I didn’t think Park Chan-Wook was that famous until yesterday. Until I saw how fast the Thirst trailer spread online, all over the world. In less than 3 hours, the trailer was published everywhere. Yes, that fast. It’s the same for any american films. Except here it’s a korean film. And usually, that kind of stuff doesn’t interest much people.
In 2004 at Cannes, it’s pretty clear Tarantino did change things by giving an award to OldBoy. Think what you want about it, but it sure brought a worldwide fame to Park Chan-Wook. And now he’s maybe one of the best known (asian) film director.
Following this “event” on Twitter made me realize 2 things:
1. People like good films, not good asian films. It seems pointless to focus on “asian stuff”. I’d even say it tends to isolate films. As fans, are we in a sort-of Catch 22?
2. We’re all part of a “chain of information”, any blogger reading that should know it. And that’s cool. Don’t think you’re making news, you’re only spreading it. For your readers.
(You have no idea how big is the internet, especially the asian side. Amazing!)
So, everything is yet to be done, isn’t that great! What are we waiting for?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Thirst hit everywhere because it’s already sold in all the major markets and those companies have good marketing teams that understand how to get info to their local audience. I wouldn’t let it frustrate you from Asian film blogging. A good PR team + money can make anything popular. And frankly, most Asian films have neither. There’s still a need for specialty blogs.
“I wouldn’t let it frustrate you from Asian film blogging”
I was more thinking about how, as fans, we can improve our articles, our way to share our passion in fact. Without being limited by the “asian” word to speak about these films. Because too often, asian fans are like comics geeks, imprisoned by their passion. And that, at one point, it has really frustrated me. You’ve never felt that?
Of course, that’s why I commented. I just meant that Thirst is a very special scenario that only happens a few times a year. The majority of Asian films never get noticed by mainstream sites until the niche sites clue them in. When a PR team is involved they’ll just mass email all the major sites and that’s why it’s posted everywhere. Same deal as “Blood: The Last Vampire”.
An article from Hancinema: “Park Chan-wook New Film Generating Massive Buzz”
in this info age i think the idea of “popularity” isn’t as innocuous as it was before. it’s become a far more complex “beast” so to speak. like the case of Good, Bad and Weird in korea – due to its enormous investment (17, then increased to 20 billion won when production problem prolonged), single-handedly dominated all media spotlight, even when there were other K-films released in the same window (“Sunny” was 10-billion won budget.) the news media was single-landslide favoring GBW (only after its run, did some writers dare to start picking at its flaws more than praising its virtues). its PR campaign was the most well-organized, extensive with depth in successive series, variety, and range of formats in images. there were fan cafes actively grooming interest long before the release, contests for fan art to “dress” each of the trio differently, etc. i would say the campaign is even more masterful and intricately designed than major hollywood blockbusters i’ve seen, because so much of “one industry” was riding on one film – as they put it.