Melodrama and Action Film

"The dominant movie form of the 1970s was melodrama, and in particular the hostess melodrama, films about fallen girls who had migrated from the countryside to Seoul to work in factories but ended up as bar girls. In contrast to this genre, which showed the dark side of Korea's economic development, action cinema often tended to opt for the state ideology to reclaim the marginal male and incorporate him into the industrial labor force." (Li, 4)

On the surface, Crazy Boy (1985) is clearly a Hwalkuk film—action driven with a protagonist who is a natural born street fighter but also is handicapped. Hwang Suk-Ah is called “Crazy Boy” by everyone including himself because not only is he driven to fight for justice, but he is generally seen as a bumbling idiot. He even calls himself one. He is the marginalized male, socially awkward and made fun of by everyone. And he also does get incorporated into the industrial labour force, becoming a mechanic after Thriller disbands.

However, there are also things that make it a melodrama. All the girls in Thriller have a dream to make it big but end up becoming fallen girls by losing their gig at one club, getting gang-raped and almost committing suicide, and having their one chance at becoming famous turn out to be a scam where they were going to unknowingly smuggle drugs then get turned into prostitutes.

Essentially, Crazy Boy is really neither. It is missing the integral part of being a Hwalkuk film where it must be a commentary against Japanese forces because the force of evil is just other people – thieves, smugglers, rapists. But it also is not a melodrama because the girls are not completely fallen at the end, and the plot is still mostly action-driven.