Abstract

This article analyzes Yu Hyun-mok’s experimental exploration and cinematic style within the context of the 1960s Korean film industry by conducting a comparative study of his film The Empty Dream (1965) with its original screenplay and scenes from the Japanese film Daydream (1964). What sets this study apart is its textual analysis through an examination of both the films and their respective screenplays. While both films are erotic in nature, explicit eroticism dominates in Daydream. The aesthetic achievement of Daydream lies in its treatment of reality using a fantastical atmosphere, a sophisticated mise-en-scène that expresses the structural circulation of reality and fantasy. The Empty Dream had two different screenplays: the screenplay for the Film Production Declaration, which replaced the opening and closing scenes of the Japanese version, and the final screenplay for dubbing, which returned the opening and closing scenes but differentiated itself from the Japanese version by the use of montage techniques and an expressionistic style. In directing The Empty Dream, Yu selectively incorporated visual elements from both versions of the screenplay, creating an experimental artistic film rare in South Korean cinema at the time. While film scholarship has often discussed The Empty Dream as a representative text in the history of censorship of obscenity, this article argues that the creative essence of the film is its combining imitation of the Japanese screenplay with the director’s artistic experimentation.