Local pix soared in 2001 B.O. derby
Koreans found a 'Friend' in film last year
Whopping increase
According to the Korean Film Commission (KOFIC) and IM Pictures, which jointly released the 2001 Film Industry Summary Report on Jan. 15, the 2001 figure is an increase of a whopping 17.5% over 2000, when it recorded a 32% share.
In addition, all five of top-grossing films were local movies, also a first in Korean film history. The top draw was "Friend," with 2.58 million admissions, followed by "My Sassy Girl" (1.76 million), "Kick the Moon" (1.60 million), "My Wife Is a Gangster" (1.46 million) and "Hi Dharma" (1.30 million).
"The year's record market share owes much to 'Friend' that drew 2.58 million all on its own very early in the year. The film's phenomenal success got many more Koreans interested in local films," says film critic and screenwriter Chung-soo Jang.
Rounding out the top 10 were "Shrek" (1.12 million viewers), "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (1.11 million), "Pearl Harbor" (1.08 million), "The Mummy 2" (954,700) and Korean film "Guns & Talks" (896,500).
The most noticeable trend in the film industry last year was the high number of films about gangsters. Half a dozen of the year's biggest films -- "Friend," "Failan," "Hi Dharma," "Doosabu Ilche," "Kick the Moon" and "My Wife Is a Gangster" -- were about organized crime and spanned genres such as drama, action, comedy and even teen pics.
Word spreading
The South Korean film success is also slowly spreading overseas. Miramax purchased the remake rights to "My Wife Is a Gangster" and Japan imported "Friend"; total Korean film exports last year reached $10 million.
"Improved film quality is yet another reason (for the uptick in B.O.). You can see by the fact that all top five films were Korean that it's not just one or two films pulling the industry up," Jang comments.
Other factors include the growing number of multiplexes, upgraded marketing efforts and bigger production budgets, industry watchers say.
Critics concerns
But some critics continue to worry about the quality of future Korean films, pointing out that the producers seem to be giving up art films for commercial projects. "There are also too many films of the same genre -- like gangster movies -- that overrate violence," Korean Film Critics Society president Yong-tak Chung says.
Indeed, the lists of the best movies of 2001 from local crix focused on smaller, less successful films such as "Take Care of My Cat," "Failan" and "Waikiki Brothers," "Nabi" and "Flower Island" -- none of which made it on the top-10 grossers list.
