
For the longest while, the closest Korean cinema has come to “musical” has been the obligatory karaoke scene in every romantic comedy. But things have been looking up lately, with the prominent place given to song and dance in films like The Fox Family, Dasepo Naughty Girls, and Highway Star. Theater producer and critic Jeon Gye Soo jumped into the genre in 2006 with his debut film The Ghost Theater, a fantasy musical about, appropriately enough, ghosts in a theater. Fun, eccentric, and just a bit kitschy, the film is deliberately styled as a midnight movie in the vein of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. With a theatrical set, surreal lighting, and ghostly atmosphere, the film takes on a gothic veneer to complement its slightly campy, strangely philosophical designs. The opening film at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, The Ghost Theater integrates dark comedy, social parody, experimental visual elements, and some good old gender bending into its musical repertoire. Cinema fans will also appreciate the film’s musing exploration into the changing culture and significance of the movie theater.
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