A Psychoanalytic Film Essay on 'Arirang' Directed by Na Woon-Gyu

Lee, Byung Wook

Abstract

Na Woon-Gyu(1902-1937) is called to the father of Korean cinema. He was a gifted film director, actor, and screen writer. He was born in the northern town of Hoeryong in Korea during the final days of the Korean Empire. Although Korean, his childhood was spent under Japanese rule during the Japanese annexation of Korea. He was involved in anti-Japanese activities as a student in 1919, and then escaped to Manchuria crossing the Duman River, and traveled as far as Siberia, joining with Korean Liberation fighters for two years. He returned to Seoul in 1921, but he was captured by the Japanese police, and jailed and tortured in Chongjin prison for his anti-occupation activities. After being released in 1923, he started his career as a film actor in Pusan in 1925. In his first film Arirang (1926), he was the director, actor, and writer. Arirang was a very successful and sensational film in Korea. Many of the Korean audiences were tearful and sang together in unison with the famous Korean folksong Arirang during the last scene. Although his career only spanned ten years, he was the most creative and energetic actor and director during the developmental stage of the Korean film industry. At that time, he directed fifteen films, and acted in twenty-eight films. In his final days, he suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, and died at the age of 35. Arirang expressed the tragic, painful reality of the Korean occupation by the Japanese Empire. I guess he unwittingly revealed his own personal conflict including his unconscious fantasies through his films. As we know, the person who develops in a supportive and nurturing environment can not empathize with an orphan's suffering. Similarly, the current generation have not experienced the sorrowful loss of their motherland and therefore, can not empathize with their ancestors who suffered from Japanese oppression. Nevertheless we realize in his movies, Na continues to share his inner wishes and painful emotions to his contemporary compatriots.