1st Edition

Representations of Japan in South Korean Cinema of the Park Geun-hye Era Invaders, Lovers and Demons

By Russell Edwards Copyright 2026
196 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

196 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Providing a rare example of a national cinema that has managed to overturn the prevailing global paradigm of Hollywood dominance, South Korean films are nevertheless still haunted by the peninsula’s earlier colonial history. Focussing on a series of films produced during the administration of disgraced and then pardoned President Park Geun-hye (2013–2017), this book examines South Korea’s... Read more

Introduction  Chapter One Scars, Tattoos, Flags and Exorcism: The Recurring Markers of National Trauma in the Rising Sun Cycle  Chapter Two Jjokbari and Chinilpa: Caricatured Villains and Villainous Collaborators  Chapter Three The Best of Enemies: The Rising Sun Cycle’s Ambivalence and Erasure of Friendly Japanese  Chapter Four Moving Beyond Exorcism: The Way of Postcolonial Endurance  Conclusion

Biography

Dr Russell Edwards has been a professional film critic since the early 1990s, reviewed for Variety (2003–2012) and was President of the Film Critics Circle of Australia (2004–2006). A former advisor to the Busan International Film Festival, he is currently preparing an essay collection about the films of Peter Weir.