[Current & Culture] The Success of 'Seoul Spring'... Is It Okay to Learn History Through Films?

The Outcome Depends on the Writer's and Director's Historical Perspective
Fact-Checking and Temporal Adjustment Are Essential

The film Seoul Spring is about to surpass 10 million viewers. As the saying goes, songs and movies follow their titles, and this is welcome spring news amid the long, harsh winter at the box office. Interestingly, the main audience consists of young viewers from the so-called MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), who were not even born in 1979, the film’s historical setting. It is not a genre familiar to the younger generation either. Romance or humor is hard to find, and the screen is filled with stern military officers. Far from fantasy, the subtitles claiming imaginative elements seem ironic, as the film solidly brings actual history to the screen. Any discussion about the points of its success would be a retrospective analysis, but it is encouraging that the film has sparked a noticeable increase in people studying modern history. However, a question suddenly arises: is it okay to study history through films?

The biggest problem when learning history through movies is that films are the result of writers or directors tailoring the truth according to their own historical perspectives. Therefore, it is essential to verify how the actual history differs. Another process I want to emphasize is temporal adjustment. Evaluating past figures or events by today’s standards inevitably causes unfair distortion. Fact-checking and temporal adjustment were the two steps I always took when learning history through films.

Watching films about events several centuries ago was actually easier. Since “that’s how things were back then,” heavy temporal adjustment was enough to excuse it. Kings had multiple concubines, yangban (aristocrats) controlled slaves, and no matter how hard a commoner tried, they could never become yangban. Filial impiety, ignorance, and incompetence, which are utterly unacceptable by today’s standards, could be overlooked. But when watching films about modern history, I often felt uneasy and questioned myself. How far should temporal adjustment go? Was military dictatorship inevitable to develop a terribly poor country? Was it right then but wrong now? What would South Korea look like if a president from the democratic camp, not Park Chung-hee, had taken power? As someone who did not live through that era, it is difficult to answer.

From the 1980s onward, perhaps because I directly saw, heard, and felt the social atmosphere, I can answer these questions with more confidence. The coup and dictatorship led by the new military group headed by Chun Doo-hwan were wrong then and remain wrong now. Even with generous temporal adjustment, it was nothing more or less than a rebellion to satisfy ambition and increase wealth, and a disruption of national order. Some may disagree. I have seen many who firmly believe the new military regime’s achievements outweigh its faults. Since historical consciousness varies from person to person like taste, I respect that.

Here is a curated selection of films that shed light on the shadows of our modern history. For the appetizer, The Man Standing Next. Directed by Woo Min-ho, who made the masterpiece Inside Men, it is set in the late Park Chung-hee regime. As the title suggests, the film focuses on the anguish of Kim Jae-gyu, the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency who assassinated President Park. The chaos of winter following Park’s assassination and the coup by Chun Doo-hwan and the new military group are well depicted in Seoul Spring. This covers the 1970s. For the beginning of the 1980s, The Taxi Driver, which portrays the Gwangju Democratization Movement resisting Chun Doo-hwan’s regime, is recommended. Petal and May 18 are also good additions. The painful process and joy of ultimately achieving democratization are perfectly captured in 1987, which is ideal for the finale of this course. With the year drawing to a close, how about a cinematic feast?

Lee Jae-ik, Novelist

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.