hankyoreh

This December, South Korean screens will play host to a new British hero. If James Bond were a normal person, by now he might be sipping martinis in a retirement home. But instead, each new generation gets treated to a new face. The latest Bond, Daniel Craig, will project a grittier, more vulnerable image in hopes of appealing to today’s young audiences.

This fantasy character - suave, deadly, attractive - may have little in common with real British spies, but over 44 years he has turned out 21 films and sold US$4 billion worth of movie tickets. The U.S. has produced its own share of heroes: Superman, first conceived in the 1930s; Rambo, the hyper-masculine fantasy figure of the Reagan years (unfortunately set to return in 2008); and Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean - my personal choice for the most interesting and appealing American hero.

As for Asian heroes, there are Chow Yun-fat’s appearances in John Woo’s early films - even if they were different characters, it was basically the same, distinctive hero. On a more comic level, Japan produced the longest-running hero in film history with the Tora-san films. From 1969 until his death in 1996, actor Atsumi Kiyoshi played the same character in the original and 47 sequels.

Perhaps the mark of a true franchise is that the hero is more interesting than the films themselves. Certainly this is true of Pirates of the Caribbean, and most of the Bond films. Film companies who are able to produce such a charismatic hero can look forward to years of hit films, if they play their cards right.

And Korean heroes? Most Korean films seem to be constructed around interesting situations, rather than a single strong personality. The Chinese seem to think that "Her" from My Sassy Girl is the most memorable Korean hero, given that they named her alongside kimchi and taekwondo as things they most associate with Korea. Could the "yupki girl" from that film have indeed been turned into a franchise?

Oh Dae-soo from Oldboy certainly qualifies as a memorable, charismatic hero. But it would be hard to turn this into a franchise, since one of the defining aspects of the character is that he is subsumed to one, single goal that is resolved at the end of the film. Besides, it’s usually better not to attempt sequels of director-centered works like Oldboy. Arguably, this is true of the characters in The Host, as well.

Korea has so many good character actors that it would seem there is good potential for creating highly memorable, charismatic heroes. When watching Tora-san, it’s not hard to imagine someone like Song Kang-ho or Oh Dal-soo being just as hilarious in a similar role; Korean film companies should consider remaking that film. If Korea wanted to go the James Bond/Chow Yun-fat route, either Cho Seung-woo or Hwang Jeong-min would make a great charismatic action star.

The most famous film heroes seem to capture some aspect of an era’s mood, or give voice to its anxieties. It’s possible that Korean society has a bit of an anti-hero bias at the moment, which if true is probably good thing. Still, it will be interesting to see the emergence of an iconic Korean hero at some point in the future. What kind of figure will it be?

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]