Over the past three weeks, learning about the history and roots of Korean cinema, rewatching familiar films, discovering new ones, and engaging in class discussions about symbols, themes, and hidden meanings has completely changed the way I view cinema. One thing that stands out is the unique and innovative blend of genres in Korean films, which isn’t often found in typical Hollywood movies. In many American films, genres are straightforward. For example, The Conjuring is a classic horror film, and The Notebook is the go-to for romance. However, Korean cinema often blends multiple genres to elevate the story and deliver a deeper, more layered message about Korea’s history, culture, and societal issues.

As it is discussed in Rediscovering Korean Cinema, two of the most important genres in early 1960s South Korean film history were family dramas and historical dramas (Lee 43). Even in recent films like Parasite (2019), director Bong Joon Ho holds onto the family drama aspect, and also incorporates relating topics of loyalty, sacrifice, and social class. At the same time, he combines dark comedy, drama, and thriller genres to highlight political and social issues, such as the widening gap between rich and poor in Korean society (Lee 54). Unlike many movies I have watched, Korean movies like Parasite makes you think beyond the surface of what is bluntly portrayed in the movie. The scenes of the Kim family’s cramped living conditions symbolize Korea’s income inequality, while the Park family’s disdain for lower-class people reveals the discrimination and dehumanization of the poor. The movie’s subtle remarks to American education and culture also point to Korea’s historical relationship with the U.S., which illustrates how American influence has shaped aspects of Korean identity. When I first watched Parasite, I didn’t fully grasp why it was considered such a good movie. It wasn’t until I revisited the themes and symbols that I realized how Bong Joon Ho used his cinematic directing to blend genres and craft a film that is suspenseful, realistic, and full of dark humor, while simultaneously critiquing social issues in Korea.

This innovative genre blending is a trend in many Korean films. The Handmaiden, for example, merges psychological thriller, drama, romance, and historical genres. After watching it for the first time, I was shocked by how much the film packed into one narrative. I felt mixed emotions because it incorporated Korea’s relationship with Japan, multiple plot twists, and challenged societal norms including an LGBTQ love story. In Chapter 10 of Theorizing Colonial Cinema, it discusses how “post colonial education and the mass media served to erase collective memories of unwelcome colonial intimacies” (Kwon 249). Park Chan Wook’s use of genre in The Handmaiden defies traditional norms. For example, Japanese culture is glamorized through architecture and clothing, which was controversial given the painful history between Korea and Japan. By incorporating LGBTQ themes in a society that remains conservative on the topic, the film pushes boundaries not just in storytelling but in the cultural conversation as well. The innovative genre mix allows the film to challenge and reinterpret Korea’s past and present, which makes it even more groundbreaking.