A look into the rich heritage of Korean American film community that laid the foundation for two celebrated productions of 2023

※ The contributions of external writers may differ from the opinions of KoBiz & KOFIC, and they do not represent the official views of KOFIC.

By Sebastián N. Nadilo 

Last year, two Korean American productions captivated audiences worldwide, earning acclaim from both critics and viewers alike. Of course, I am talking about Past Lives a romantic drama feature film, directed by first-time filmmaker Celine Song and produced by A24; and Beef a dark comedy television miniseries created by Lee Sung Jin for Netflix, and produced by the same company. To understand the success of these productions, it's crucial to talk about the influence of Korea's second generation of Hallyu Wave on Hollywood; examine the achievements of the Korean American creators; and analyze the key elements that propelled Beef and Past Lives​ as global phenomena.

It is well-established by scholars and film connoisseurs that Asia is having a golden age of high-quality content. As a result, we can find Asian movies being screened at the best film festivals around the world, and we can even watch great TV shows made by Asian creators on most streaming services. There are even streaming platforms dedicated exclusively to Asian productions. This cultural revolution was propelled by the Korean Wave, which started in the 1990s. Korean productions made such a global impact, that it is impossible to find people who haven’t watched films like Memories of Murder (2003), Oldboy (2003), The Host (2006), Train to Busan (2016), The Wailing (2016), The Handmaiden (2016), just to name a few.

One company understood the importance of landing in Hollywood to propel itself as a global content creator. CJ Entertainment, Korea’s largest entertainment company, landed in Hollywood in 2006 by selling remake rights of their films, but it wasn’t until 2013 that they had their first breakthrough with Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer, which became a success both in the U.S. and internationally. In 2019, the company reached the highest peak in the industry with Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite. The film won four Oscars at the 92nd Academy Awards which included Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film.

However, it's important to remark that the success of Korean American creators cannot be attributed to a single company or factor. It is rather years of fighting against an industry that misrepresented them and relinquished them to the background. The result is a strong and vibrant community of creators and actors that deserves credit for winning the battle to tell their own stories from their unique perspectives. Additionally, we must acknowledge the crucial role played by various Asian organizations and festivals. These platforms consistently showcase new talent and push boundaries within the industry. We should mention that the rise of the far right in the U.S. and the impact of COVID-19 have led to increased harassment and violence towards Asian communities. In response, they have strengthened their ties and created strong coalitions to raise their voices and fight against bigotry. 

Beef  

Over the past decade, we can highlight a few movies created by Korean Americans like Seoul Searching (2015) by Benson Lee, Columbus (2017) by Kogonada, Gook (2017) by Justin Chon, Driveways (2019) by Andrew Ahn, Minari (2020) by Lee Isaac Chung, After Yang (2021) by Kogonada, and Blue Bayou (2021) by Justin Chon. More recently, productions like Liquor Store Dreams (2022) by So Yun Um and Free Chol Soo Lee (2022) by Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, have made it into several international festivals and streaming platforms. Last year, notable productions included Take Me Home (2023) by Liz Sargent, Elemental (2023) by Peter Sohn, Smoking Tigers (2023) by So Young Shelly Yo, Shortcomings (2023) by Randall Park, Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV (2023) by Amanda Kim. In this talented panorama, Past Lives (2023) by Celine Song, and Beef (2023) created by Lee Sung Jin have emerged. 

Past Lives

While both productions have different characteristics, even in their format—one is a feature film, and the other is a miniseries—they both manage to capture our attention within the first few seconds. In the opening scene of Past Lives, Nora (Greta Lee), our main character, directly interpellates the viewer by looking into the camera, breaking the fourth wall. This clever technique invites us to suspend our interpretation of what we will see and immerse ourselves in the film’s narrative. On the contrary, in the opening of Beef, the viewer seems to come literally from Danny’s head, encouraging a sense of alliance and empathy with the main character. Furthermore, the cornerstones upon which these stories are constructed are highly relatable—the reunion of two deeply connected childhood friends after years apart, and a road rage revenge story are things we all experience, witness, or at least have been told about. Ultimately, we can assert that these productions exhibit universal traits that anyone can relate to, alongside specific issues that are more tailored to the Korean community, that will resonate more profoundly with them, such as the importance of language, family impositions, tradition, immigration, and identity, to name a few.

In her directorial debut, Celine Song manages to create a very beautiful movie that explores an unfulfilled love story without falling into clichés or melodramatic scenes. The performances of the three main actors - Greta Lee as Nora, Teo Yoo as Hae Sung, and John Magaro as Arthur, Nora’s husband – are exceptionally credible, making it easy to empathize with them. Despite having few dialogues, the words spoken are deep and profoundly contribute to the narrative. 

Minari

Song explained her work as being a film with three goodbyes, marking the characters’ lives. The first one occurs in their childhood, the second one when they stop talking after reconnecting online, and the final one when Nora and Hae Sung have to say goodbye after meeting in New York. On this line, we can say Reality operates as a cold knife that cuts through any illusions the main characters have constructed about each other. In the first act they were kids and Nora was emigrating to Canada, in the second act, their divergent professional paths made a face-to-face meeting practically impossible in the short run. Finally, when Nora and Hae Sung meet in New York, her reality is that she is married to Arthur and Hae Sung has a well-established life back in Korea. A love story between them was not feasible.

Blue Bayou

Beef starts with a seemingly mundane incident involving Danny (Steven Yeun), a depressed and lonely contractor who experiences road rage in a hardware store parking lot. Instead of letting things go, Danny decides to pursue the car that harassed him. Following a near-crash, he manages to get the car’s plate number. The narrative then shifts to the other driver, Amy (Ali Wong), a deeply anguished mother and businesswoman struggling to maintain her appearance. Both characters, each dealing with their troubled background, embark on a revenge plot against each other. Things quickly escalate and the story reaches a boiling point where everything they’ve worked for shatters into pieces. 

The narrative is pushed by the characters’ actions, especially what they hide from each other. All the characters, including secondary ones, have interesting backgrounds that are revealed as the story progresses. The cast features exceptional talent like David Choe, Young Mazino, Joseph Lee, and Maria Bello, with Steven Yeun's performance standing out. The series also delves into themes such as family roles and mandates, exploring the hypocrisy of maintaining good appearances despite inner turmoil.

The future of Korean American cinema looks promising, with several films ready to be released in the coming years. There are also some interesting stories being developed. Liz Sargent for example is developing her short film into a feature film, Kogonada is working on his next project called A Big Bold Beautiful Journey which will feature Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell; on July 2024 Lee Isaac Chung will release his latest film, Twisters, an updated version of the 1996 film Twister starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, and Anthony Ramos. 

Lee Sung Jin has been part of the writing of Thunderbolts, a Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company production, that will feature Harrison Ford, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, and David Harbour, and is scheduled for release in May 2025. Finally, Celine Song has unveiled her next project, Materialists, a romantic comedy that is attracting A-list talent such as Dakota Johnson. Produced by A24, the film is generating buzz as it seeks international sales at the prestigious European Film Market taking place at the Berlinale 2024.

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About the writer

Sebastián N. Nadilo is an Argentine film submission advisor and film journalist specializing in the Asian film industry. As a director of Asian Film Festivals, the only website exclusively dedicated to promoting Asian audiovisual content and film festivals to the world, Mr. Nadilo has been actively promoting and distributing Asian films to the wider audience, as well as highlighting various film festivals in Asia to receive a greater acknowledgement from the global industry. Mr. Nadilo served as an honorary reporter for KOREA.NET, the web portal of Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and has written in various media such as Asian Movie Pulse and Film Focus.