I. Introduction

Kim Ki-young produced a total of thirty-two feature films from his first, Boxes of Death (Jugeom ui sangja, 1955), to his last, An Experience to Die For (Jugeodo joeun gyeongheom, 1990). More than half (eighteen to be precise) of Kim's works were created in the 1960s and the 1970s, when the South Korean film industry was most severely regulated by Park Chung Hee's military regime. Through the enactment of the Yushin System (1972) laws were established to oppress the growing public opposition towards Park's prolonged dictatorship, and the state maximized its direct control over filmmaking, studios, and personnel. It would be a mistake to assume that Kim Ki-young's constant productivity during this period was because his films somehow escaped government interference. As the director himself mentioned in interview, “I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said all my films have been impaired by film censorship in some way or another.” Indeed, his script for Ban Geum-ryeon (1974/1981); the title changed from Geum Byeong-mae) for instance, had immense trouble with state censorship and was charged with containing “obscenity” and “violence” even at the pre-production stage, an issue that resulted in a delay of seven years before its theatrical release following the completion of filming in 1973.

Nevertheless, compared to his contemporaries (including Yu Hyeon-mok, Ha Gil-jong and Yi Man-hui), many of whose films were severely cut and sometimes completely banned from public exhibition, most of Kim works have remained relatively intact. This despite his challenging representation of illicit sex, necrophilia, and various other taboos that not many Korean films of the time dared to deal with. Perhaps this leniency was possible because Kim's films seemed to focus on surreal, fantastic themes and visual images as opposed to a realist depiction of society, class, or politics, more concrete concerns which often caused trouble with state censorship. Ha Gil-jong's biggest commercial hit, The March of Fools (Babodeul ui haengjin, 1975), for example, was reviewed by state censors multiple times, and a total of 30 minutes (including four entire sequences) was ultimately cut from the final approved version due to being “unacceptably anti-regime.”