전후 저널리즘 영화비평과 부산 영화비평계의 형성: 장갑상의 『映畫와 批評 (영화와 비평)』(1970)을 중심으로 = Korean Postwar Journalism Film Criticism and the Formation of the Film Criticism Circle in Busan : Chang Kap-sang's Film and Criticism (1970)

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper aims to examine the conditions of postwar Korean journalism film criticism, the features of film culture during the formative period of the film criticism community in Busan, and the influence of the culture, focusing on Chang Kap-sang's Film and Criticism (Yeonghwawa Bipyeong, 1970), which can be considered the first personal book on film criticism. The book is a collection of film-related essays by Chang, professor of English at Pusan National University who published film reviews in newspapers such as the Busan Ilbo and Kookje Daily News during the 1950s and 1960s. He also led the way of institutionalizing film culture through organizations like the Busan Film Critics Association and the Buil Film Awards. Following the book's structure divided into Part 1(‘Film Theory’) and Part 2(‘Film Reviews’), this paper challenges the existing historiography of Korean cinema that established Byun In-sik's The Rebellion of Film Aesthetics (Yeonghwamiui Ballan, 1972) as the first film criticism book of South Korea. In so doing, it contextualizes the historical significance of Film and Criticism: that is, being ahead of the publication of The Rebellion of Film Aesthetics, the book introduced new agendas to the culture of postwar film criticism by defining newspaper film criticism and formulating its methodology.
This paper aims to clarify the significance of Chang’s book to Korean film history, which has been overlooked in film studies to date. In so doing, it proposes several points to expand the perspective on the studies of postwar fillm and to illuminate the historicity of Busan's film culture. First, the ‘Film Theory’ section in Part 1 explores questions ranging from the ontology of film to its relationship with other arts. It includes Chang’s reflections on the relevant formats of postwar journalism criticism and its role in educating the public, encompassing newspaper film reviews, academic papers, and lecture notes for the film study group that he organized in Pusan National University. These diverse writings allow for an investigation into the various modes and roles of film criticism during the renaissance age of Korean cinema. Second, the “Comprehensive Film Reviews (Annual Summaries and Top 10 Lists)” in Part 2, along with 268 “Short Film Reviews,” present a list of major foreign films screened in Busan during the 1950s and 1960s, a period when imports of outstanding foreign films were limited. Presenting his ‘criticism standards’ and objective ‘evaluations,’ Chang’s writings in this section enable one to grasp the tendencies of film imports and to arrive at a chronological understanding of criticisms on Korean films from the renaissance of Korean cinema to its golden age, with information on each film’s format, running time, and censorship. Third, Chang’s writings compiled in Film and Criticism as an anthology of his criticisms published in Busan newspapers of the 1950s and 1960s (Democratic News, Kookje Daily News, Busan Ilbo, etc.) as well as in Beyond Time and Space (Sigongeul Neomeoseo, 1982). transcend mere textual criticism when they are read in dialogue with his dedicated small-group activities that laid the institutional foundation for Busan's film culture. For this reason, they serve as crucial historical sources for throwing new light on the cultural soil and historical significance of Busan as a city of cinema. Consequently, the significance of Film and Criticism lies in its attempts to define and classify film criticism, to propose its methods, to embody them through concrete film reviews, and to practice the institutionalization of film criticism during the formative period of postwar journalism film criticism.