The Korean Wave
The Korean Wave
Why are Korean productions taking over the west?
Big productions, unexpected plots, and interesting social comments. That's what western audiences are growly expecting any time they click play for a Korean production on streaming platforms.
They are getting more popular by the day and as the demand grows, the production level follows suit.
Yesterday I finished watching a new Korean release on Netflix: Sea of tranquility. Although it's far from being one of my favorite series, I enjoyed it. Being set in space, it has the tense feeling we expect from following characters exploring dark and sinister corridors and finding uncountable perils of being outside of our planet.
What surprised me the most is how big this production is. There is so much CGI, the scenery is amazing, the costume is flawless, the visuals are super cool. This series had probably a very healthy budget to spend.
Even without the extreme of this production, Korean series and movies and even K-pop video clips are already known for this incredible pursuit of details. We as a public are already growing accustomed to expecting that productions coming from South Korea will be magnanimous.
To be honest, I haven't been a big consumer of Korean drama before Parasite. I was just completely taken by surprise when a foreign film finally won the Oscars. When I watched I couldn't agree more that that was the best movie of 2019, I dare to say one of the best movies to win an Oscar, period. It was extremely well deserved.
What marks this movie the most is how the director Bong Joon Ho was so concerned with visual and even sound details. They were part of the story too. In this interview, he breaks down thorough specifics in the movie’s scenes. Such as how the direction (up or down) of the different steps shown in the movie would symbolize money and class. And how he even made sure a bus would pass in the background during one of the dialogues symbolizing a change in the conversation tone.
So, to answer our question: why are Korean productions taking over the west?
A lot of investment
The growing popularity of Korean popular culture started in the '90s and has been getting stronger by the day. It is explained in big part by the investment made by the Korean government of 1% of its annual budget to culture.
South Korea has experienced enormous economic growth in the last 30 years, leading to even more money being available to invest in its creative industries through subsidies and funding for start-ups, as a form of soft power to become a leading global exporter of culture.
The popularization of social media and streaming platforms allowed productions to reach outside of the country more easily. The quality and the novelty of the visually perfect products made it spread easily on the internet. In 2020, the value of movies and related services exported from South Korea amounted to approximately 83.61 million U.S. dollars.
The anime and k-pop crowd
Anime and mangá (animations and comics) created in Japan started getting very popular outside the country in the late '80s, early '90s. This public has grown up and there are new generations that continue to love them and are much more open to anything made in the East.
Also, the explosion of Asian music in North America and Europe is a factor in why K-dramas have become so popular on streaming platforms like Netflix.
K-Pop idols have millions of followers on social media and anything they promote gets views. They can be large influencers for media consumption.
Consistency
The vast majority of Korean series and movies (and video clips) have incredible production value. Viewers drowning in a sea of content can directly know beforehand that this product is well-made and appealing to watch.
From the set and costume design to the filmmaking, it feels like every single Korean series or movie has benefited from a huge amount of resources, effort, and detail that have been put into making them a spectacle to enjoy.
And since they are well-received they consistently keep producing more. Netflix subscribers, for instance, can rest assured that they will have a constant stream of new productions coming to the platform every week or so.
What to watch?
If you still haven't done so, go watch Parasite. It's available on Prime Video. Parasite follows the members of the poor Kim family who scheme to become employed by the wealthy Park family by infiltrating their household and posing as unrelated, highly qualified individuals.
What to read?
Unfortunately, I have never read a Korean book, but I'm very interested in trying. I'll leave this list here if you are interested too: 12 Must-Read Korean Novels in English
I will recommend a book with an interesting twist and gripping story, that I would say could have easily come from a Korean mind. That book is Room by Emma Donoghue. This book is already 12 years old and has a movie, but if you have never read or watched the movie, go for it. It's even better if you know nothing about it.
What to binge?
Sea of tranquility (or Silent Sea) on Netflix. It's only 8 episodes, with around 40 min each. This new series takes us to a not too unlikely future, where the world has plunged into a climate crisis that has generated an extreme drought. Water is now a precious commodity that only the wealthiest can freely enjoy, and so experts are considering exploring the possibilities outside of Earth.
It won't blow you away, but it's good entertainment. Go check it out and at least be as amazed as I was at the level of production this series has.