Professor Kim’s character categorization was based on seven characters established by Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist. Threshold guardian, shapeshifter, and shadow were the three other characters of journey that Joseph Campbell included.
SEOUL, June 13 (Korea Bizwire) – There are four movie character genres that exist in film that have attracted more than 10 million moviegoers in Korea. They are heroes, mentors, tricksters, and heralds. The herald is the one who brings the ‘Call to Adventure’
Image science professor Kim Su-jeong from Kyonggi University revealed the findings after analyzing the characters from four Korean films that have drawn over 10 million domestic viewers in the past three years: Miracle in Cell No. 7, The Attorney, Ode to My Father, and The Assassination.
In The Attorney, the protagonist (a lawyer played by Song Kang-ho), or the hero, decides to take on a controversial case after visiting his mentor. In The Assassination, Hawaii Pistol (an assassin played by Ha Jung-woo) is the mentor of the nationalist female assassin played by Jun Ji hyun, who is also a hero.
The herald for Hwang Jung-min, who plays the protagonist in Ode to My Father, is played by Oh Dal-su, who shows Hwang a recruit notice for a mining position in Germany. Oh also plays a humorous character serving as a trickster in the film.
Oh, who is a long-time veteran in the film industry, also played comical roles in The Attorney, The Assassination, and Miracle in Cell No. 7.
The herald for Hwang Jung-min, who plays the protagonist in Ode to My Father, is played by Oh Dal-su, who shows Hwang a recruit notice for a mining position in Germany.
Professor Kim’s character categorization was based on seven characters established by Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist. Threshold guardian, shapeshifter, and shadow were the three other characters of journey that Joseph Campbell included. Kim’s categorization has also been validated by industry experts, including screenwriters and other image science scholars.
The heroes also had sharing attributes – kind and handsome. The results were drawn from a survey conducted with the participation of 104 viewers of the four movies, in which they were proposed with 21 adjectives to choose from. The only female hero from the four movies, An Yoon-ok (played by Jun Ji-hyun) in The Assassination, was more associated with ‘awesome’ and ‘pretty’, instead of ‘handsome’.
The tricksters were associated with ‘cheerful’, ‘lively’, and ‘warm-hearted’.
Professor Kim’s thesis was established in the latest edition of ‘Film Studies’.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
