신상옥의 영화에 나타난 사선(斜線)의 미학

Abstract

This paper intends to look into the 'formal' aspects in the movies of Shin Sang-ok, who is a representative film director of Korea in the 1960's. Shin Sang-ok quested for the embodiment of 'image text' rather than 'language text' in order to express his outlook on the world and aesthetical point of view through various image-signs in his movie. We can find that the narrative structure in his historical movies such as Yĕonsangun, Tyrant Yĕonsan is used as a very critical communication tool and also the position and the angle of the camera produce diverse meanings.

Specifically, in his move, it is notable that he made un original oblique composition, which is different from the perspective representation used in the western arts and movies. This creative technique is rarely found in any films from other countries. It is said that he overcame 'the perspective representation' which means one creature of the western modernity, by using the oblique composition based on the oriental painting skill. We surveyed the conflicts of tradition and modernity which were shown in Korean historical movie in the 1960's.

In this way, his historical movies seems to transcend the western modernity into the oriental contemplative aesthetics in a layer of formal technique of the film.