China and South Korea: 'Like a good neighbor…' (2)

An established pattern

Communication and exchanges in the film industry between China and South Korea are actually nothing new. As early as the 1960s, many South Korean directors came to Hong Kong to learn how to make kung fu movies, and these famous figures include late South Korean director Shin Sang-ok (1906-2006) and director Jeong Chang-hwa.

Also in those early days, the late Hong Kong kung fu director King Hu (1932-97) traveled to South Korea for scenes in his movies.

The 21st century witnessed more of such exchanges. In the South Korean romance and kung fu movie Flying Warriors (2000), most of the scenes were shot in China, and the production staff was a mix of Chinese and Korean professionals.

Having stars in each other's movies is not a new thing either. In 2001, mainland actress Zhang Ziyi was invited to star in the South Korean action feature Musa, while in 2005, mainland director Chen Kaige invited Korean actor Jang Dong-gun to star in The Promise.

The level of cooperation later included directors as well: South Korean romance movie Daisy (2006) was directed by Hong Kong director Lau Wai Keung, and Dangerous Liaisons (2012) was directed by Hur Jin-ho.

Both Jang and Ricardo Kim, manager of CJ E&M Media's Beijing Office, see such cooperation as a positive sign.

"We looked positively on the future of China-South Korea movie cooperation 10 years ago, and we have begun to investigate [possibilities] and [conduct] trials on that since then," Kim told the Global Times in an e-mail.

"After [producing] A Wedding Invitation, we see more clearly the common or similar ideas China and South Korea share in cultural concepts and industry awareness," he added.

Despite the average box-office performances of cooperative works at the moment, the current Chinese movie industry and market are currently in the same situation that once dominated the scene in South Korea: South Korean movies once were heavily beaten by Hollywood blockbusters and the government launched a series of regulations to protect domestic works.

It is very promising that by cooperating with South Korean directors and companies, Chinese filmmakers can gain successful experience that will assist their home industry.

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