The 21st Century Film

[william_kent]

The Rise of South Korean cinema?

Auteurs like Kim Ki-Duk ( The Isle, Coast Guard, Spring, Summer, etc ) , Park Chan-wook ( the vengeance trilogy, Thirst, The Handmaiden ). and Kim Jee-Woon ( Two Sisters, A Bittersweet Life, I Saw The Devil )

What's driving this and is there a common style or any shared themes?

I'd guess that what was driving this was that in the early 2000s the south Korean government issued quotas on how many foreign films could be shown in cinemas leading to an increase of locally produced films..

as for common themes in the films of the three directors I mentioned - social isolation / alienation / loneliness / outsiders, revenge, violence ( sadistic violence, ultraviolence, stylised violence ), abuse of power, implied criticism of society ( police can be corrupt, unequal power relationships )

 

[william_kent]

placeholder: best film of the 21st century so far: SION SONO's LOVE EXPOSURE

I'll explain later when I am sober

runner up: GOZU

 

[...]

Therapeutic Horror

Basically any of the recent wave where the real monster's grief or trauma or whatever. Pop psychology wearing a bed sheet.

Examples?

 

[IdleRich]

Babadook was a big one I think.

 

[Murphy]

Gozu is on for tonight’s night shift @william_kent

Examples?

Hereditary et al

 

[...]

Therapy-Horror

Babadook
Hereditary
Midsommar

 

[Corpsey]

Midsommar was very much therapy-horror

 

[Murphy]

Dark Water (2002)
Martyrs
St Maud
Lake Mungo
Antichrist (?)
The Nightingale, not exactly MS45 but decent enough
The Blackcoat’s Daughter
A Dark Song (listed previously), @DannyL i recall enjoyed elements within it
Antlers

 

[...]

Dark Water (2002)
Martyrs
St Maud
Lake Mungo
Antichrist (?)
The Nightingale, not exactly MS45 but decent enough
The Blackcoat’s Daughter
A Dark Song (listed previously), @DannyL i recall enjoyed elements within it
Antlers

OK, sounds convincing.

So, in summary, trends we have identified:

China Rising
Business-Finance-Corporate Sagas
Neoconservative Movies
Meta-History Epics
Biopics
The Time-Memory-Nostalgia Seam
Apocalypse/Rapture Films
Neo-Neonoir
The Hallmark Empire
Boutique Cinema
Man Child Comedies
South Korean Renaissance
New Dystopias
British Kitsch
Durational TikToks
Observational Documentary
Therapy-Horror

 

[Corpsey]

Midsommar was very much therapy-horror

Also the excellent TALK TO ME

 

[Clinamenic]

Dream Scenario has some therapy horror vibes to it, but its ultimately a comedy.

 

[william_kent]

I'd like to add The Banquet ( retitled as Legend of the Black Scorpion for the dudes market ) as an entry in the China Rising category - court intrigue and weird theatrics enveloped in a gorgeous colour scale - an overlooked gem which you'll either love or hate - plot revolves around a prince who fancies a girl but his dad is the Emperor so daddy gets to fuck and marry her, causing the prince to strop off and form an avant theatre troupe and put on plays about what a cunt his uncle is ( I'd explain why but it's a spoiler but needless to say it's a complicated plot! )

 

[versh]

The Netflix Documentary

This one's interesting because everyone knows what you mean, but it's difficult to put your finger on exactly what the template is. I think there may also be more series in this format than feature films, but still.

 

[Corpsey]

The Netflix Documentary

This one's interesting because everyone knows what you mean, but it's difficult to put your finger on exactly what the template is. I think there may also be more series in this format than feature films, but still.

Ridiculous post

 

[william_kent]

alongside the South Korean Renaissance there was a brief spurt of creativity in Japan for the first decade give or take a year - there were J-horror classics like Dark Water, Ju-on, and, not horror, but maybe disturbing to some, every other film by Takashi Miike ( Visitor Q, Gozu, Ichi the Killer, 13 Assassins, Hara-Kiri, Lesson of Evil ), the Sion Sono HATE TRILOGY ( Love Exposure, Cold Fish, Guilty of Romance ), and of course Machine Girl, , the exploitation film to end exploitation films

there might have been a dip after 2012 but suddenly Japan is back on form if Shin Ultraman and Godilla Minus One are any indication

 

[william_kent]

there is a whole genre of Philip K. Dick adaptations ( Minority Report, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Blade Runner ), but my favourite is the neglected Japanese classic from 2011

Erotibot

 

[line b]

Was hereditary therapy horror? Wasn’t it just rosemary’s baby basically?

 

[Corpsey]

I was going to say that psychological horror/ghost stories aren't a new thing - YES IM GOING TO MENTION TURN OF THE SCREW

Think about Psycho, Repulsion even The Exorcist (which is about religion but also about the horror adolescence inspires in parents).

I guess if there's a difference to these newer examples it's that the way the culture at large understands and talks about mental health/trauma has changed too.

 

[Corpsey]

I can't really imagine Midsommar being made in the 70s for example because I don't think the way we think about depression and toxic relationships is the same as it was back then.

 

[versh]

I can't really imagine Midsommar being made in the 70s for example because I don't think the way we think about depression and toxic relationships is the same as it was back then.

Yeah, exactly. There's some overlap with psychological horror, but what I'm talking about's specific to our current moment and emphasis on mental health.