employ heroic film fiction to transform man into a socialist man: "Juche-type man".[12][13]

The book deals comprehensively with aspects of cinema, including film and literary theory, acting, performance, score music, the screen,[14] camerawork, costumes, make-up and props.[10] Of particular importance are themes of directing and producing as the driving forces of filmmaking.[3] Two major theories presented in On the Art of the Cinema are the theory of literature as "humanics" and the "seed theory". Both are considered justifications for the party's control over artistic creation.[15] Other ideas developed by the treatise are the so-called "modeling theory" and "speed campaign". Compliance with these principles earns an artwork the title of "collective work".[16]

Films should be realistic, which is possible only when the filmmakers have lived with the popular masses,[17] much like the ideal of the revolutionaries of the Korean resistance.[18] However, this "realism" entails unadulterated worship for the leader and Juche, making it incomparable to conventional types of realism in film, like Italian neorealism.[17] Kim builds on the idea that contemporary North Korea has transcended class conflict and no real conflicts exist to be portrayed in cinema, bar historical and external ones.[19] This can be seen as a reassertion of the Stalinist Zhdanov Doctrine. No "negative people" who would find fault with the party's policies can exist.[20] Depicting conflicts within North Korean society in film could be considered being critical of the regime.[19] When historical themes are depicted, and traditions should be portrayed selectively to support present ideological needs, purged of "feudal ideologies" of traditional tales and legends.[17]

Literature as humanics

The theory of literature as "humanics" (MR: inganhak) developed by Kim establishes that literature exists within the human domain. A key theme of humanics is the question of good and worthy life, allowing for propagandist and moralistic art. The idea of Chajusŏng (Korean for "independent spirit") is also prominent in the theory of humanics. Chajusŏng is the metaphysical essence of humans who struggle against oppression. Philosophically, it depends on the indeterministic view on free will in Juche. The hero of the story in particular embodies Chajusŏng. According to Kim, "humanics literature" gives emphasizes the development of truly independent individuals as called for by the Juche era. This brings about a transformation of the society as a whole. In North Korean literature, Chajusŏng is used as a justification of state control on literary creation[15] and a nationalistic program of socialism in one country.[21]

Seed theory

The "seed theory" (Chosŏn'gŭl: 종자론; MR: chongjaron[15]) forms the essence of On the Art of the Cinema and, consequently, North Korean film theory in general.[22][lower-alpha 1] It has been described as a "strange concept", a coercive method of forcing artists to follow the party line, and a means of eliminating individual creativity.[21] Kim Jong-il equates a film with a living organism, noting that in this analogy the seed is its kernel. The idea is that, if all artistic interpretation is done through a single ideological foundation, or "seed", the resulting cinema is whole. This makes all members of a creative team work for a single goal, in spite of differences in personalities. The director's task is to prevent something foreign to the seed from entering cinema. The seed is the fundamental consciousness underlying artistic creativity.[22]

In more concrete terms, the seed is the basis of the propaganda message of the film: "a strong, convincing idea of what to tell".[24] The seed synthesizes the subject matter and the idea of a work, thus providing both the form and content.[25] The film should contribute to the ruling ideology[22] and employ aesthetics and storytelling that support the propaganda message.[24] For example, the seed of The Fate of a Self-Defence Corps Man could be described as "whether or not Gap Ryong participates in the revolutionary movement, he dies".[22] Surplus value, Kim argues, is the seed of Marx's Capital.[25]

The seed theory became influential in the literary circles of North Korea and writers sought to backtrack the seeds in classics preceding Kim's treatise.[26] In addition to questions of art, the seed theory was adopted to a wider range of industrial and economic activities.[25]

Modeling theory and speed campaign

According to the "modeling theory", liberation struggles should be portrayed so as to combine national and class struggle. This is achieved through idolizing portrayal of the North Korean people[16] and by producing role-models.[27]

The "speed campaign" (MR: sokto-jon[28]) calls for rapid production of films. According to Kim, by producing films as fast as possible, the overall revolutionary process is expedited.[16] The origins of the speed campaign are in the shooting of The Fate of a Self-Defence Corps Man in just 40 days when it was anticipated to take a full year.[28] The practice was carried out after publication of On the Art of the Cinema, too. For instance, the eight-part film series Unknown Heroes (1979-1981) was produced by following the speed campaign principle. Each film took just 45 days to produce.[29] Subsequently speed campaigns have been carried out not only in art, but also economic matters.[28] It was thought of as equally important with Kim Il-sung's Chollima movement, and remains an influential concept associated with Kim Jong-il's leadership.[30]

Influence

Bronze statue of Kim Il-sung and six other people with camera, a flower basket and a notebook.
A statue of Kim Il-sung with a film crew at the Pyongyang Film Studios. On the Art of the Cinema reformulated many ideas of Kim Il-sung on art to be specific to cinema, and helped Kim Jong-il gain support to ensure his succession.

The work is considered the most authoritative guide on filmmaking in North Korea.[14] However, the real extent of its influence is doubted. According to Johannes Schönherr, the work offers little new to North Korean cinema[17] and many of the ideas presented are unoriginal and obvious, particularly to the specialist audience of professional filmmakers Kim Jong-il is writing for. Films from before and after the publication of the treatise are remarkably similar, suggesting that it had little impact on North Korean film industry in practice.[24] Many traits of contemporary North Korean cinema, such as repetitiveness, slow editing style and old theatrical acting, go against the teachings of On the Art of the Cinema.[31] Whatever change there was in North Korean cinema, can be attributed to political and economic pressures.[32] Instead of contributing anything new, the work reformulates Kim Il-sung's ideas about the importance of film to art and as a propaganda tool. Rather than the theoretical breakthrough it is taught as, it is an account of Kim Jong-il's personal experiences in the film industry and an attempt to thwart sloppy practices.[17]

According to Schönherr, Kim Jong-il himself considered his On the Art of the Cinema a failure, which directly prompted him to kidnap Shin Sang-ok in 1978.[33][34] Nevertheless, Shin reportedly studied On the Art of the Cinema to please Kim Jong-il with the kaijū film Pulgasari,[35] which credits Kim Jong-il as the executive producer.[34]

However, the treatise had political consequences. At the time of writing On the Art of the Cinema, Kim's father Kim Il-sung was systematically rallying support for the younger Kim to prepare for his succession.[7] By authoring the work, Kim Jong-il gained social and political power,[22] and secured Kim Il-sung's confidence, making the former's assuming of leadership of the country possible.[3]

On the Art of the Cinema is mandatory reading for North Korean students of literature.[8] The work's influence goes beyond North Korea as Australian Anna Broinowski directed Aim High in Creation!, a movie about making a propaganda film abiding by Kim Jong-il's instructions.[36]

Release details

The work is included in Selected Works of Kim Jong Il Vol. 5. (enlarged edition).[37] The first three chapters of On the Art of the Cinema are also published as Life and Literature,[38] The Cinema and Directing[39] and The Character and the Actor, respectively.[40] A reprint of the English edition of On the Art of the Cinema has been issued by University Press of the Pacific.[41] The 1977 Korean edition of On the Art of the Cinema includes three speeches, that are not published in the English edition: "Some Problems Arising in the Creation of Masterpieces" (1968), "Let Us Create More Revolutionary Films Based on Socialist Life" (1970), and "On the Ideological and Artistic Characteristics of the Masterpiece, The Fate of a Self-Defence Corps Man" (1970).[4]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ Although being often attributed to Kim Jong-il and On the Art of the Cinema, the seed theory appears to predate the treatise.[23]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Yeonghwa yesullon : 1973-yŏn 4-wŏ 11-il (Book, 1984) [WorldCat.org]". WorldCat. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "On the art of the cinema, April 11, 1973 (Book, 1989) [WorldCat.org]". WorldCat. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Kwak 2013, p. 235.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 David-West 2009, p. 15.
  5. ↑ Lee 2000, p. 32.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 David-West 2009, p. 13.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 David-West 2009, p. 14.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Kwak 2013, p. 237.
  9. ↑ Kim, Jong-il (April 11, 1973). On the Art of the Cinema. Foreign Languages Publishing House. p. 2. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 David-West 2009, p. 16.
  11. ↑ David-West 2009, p. 3.
  12. ↑ Kwak 2013, p. 232.
  13. ↑ David-West 2009, p. 20.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Kwak 2013, p. 234.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 David-West 2009, p. 17.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Lee, Hyang-Jin (2001). "CINEMA AND CONSTRUCTION OF NATIONHOOD IN CONTEMPORARY KOREA". International Journal of Korean Unification Studies (Korea Institute for National Unification) 10 (1): 151. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Schönherr 2012, p. 54.
  18. ↑ Kwak 2013, p. 236.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Petersen, Martin (January 2012). "The Downfall of a Model Citizen?: Family Background in North Korean Graphic Novels". Korean Studies 36: 88–89. Retrieved April 4, 2015. (subscription required (help)). With conflict in art being 'the reflection of the class struggle in life,' class conflict must thus predominantly be described as a past and external phenomenon, apropos of the socialist realist theory of conflictlessness. Neglecting the mandatory depiction would be perceived as if the authors were raising an implicit critique of the North Korean state.
  20. ↑ David-West 2009, p. 21.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 David-West 2009, p. 18.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 Kwak 2013, p. 242.
  23. ↑ Kim, Suk-Young (August 2000). Illusive Utopia: Theater, Film, and Everyday Performance in North Korea. University of Michigan Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-472-02689-0. Retrieved April 7, 2015. (subscription required (help)). The practice of positioning Kim Il-sung as the disseminator of national culture was consolidated into 'seed theory' by the North Korean cultural bureau. 'Seed theory' appeared in 1972 in North Korea's Dictionary of Literature and Art, which correlated the seed with Kim Il-sung's personal ideology[.]
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Schönherr 2012, p. 55.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Sung Chull Kim (February 16, 2012). North Korea under Kim Jong Il: From Consolidation to Systemic Dissonance. SUNY Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-7914-8093-9. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  26. ↑ Choi Yearn-hong (April 23, 2008). "North Korea’s Literary Theory". The Korea Times. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  27. ↑ Lee 2000, p. 84.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Clippinger 1981, p. 294.
  29. ↑ Lee 2000, p. 65.
  30. ↑ Clippinger 1981, pp. 294-295: "Its roots go back to 1971 when Kim Chong-il [...] was guiding the filming of 'Destiny of a Self Defense Force Member.' [...] [U]nder young Kim's guidance the entire filming, which normally would have taken a whole year, was completed in only 40 days. [...] The speed battle concept was introduced into the economic sector in late 1973 and early 1974[.] [...] As one of Kim Chong-il's major innovations, the speed battle symbol is intimately associated with him and has lost none of its vitality since its introduction in late 1973. In mid-1979 speed battle was given virtually coequal status with the Kim Il-song-inspired Ch'ollima Movement[.]"
  31. ↑ Wayne, Mike (July 2005). Understanding film: Marxist perspectives. Pluto. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-7453-1993-3. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  32. ↑ Schönherr 2012, p. 56.
  33. ↑ Edwards, Russell (2013). "North Korean cinema: A history [Book Review]". Metro (Australian Teachers of Media) 175: 120. Retrieved April 6, 2015. (subscription required (help)). Schönherr also says Kim knew his 1989 book On the Art of Cinema was a failure and that this was his primary motivation for arranging the 'kidnapping' of Shin Sang-ok from Hong Kong.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Savage, Mark (December 19, 2011). "Kim Jong-il: The cinephile despot". BBC. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  35. ↑ Morris, Leslie (July 12, 2013). "KIM JONG IL’S MONSTER: THE MAKING OF PULGASARI". Monster Pictures. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  36. ↑ Mathieson, Craig (February 24, 2015). "Aim High in Creation!: Anna Broinowski interview". SBS. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  37. ↑ ""Selected Works of Kim Jong Il" Vol. 5 Published". KCNA. October 2, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  38. ↑ "Life and literature (Book, 1986) [WorldCat.org]". WorldCat. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  39. ↑ "The cinema and directing (Book, 1987) [WorldCat.org]". WorldCat. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  40. ↑ "The character and the actor (Book, 1987) [WorldCat.org]". WorldCat. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  41. ↑ "On the art of the cinema (Book, 1989) [WorldCat.org]". WorldCat. Retrieved April 9, 2015.

Sources

External links