Winning the Korean War: Early DPRK and PRC Films

This paper adopts a comparative approach by focusing on a selection of early DPRK and People's Republic of China war films made during the years that followed the Korean War. It looks into the narrative, and the aesthetics of the films in the general framework of socialist construction but also in terms of the DPRK's shattered dream of reunification. The Korean War broke out during the beginnings of socialist construction, a time of awakening and departure into a new world. It marked the beginning of the Cold War that drew battle lines that would remain in place over the next four decades. The war also served as the theme of a number of films in both countries that reflected their war experience. For the DPRK and PRC, film provided an occasion to address the socialist construction and supremacy over the United States. While the earliest Chinese movies, The Battle of Shangganling Ridge ((sic)1956) and Flying in the Sky ((sic) 1958), focused on the heroic battles of the Chinese troops, later films such as Friendship ((sic), 1959), Raid ((sic), 1960) and At the 38th Parallel ((sic), 1960) recounted incidents of Chinese and Korean soldiers fighting in cooperation against the US enemy under the background of a "Resist the US and Help Korea" campaign. The eight DPRK films discussed include Again to the Front ((sic), 1951), Scouts ((sic), 1953), and The Combat Unit of a Fighter Plane ((sic), 1953). These productions had to confront the fact that Kim Il Sung's attempt for (forced) unification had ended in a complete failure that permeated divisions and cut family ties.