Masculine Icon of Korean Cinema Shin Young-kyun at Busan Int'l Film Festival

Published on 2012/10/12 | Source

Before the flower boys the tough guys and the gangsters in Korean cinema Shin Young-kyun reigned as the quientessential male icon.

Born in North Korea in 1928 the young Shin started as a stage actor and graduated from Seoul National University in dentistry on his way to an explosive film career in the 1960s and 1970s.

[Reporter : ]
"At this year's Busan International Film Festival visitors will get to see 8 of Shin Young-kyun's over 300 films to see what makes him the classic Korean male icon".

Film critic Darcy Paquet says Shin's powerful presence fit the government's push for a more masculine image.

[Interview : Darcy Paquet, Film Critic] "So what would you say is the quintessential Shin Young Kyun style[Interview : Alex Mottern, Audience Member, USA] "No. He was a little bit big for me".

However viewers from his generation may remember him in a different light.

[Interview : Lee Jung-hye, Audience Member, Busan] "Shin Young Kyun had a lot of character back then. He was warm and snuggly and overloaded with charisma. And even looking at him now he's truly great".

Shin called his most productive years in the 1960s as the golden age of film an era where films reflected Korea's constantly shifting social and political atmosphere.
Now modern moviegoers have a chance to discover this film icon.

[Reporter : Sean Lim
slim@arirang.co.kr]
"So will we see more of the Korean male macho return to screens

OCT 12, 2012

Reporter : slim@arirang.co.kr