전시제체기(1938〜45) 일제의 영화통제와 선전영화의 성격

Abstract

The films, which were first introduced in Korea at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, gained public popularity through the colonization period. At the age when the influences of films were expanding among the public, Japan paid attention to the social influences of films which led to the film restriction policy. The initial restrictions were imported in the form of maintenance of order and hygiene control mainly on the regional theaters. The films started to be produced in Joseon. In the 1920s when the number of theaters and audiences increased, the nationwide censorship policy was implemented mainly by the Japanese Government-General of Korea. The film restriction policy of the colonial period which led to the restrictions on film distribution and import restrictions on foreign films in the 1930s was strengthened during the wartime. The enforcement of 'Joseon Film Decree' and the establishment of the new film system in the 1940s were in an effort for a strong regulation policy to produce only the films suitable for the Japanese colonial rule. The films in the wartime period were only allowed to be produced if they meet the goal of Japan of war mobilization and system propaganda. Meanwhile, films have an industrial attribute to attract the audience to pay for the movies and produce more movies based on the money. Therefore, the propaganda films in this period had to include the logic that can mobilize people for the war and the stories that can attract the audience to visit the theaters and pay for the films. The propaganda films in the wartime period mainly describe the Japanese goals of joining the army, volunteer soldiers and system propaganda. However, the main conflicts between the characters occur through the melodramatic elements, which are familiar with the existing audience. The awkward combination of the goals of propaganda and melodramatic formats sometimes disturbs the immersion by making discords during the development process of the stories. The films screened to the public during the wartime had disharmony between the aspect to deliver the message of propaganda and the aspect to offer the entertainment pleasure using the familiar format of genre. Such ambivalent characteristics of propaganda films in the wartime period are appeared due to the overlap of the periodical background of war and the audience's desire for the entertainment pleasure. The audience in this period consumed the films in an environment where the cinematic fantasy and the pressure of the reality were mixed. Only propaganda films that satisfy the Japanese policy were allowed to be produced and the movies screened in the theaters were the films produced by those who collaborated with Japan. Nevertheless, the number of the audiences did not decrease in this period. This can be considered that the audience's satisfaction for consumption of 'watching films' was a lot higher than the restrictions and pressure over the films. The real images of the colonial period may be existed or overlapped between the two conflicting images of collaboration and resistance. In this aspect, a research on the attributes of propaganda films in the wartime period holds significance to explore the comprehensive and ambivalent images of the colonial period.