Queer Korean Cinema: An Introduction

South Korea has yet to sanction gay marriage. But you wouldn't know that necessarily from watching their movies. Repeatedly as an American fan of this country's cinema, I've been startled by how often queer characters are portrayed sympathetically. Gay, lesbian, and trans alike. Don't believe me? Below is a list of a dozen films that I've watched which reveal a spirit of inclusion. Some have won major awards (The King and the Clown, A Frozen Flower, The Handmaiden); others date back over 50 years (Seashore Village, Starting Point). All are worth watching. And in case you think I'm scraping the barrel, I promise you there's plenty more beside the ones listed below. I just figured you've gotta start somewhere.

1. Seashore Village (1965): A pair of cohabitating lesbians in a fishing village may not be the focus of Kim Soo-yong's black-and-white classic but their acceptance by the larger community defies expectations of Korean culture of the day. The real scandal -- and cause of shame -- is adultery.
2. Starting Point (1969): The homoerotic tensions between a Japanese officer and his Korean subordinates are so perverse. Which isn't to say Lee Man-hee's strange war pic condemns the gays. It's highlighting how homophobia twists familial and military relationships. Box office sensation Shin Seong-il stars.
3. Like a Virgin (2006): In this enchanting dramedy, Madonna serves as a secular icon for a trans youth struggling to maintain their dignity while pursuing a sex change operation. (Not sure how well it's aged since I first saw it over a decade ago but I liked it then.)
4. Voice (2005): The fourth installment in the famed Whispering Corridor series of horror flicks more than hints at a lesbian romance. And that's not what makes it scary!
5. The King and the Clown (2005): A tragic romance involving queer clowns sounds absurd, I know, but I promise you Lee Joon-ik's Chosun Dynasty drama will have you weeping real tears.
6. A Frozen Flower (2008): Whether the sex scene involves the king and his male lover or the queen and that same side piece, the action is hot as hell. How many movies make that claim that while decked out in period garb? Bisexuals unite!
7. Two Weddings and a Funeral (2012): Prefer a romcom? Part fluff, part fire, this one features a marriage of convenience between a gay man and a lesbian, while addressing the political realities of oppression.
8. White Night (2012): Can you have a list of queer movies that doesn't include this classic trope: Two cute guys -- one moneyed; one working class. E. M. Forster did his own spin with Maurice, in case you forgot.
9. Man on High Heels (2014): Admittedly, this one if over the top but there's pleasure to be found in Cha Seung-won's turn as a trans cop who'd like to retire so he can fully transition.
10. A Distant Place (2020): Park Kun-young's quiet, melancholic indie flick concerns a gay, small-town romance that starts out strong then falters. It's a slow burn with honest heat.
11. Pumpkin Time (2021): An overeager fairy turns a young boy into a young girl proving that love is love is love, regardless of gender. This movie is full of surprises!
12. The Handmaiden (2016): Park Chan-wook has consistently delivered complex female characters so don't skip this lesbian erotic thriller based on Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith.

Seashore Village: The Merry Widow

Shamefully uneducated in the Korean language, I'm fully aware that I repeatedly miss nuances in Korean films. In the award-winning Seashore Village, for instance, one English subtitle reads "It's a boy" but the actual dialogue is "It's got a penis" — something I'd have missed without my current Korean-American love interest. There's a big difference between those two statements extending way beyond mere Americanization. What other phrases got expurgated in the name of decency, I don't know. But translation gets complicated when what's acceptable becomes a shaping factor. Considering Seashore Village revolves around the sexual bond between a widow (Ko Eun-a) and her second husband (Shin Yeong-gyun), I'd hazard a guess that other frank statements have been "cleaned up" in the name of propriety. What can't be hidden, however, is the couple's explicit physical connection, something which guides much of the action — sometimes delightfully, sometimes disturbingly. (Also, inescapable is a lighthearted lesbian tryst between two minor characters who, far from reviled, are viewed as a subject of merriment by the local women.)

Shot in a fable-making black and white yet feeling incredibly contemporary, from its haircuts to its moral relativism, Kim Soo-young's 1965 classic Seashore Village feels equally archival and anticipatory, like an unintentionally modern artwork that nods to rape culture, Stockholm syndrome, gynocentric communities, shamanism, gender norms, and a back-to-nature movement as if such components were always an unavoidable part of life. And they were. And they are. With exceptional performances from its two leads, Seashore Village is concrete proof that Korea has been making world-class cinema for at least 50 years; what an invaluable service the Korean Film Archive provide us by showing us as much on YouTube!