Between independent cinema and blockbuster in South Korea: Yeon Sang-Ho’s films and their reception in Spain

Abstract

Filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho is a paradigmatic case in contemporary South Korean cinema. His professional career, linked from the beginning to the independent animation industry, changed radically with the leap to commercial cinema thanks to his first live-action, Train to Busan (Busanhaeng, 2016). From that moment on, Yeon became one of South Korea’s most famous directors, winning over critics and international audiences. In this respect, this article investigates how the films of Yeon Sang-ho have collaborated in the creation and strengthening of a quality brand implicit in South Korean cinema, which, in turn, is assimilated by both critics and Spanish cinephiles. For this reason, we can observe the evolution of the reception of South Korean cinema through the generalist and specialised press over the last three decades. It also analyses the global vision that it has emitted on its filmography to extract the general trends between critics and the Spanish public as part of the reception of South Korean cinema in Spain.