The linking of two national cinemas is, as the editor of this interesting collection of essays points out, problematic. Geographical proximity is scarcely reason enough. Nor is historical resemblance.
Films were first shown in Japan in 1897 and in Korea in 1903. The first Japanese productions were seen in 1899, but Koreans had to wait considerably longer to see their first "national" product, a 1923 picture. Just two years later, however, its first major film, "Arirang," produced, directed and starring Na Un Kyu, managed to get made.
One of the reasons for the slow development of Korean cinema was, of course, Japan itself. It had occupied the Korean Peninsula in 1910 and remained there until its war defeat in 1945. Having set out to eradicate Korean culture -- including forcing Japanese names onto the populace and mandatory Japanese-language study in schools as well as fostering and coercing Shinto beliefs -- it was not about to allow a nascent film industry.
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