Ep# 68 - Korean War Movies in the 60s

Cinema60

The Korean War is aptly known in America as the “Forgotten War.” During the 1960s, the subject took in its last cinematic hurrah before getting overshadowed by the rising unpopularity of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, South Korea was experiencing a fabled “Golden Age” of cinema that followed the civil war and continued into the ‘60s – one that had some of its most famous hits rather cruelly lost to time. At Cinema60, we’ve largely ignored the Combat Film genre on whole… until now!

In this episode, Bart and Jenna take the opportunity to dig a little deeper into the war and “Golden Age” that time forgot. Watching three American films about the Korean War side-by-side with three films from South Korea on the same subject, they parse propaganda from profundity, patriotism from personal morality, and savagery from psychosis from two different nationalistic perspectives. While our two hosts don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye on the entertainment value of the genre or what makes a film pro- or anti- war, there’s an unexpected amount of agreement on which of these films is worth a look and which you can skip.

The following films are discussed:
• All the Young Men (1960)
Directed by Hall Bartlett
Starring Alan Ladd, Sidney Poitier, James Darren

• Five Marines (1961)
오인의 해병
Directed by Kim Ki-duk
Starring Choi Mun-lyong, Shin Yeong-gyun, Hwang Hae

• War Hunt (1962)
Directed by Denis Sanders
Starring John Saxon, Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack

• The Marines Who Never Returned (1963)
돌아오지 않는 해병
Directed by Lee Man-hee
Starring Jang Dong-hwi, Lee Dae-yeob, Ku Bong-seo

• The Hook (1963)
Directed by George Seaton
Starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Walker Jr., Nick Adams

• Red Scarf (1964)
빨간 마후라
Directed by Shin Sang-ok
Starring Choi Eun-hie, Shin Yeong-gyun, Choi Mu-ryong