Aimless Bullet (i.e. The Stray Bullet
Omar Al Hashimi
This is an excerpt from my University paper on Aimless Bullet (1961) for my Korean Cinema Course:
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Omar Watches Films
When analyzing film industries from around the world, a similar trend is seen with most of these industries. Usually at one point or another, a film industry enters a time where it is extremely popular and booming amongst local audiences. This is somewhat referred to as the Golden Age of a certain industry. Each industry’s Golden Age lasts a different amount depending on the situation of the country and general social trends. For example, the Golden Age of Hollywood lasted from the late 1920s to the early 1960s. During this time it was said that “Hollywood was one of the most visible businesses in America, and most people were attending films at least once a week” [1]. So during this time in America, the film industry was very successful and people all around the country were watching constantly movies. Now when looking at South Korea, their Golden Age started much later due to the tense political situations in the country. Due to these reasons, the Golden Age of Korean cinema began post-war in 1953 and lasted till the late 1960s [2]. Even though it started late, the Golden Age in South Korea did not last much due to more political issues the country had to face in the late 1960s. Nevertheless, though short, the Golden Age of South Korea managed to garner many viewers and also great sums of profit. As an example the remake of Chunhyang-jeon (1955) managed “Within two months, 10% of Seoul's population—over 200,000 people—had seen the movie” [3]. With this we are able to see how the industry was very healthy and trying to produce as many movies as possible.

With any popular period, there will always be a dominating genre that audiences prefer over others. Although many film genres were being produced, the most popular amongst Korean audiences during the Golden Age were melodramas. Surprisingly melodramas weren’t just popular in the Golden Age as they actually are “the most popular genre regardless of the changing circumstances of the film industry” [4]. This genre usually followed certain trends such as female suffering, a barrier to love, and finally a sad ending to the film. Although a film of this genre does not have to fully adhere to all these three trends, they are still somewhat present in most melodramas of the Golden Age. This genre managed to spawn Korea’s most popular films including The Houseguest and My Mother (1961), Madame Freedom (1956), Barefooted Youth (1964), and many more. Most films in this category contained very similar underlying themes which related to modernization and westernization of South Korea. This was due to the situation of post-war Korea and how fast western culture was seeping into Korean society. Due to this many directors tried to show the negative attributes to modernization through their films. One of the most important films to do this was The Aimless Bullet (1961), as it treats this issue in a very different way when compared to other melodramas of the time. Through this paper, I will try to analyze the much acclaimed film The Aimless Bullet (1961) and try to unearth some of its hidden themes and messages.

Before looking at The Aimless Bullet (1961) and fully analyzing it, one must look at the publication history of this film. Initially this film was actually banned by the government at the time due to the negative depiction of life in post-war South Korea. However, an American consultant to the Korean National Film Production tried to persuade the government to release the film after he had seen it. The reason given was that the film was good enough to qualify for the San Francisco International Film Festival. Ultimately, the film was released in Seoul and director Yu Hyun-mok attended the premier in San Francisco in 1963. The film was praised by many and known as one of the greatest films ever created during this period in South Korea. Now that a better understanding of the film’s release is achieved, we are able to fully look at the films themes and hidden messages. In my opinion the film manages to deal with many social and political issues in South Korea, in both an obvious and hidden manner. On the surface, the film manages to show us the negative side, hardships, and struggles that people had during post-war Korea. However in my opinion, the hidden themes include the effects of capitalism, westernization, and finally the capability of men. Each of these themes will be discussed in detail in order to properly see what the director intended audiences to take away from this film.

On the surface, the movie follows the lives of a poor and devastated family in post-war Korea. The oldest brother is an accountant who makes very little in order to support his family, which includes his shell-shocked mother, pregnant wife, younger brother, sister, and his two children. The film manages to capture certain elements from the very popular Italian Neorealism movement. It very much resembles movies such as Bicycle Thieves (1948), yet has its own unique factors that makes it stand out from others. In terms of themes, as I said previously, the main ones that I believe are present in the film have to do with capitalism, westernization, and finally masculinity. The director manages to show the hardships of modernization and US capitalism to post-war Korea in a different way than other films at the time. For example, this is seen when the younger brother distinctly states “let’s live like human beings! Let’s buy a fine western house”. This indicates that society has not given them any option to live well unless they adhere to the rapid changes in Korea. Furthermore, most of these themes were shown through symbolic means. We see that the older brother is an accountant, which should be a respectable job, yet he does not have enough money to treat his toothache. The toothache in my opinion is the perfect symbol of the burden that Koreans felt during post-war Korea. The brother keeps on holding on to that burden and refuses to go to a dentist. Towards the end of the film, the brother coincidentally looks up and sees a sign of “International Dental Clinic”. This is by no means a coincidence, as I believe the director is showing us how westernization has seeped into Korean society that there is no other way out of misery other than adhering to western culture. Another scene which also occurs towards the end of the film happens to the older brother again. As he is walking down the street he complains how all of this could have been avoided if he were rich, and interestingly the camera pans to a shot of shops filled with western goods. This as well shows how by allowing the rapid modernization of the Korean society, people have no choice but to adhere to it otherwise they will stay poor and devastated. We see many signs of how acceptance of westernization was the only way out for people at the time. The sister of the family during the first half of the film wears a hanbok and represents a traditional Korean girl. However, we see that halfway through she starts wearing western clothes and becomes a prostitute for American soldiers in Korea. Even though she is selling her body, we see that amongst all her family members she is living the most comfortable and earning more than anyone else. As you can see, the director managed to paint this beautiful dreary picture of post-war Korea and how people were trapped in society. This negative look at Korean society may have caused many problems in the release of his film, however he felt that it was important to spread this message so that people can understand the struggles citizens had to go through during that time.

The final underlying theme that in my opinion was seen throughout the movie was that of masculinity and the capability of men. Throughout the film we see so many cases of the vulnerability of men during post-war Korea. In the film we are constantly seeing women in better and more comfortable living conditions. The actress is always wearing expensive jewelry and gets a lot of money from her roles. The sister, although a prostitute, manages to get more money than any of her other brothers. These are just a few of the examples of how the director was able to show how women were garnering a higher social status than men in post-war Korea. However for most of the men, since they just came back from war, they are broken and weak. They are not able to find proper jobs, and if they do find jobs they are not paid well. The younger brother actually resorts to robbery in order to try to survive in this cruel world. Furthermore, in terms of symbolism of this theme, a lot of it had to do with the idea of being caged. We see this through dialogue such as “why do we have to live in a cage?” and also “but this society, it takes more than I’ve got. It’s like fighting a wild boar”. Aside from dialogue, we get this feeling of being caged from symbolic references as well. Throughout the film, there was a lot of focus on birds in cages. An old man is seen constantly feeding a caged bird. The bar where the army veterans go to drink have many birds sitting in cages. All of these are no coincidence, the director is carefully trying to convey the idea of how helpless men used to feel, as if they were caged. Finally, there was great emphasis in the film on the breaking of objects. Every time something is broken such as a bowl, or a glass pane, the camera focuses on the shards of broken pieces. Evidently in the film, it is always men who are breaking these objects. This to me symbolizes how these men are trying to “break free” from this caged feeling. This is why, at the end of the film, the pained brother sitting in a taxi blurts out “Let’s get out of here” which is meant to symbolize his escape from his dreadful cage.

In conclusion, The Aimless Bullet (1961) is an important film from the Golden Age of Korea. Although it managed to create much controversy during its release, it still managed to convey important messages and themes. Furthermore, it is not surprising that the film is highly acclaimed and regarded as one of the greatest of its time. Through its themes of westernization, capitalism and masculinity, the film managed to create a beautifully bleak image of post-war Korea that was not seen from other movies of the same time. Nevertheless, the Golden Age of Korea managed to produce countless classics that would stand the test of time and hopefully inspire countless future filmmakers.

References:

[1] Golden Age of Hollywood (2014). Retrieved, from http://www.environmentalhistory.org/revcomm/cinema-clips/golden-age-of-hollywood/

[2] Curnutte, R. (n.d.). Passages of Time: Motifs of Past, Present, Future in Contemporary Korean Films. Retrieved, from http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue2/koreanpassages.html

[3] A Short History of Korean Film. Retrieved, from http://koreanfilm.org/history.html

[4] Lee, H. (2000). Contemporary Korean cinema: Identity, culture and politics. Manchester: Manchester University Press.