Chilsu and Mansu (1988) - Park Kwang-su

​Evokes the pervasiveness of American culture and transnational consumerism through immersion. A film about cultural identity and societal dissonance told through a working-class prism, Chilsu and Mansu is a rich work that uses a charming and seemingly free-flowing narrative - one that effectively lulls the viewer to sleep early on with its charm only to ultimately deliver a powerful ode to the people of Korea in a time when cultural homogeneity was performatively projected and cultural identity was becoming analogous to that of American culture. Revealing the deceptive facade of social harmony in South Korea during the epoch, Chilsu and Mansu is a rally-cry in its denouement, and in retrospect, the film feels very strategic in how it begins tonally, almost as if to suggest the filmmakers knew they had to indoctrinate the audience before delivering their biting social-political critique. Deploying an almost operatic approach in which romance feels within reach and odd couple type sensitivities between Chilsu and Mansu provide lots of charm, Chilsu and Mansu creeps towards its more heavy ideals, though one thing that remains consistent from beginning to end is how American culture both through imagery and diegetic sound is embedded throughout the film's formal design.