The President's Barber

The movie, The President’s Barber, is an interesting film that deals with South Korea’s dark period from 1960 to 1980 through the viewpoint of the barber’s son, Sung Nak-an. As Professor Cho mentioned in class, like in Forrest Gump, the audience see historic moments in South Korea through the eyes of the barber, Sung Han-mo. Han-mo, the main character, who is played by Song Kang-ho is a naïve person who just follows his associates without having his own view. After “Grandfather President” resigns after the April 19^th Student Movement in 1960, South Korean military take the opportunity to seize power by successfully launching a coup. As a result of this political event, General Park Chung-hee becomes the new president. At the same time, Han-no, who works as a barber in Hyoja neighborhood where the president resides in Blue House, becomes the President’s barber when Mr. Jang, President’s officer, orders him to work in the Blue House.

The film does an excellent job depicting the rivalry between Cha Ji-cheol, the Chief Presidential Bodyguard, and Kim Jae-gyu, the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, which led to the assassination of President Park on October 26, 1979. One could guess that Jang Hyeok-su is the portrayal of Cha. For example, Jang reminds Han-mo that “President is the nation” the quote very often used by Cha. Also in the scene where Park Jong-man, the portrayal of Kim Jae-gyu, tells President Park that according to doctors, Marxus Disease is just a normal disease that has nothing to do with North Korean spies, Jang argues back by saying “We should first arrest those doctors” showing the hardline approach that Cha took which was in contrast with Kim Jae-gyu’s view.

Also it is interesting how the film portrays the relationship between President Park and his political actions imposed on South Korean citizens. It is surprising to see President Park as a gentle and soft-spoken character (human side unlike the typical image of a dictator who is heartless) who jokes with Han-mo and asks him “Have you seen and walked on the bridge that was built across the Han River?”. In the film, he is the president who has fun wearing sunglasses with Han-mo and who invites him for lunch at the Blue House. However, throughout the film, there are brutal repressions imposed by President Park such as tortures of innocent people including Mr. Wang and Mr. Choi who are accused of being in contact with communists. From observing this dual characteristic of President Park and his political actions, perhaps the charisma, the appealing personality, of a dictator is dangerous. 

Bio-politics Through Disease and Religion

 In the South Korean film, The President’s Barber, follows the story of a simple-minded barber who becomes a designated barber for the president of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.  Within the film, the Marxis disease serves a role that is similar to another South Korean film, Host, in which Song Kang-ho plays the protagonist just like in The President’s Barber.  The government explains how the disease was brought by North Korean spies and as a result anyone who contracted the disease was deemed to be affiliated with the “enemy”.  It is interesting to note how in the two films the government attempts to control the country with the use of a disease.  Another important thing to consider is the fact the film was released right after the SARS outbreak which occurred during 2002-2003.  The so-called Marxis disease in the film turns out to be just a form of E. Coli that was causing the diarrhea, but the government decided not to clear out the misconception to help clear off their opposition.  A form of bio-politics is strongly present in the two films, giving a different perspective to the notion of a pandemic.  The two films deal with their respective disease in a different manner, where in Host, the government instilled fear along with the monster could arguably be the objectification of such fear, and in the The President’s Barber, the ignorance of the public is taken advantage of resulting in neighbours ratting out each other with baseless accusations.  What both films demonstrate, however, is how a pandemic could give tremendous control on the government’s part, almost in a fashion where they are able to offset any public dissatisfaction, frustration, and opposition back to the public as mentioned in class.  The disease gives a leeway for the government to have control over the population as a body, when they give something that only exists as an ideology a physical presence in the form of a disease which is directly tangible with the human body.  In other words, a disease, like the ones from the film, provides the government a measure in which to not only influence the way the population think, but also exert some control towards the population’s body that is often considered to be private to that of an individual.  Thus, forcing individuality to be replaced by a form of collectivism that coincides with the government’s own interest.

Regarding Prof. Han’s talk on religious politics in Seoul, I was very intrigued how she linked religious politics with labour movements and ritualistic protests.  In a way, this is another form of biopolitics taking place.  When Prof. Han discussed on how small churches strived to keep its small community, to the extent of dividing its community into separate churches, this just seemed to me like a form of population control.  The manner in which Mega-churches receive their income through deceased members donating their lifesavings also appeared to be some form of population control through the ideologies presented by Christianity.  It’s also how interesting to see how Prof Han’s talk and Max Ward’s talk on national essence shares some resemblance regarding how an institution structures an ideology that enables to control and maintain their own population.  It is not surprising to finding a resemblance, I think because there is some sort of correlation with the rising national capital and the rise of scale of Mega-churches.        

[The President's Barber + Contentious Religious Politics in Seoul]

The film The President’s barber (2004) directed Lim Chan-Sang, introduces a story about the life of a barber, Sung Han-Mo, in Hyoja-dong (the administrative district where the Korean presidential residence is situated), also it is interesting to note that the narrative is the barber’s son, Nak-An. Although it is clearly stated at the beginning of the film that “The characters and events featured in this story are fictitious”, it is worth noting that the big political events mentioned in the film did occur in real life as well – for instance, the April Revolution, the rigged election during Rhee Seung-Man’s Regime, the military unit taking over the government, the Assassination of the president (Park Chung-hee) etc. Even though the stories are not purely factual, the plot allows the audience to get a brief overview of the political change in South Korea during the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout the flashback of Nak-An, the audience can easily figure out that Han-Mo is not a highly educated man in the upper class, but rather an everyday man belonging to the working class. Han-Mo does not have specific reasons for supporting the government (he simply believes the government is right, and so is his neighbor, Mr.Choi). Han-Mo gets involved in the process of illegal electioneering without acknowledging what he is actually doing – later when Nak-An gets arrested and get tortured for being suspected to have contacted the communists, Han-Mo mentions the word “democracy”; however based on his previous actions (fraudulent election), he does not seem to know what it actually means. By portraying Han-Mo, the viewers are able to get a sense of how ordinary/ working class people lack in awareness of political issues. While Han-Mo’s description as a man ignorance in politics is constantly shown, and his complete obedience towards the higher ranking officials, Han-Mo is the one to criticize president Park’s long years of dictatorship (although he did not mean it) – this also seemed satirical of the movie.

By reading the assigned article for this week, memory was another part to consider in the film – in particular the childhood memories of Nak-An (since the film’s narrator is the young Nak-An). Coming across the phrase “These are experiences which occurred in very early childhood and were not understood at the time but which were subsequently understood and interpreted” (149), it made me wonder why the director intended on using young Nak-An as the narrator instead of the grown-up Nak-An, or Han-Mo himself. Did Lim want to emphasize complete ignorance of what was happening? Furthermore, another question was regarding Nak-An’s aftereffect of torture – I don’t recall hearing the voice of the older Nak-An; did he also suffer from speech impediment? If he had suffered other aftereffects from the torture, perhaps his memory is not completely trustworthy as well.

             Last Friday, professor Ju Hui Han from University of Toronto visited McGill in order to give a talk about Contentious Religious Politics in Seoul. Since I have spent many years in Korea, I am aware of how visible and present Christians are, so the topic immediately grabbed my attention. When prof.Han showed visual aids that illustrated the approximate number of Churches in Seoul, and other parts of South Korea, it was indeed jaw-dropping. The concept of Mega churches were not new to me, but seeing the figures of congregation, the amount of financial asset the Chunghyeon Church, Yoido Full gospel Church, Gwanglim Church etc. had was phenomenal. As I am a Catholic, I’ve visited big/famous South Korean cathedrals like Myeong-dong Catholic Cathedral, but once I saw the pictures of the Mega Churches, Myeong-dong Cathedral seemed quite small in size. On the other hand, prof.Han also mentioned that some churches are splitting in order to keep a small number of congregation – the polarizing pattern of churches (either the Mega Church, or small-scale church) at the same period is definitely an intriguing fact. It was also interesting to note that only 18.3% were Protestants (2005) in South Korea. The Protestant population of Daejeon is not as high compared to Seoul, but they seemed to be present wherever I went. Plus, it is more common to see Protestant evangelists than those of Catholic or Buddhist. In fact, there are many evangelists group heading to other countries for mission work. Overall I really enjoyed the talk, and I look forward to attending more guest lectures! 

[The President's Barber]+Guest lecture

The President’s Barber, directed by Im Chan-sang, was released in 2004. It tells the story about a barber, his wife and their only son through the dark decades of Korean history. The interesting thing about this film was that its narrative touched on former president Park Chung-Hee. In history, he is known as a dictator, but on the other hand, he contributed to improving South Korea’s economic status. Under rule however, South Korea was a military dictatorship. The main character in the film, the barer Han-mo is in a position where he can observe these situations closely since he was personally chosen to be Park Chung-hee’s barber. During the dictatorship, his business fortunese dramatically, and through his eyes, the president is portrayed as a fairly nice admirable guy who really cares for his country.

What’s peculiar about Han-Mo is that he is such a simple man. He is not political, but he goes with the flow with his neighbours. Like other previous war films we have watched in class, it was interesting to see comedic relief during the dark times, and I found it ironic when the son, whose birth was linked with Park Chung-hee’s dominating power, recovered to walk again once the president in assassinated. This seemed to criticize the state of the Republic under Park Chung-hee.  

I found Professor Han’s talk last Friday so interesting since I have thought that religious power is similar to military power, as portrayed in the film, in a political perspective. Prof Han mentioned there are a great number of churches in Korea, almost uncountable. Its growth has been so spectacular that there was a joke that every fifth building is a church. As such, the scale of Korean mega church is so huge. For example, Chunghyeon Church, which is located in Gangnam, has assets valued at 885 million, land valued at 443 million. Those megachurches are not only spectacular in size but also phenomenal in wealth. In contrast, there are a lot of local churches, undominated by  megachurces, which are small in size and financially insecure. This current situation reflects not only divergent political theologies but also South Korea’s rising inequality. I think this is a serious problem as the religious power gets involved too much in financial scandals, legal troubles and disgraceful power struggles. What I am scared of is that these kinds of megachurge will eventually dominate the whole country and rule politics. 

The President's Barber

The President’s Barber (2004) is a film that illustrates the South Korean political scene during the 1960s and the 70s. Directed by Im Chan-Sang, the movie recounts the story of a barber who gets drafted to be the official barber of President Park Chung-hee.

In the movie, the progatonist makes an interesting analogy between a barber and a doctor. Historically, a barber would usually cut the hairs of soldiers and at the same time cure their wounds. However, in some sense, it is true that these two jobs are the only professions that allow to bring near knives and other cutting tools on a human body. With this also follows the responsibility and power to end someone’s life. The protagonist Han-mo could have easily killed the president during his work. However, he decides not to, reflecting his obedience and reserve towards authority.

His reserve is further reflected in the events that precedes the appearance of the “Margous” disease, a fictional diarrhea disease. This disease acts as a powerful tool in investigating and controlling the population. Han-mo takes his own son to the police station in order to show his obedience, but his son gets tortured until his legs become injured.  While his son is getting tortured, Han-mo and his wife are extremely worried for their only son gone missing. Yet, even though he has so many chances to talk to the president, he decides not to address the issue.

In my opinion, his reserve and obedience represents how the Korean population has suffered through the authoritarian rule of the 60s and the 70s. Even though economic improvements were vast, the effects on the society was cruel. 

Freud in a Barbershop

The President's Barber, viewed through a lens of Freudian psychoanalysis, becomes far more sinister and unsettling than it perhaps was meant to be seen.  On the surface, this film was (for me) a very interesting glimpse into what it meant to be a historical actor at a time of crucial juncture between past and present. If we try to understand the entire film as a process in remembering for Nak-an, some incredible psychological/temporal parallels can be drawn between Freud and Korean cinema. I thought this effect could be most fully seen by comparing what we are allowed to see, through Nak-an's narration, and what we are not allowed to see.

It struck me as no accident and no small decision to not show any of Nak-an's actual torture, framing it on both sides by the tickling, christmas lights scene on one hand, and his return to his parents' home on the other. What we do not see is the nucleus of the emotional aspect of the film, and we have only our imaginations to guide us. If we pull from Freud's statements about reliving and reshaping memory, one point stands out:  "There is one special class of experiences of the utmost importance for which no memory can as a rule be recovered. These are experiences which occurred in ver early childhood and were not understood at the time but which were subsequently understood and interpreted. One gains a knowledge of them through dreams and one is obliged to believe in them on the most compelling evidence provided by the fabric of the neurosis" (149).

Perhaps this can explain how the audience is supposed to recognize the gaps in visually recreated memory, they are events that were either repressed or so traumatic as to be completely beyond processing. In the skip from the scene with the Christmas lights (fun, funny, enjoyable) to the scene of returning home, what we miss is the event that ultimately gives Han-mo purpose, and is equally the point around which Nak-an's life revolves: it is a before and after. Maybe this is really how national memory works? In nationalist myths and tales of heroism gone by, generally things are characterized by "pre" or "post". The in-between is the most important part, however, it is where action and change truly occur. By skipping this in the film, visually, it seems to create a greater sense of thematic elision between before and after as well. Can we read this as a nod towards the importance of remembering what happened in the middle? That trauma/drama itself is important, not just the events leading up to or following it? Between cause and effect something else has to exist, and by not showing that to the audience, what do we have to do to come to conclusions?

The President's Barber: An ambiguous film?

To be honest when I first sat back and attempted to reflect on the film I was not entirely certain on what the message of the film was. Usually, as we spoke about in class. a film is an allegory, in which it is trying to covey a deeper central message through the narrative. Perhaps, my uncertainty was due to the food at Tuesdays screening. Although, the more likely explanation would be related to the main character Seong Han-mo. Han-mo’s character is honest, kind hearted, and a little bit slow. His passive nature and lack of knowledge about the political realm allows him to be a relatively impartial. Therefore, we do not see the film take a overwhelming bias toward any group. This relatively unbiased interpretation of the film’s political content is also very much due to the fact that the narration is performed by Nak-an, Han mo’s son. The voice of Seong Nak-an is very naive and childish with no personal opinions about the events that take place. Although, we do see the main character undergo physical trauma due to the irrational acts of the government. The narrator, instead of being angry or scarred, comments on how the electroshock torture was ticklish instead of painful. This neutralizes particularly negative emotions that could have arisen towards the government. In this example we see how comedy is also used to neutralizes the biased opinion of the characters in the film. The film does a relatively good job at presenting the events without having a take or opinion on these events.

Another aspect of the film I found relatively ambiguous in its message was the entire substoryline regarding the old monk/acupuncturist. The fact the the monk’s prophecy about Nak-an recovering due to eating “the eye of the dragon” was true was interesting. What was the point of this? What was the moral? You should always take advice from acupuncturist? Eastern medicine works? Perhaps, Nak-an drinking the ‘dragon eye soup’ was not what truly cured him. Perhaps, it was the devotion of a father to his son. The willingness of a father to do what is necessary to protect his family. This paternal relationship can be paralleled to the relationship between the President and the Nation. Once again actor Song Kang-ho embodies what every man should aim to be, especially the President. Honest, kind, uncomplicated and dedicated to his family.