Desiring bodies and ascetic regimes: popular erotic film in South Korea from 1973 to 1985

Abstract

In the 1970s and 80s, when South Korea was ruled by the successive military regimes of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo Hwan, a series of erotic melodramas passed government censors, drew record audiences, and dominated the film industry. The incongruence of these erotic films and the ascetic cultural values promulgated by the ruling regimes raises the question: How did erotic films come to dominate the domestic box office of South Korea during a period of heavy censorship and authoritarian military rule? By looking at the economics and politics of film production at that time and by analyzing the content, style, and reception of two key films, this thesis challenges the prevailing view that these films were instigated by the government and popular due to their prurience and argues instead that their popularity can be explained by trends in the film industry and the innovative style of the films themselves.