TY  - JOUR
T1  - Somewhere Between Anti-Heroism and Pantomime: Song Kang-ho and the Uncanny Face of the Korean Cinema
AU  - Yecies, Brian 
JO  - Academia Koreana
PY  - 2011
DA  - 2011/1/1
DO  - 10.18399/acta.2011.14.1.003
KW  - Song Kang-ho
KW  - Korean Cinema
KW  - stardom
KW  - Park Chan-wook
KW  - Kim Jee-woon
AB  - This article explores the trajectory of Song Kang-ho’s on-screen performances from the release of his fourth film, Number 3 (1997), to one of his most recent films, Thirst (2009). As a case study, it reveals new insights about this popular and representative actor’s numerous screen personae and how they have enabled audiences to peer into a cinematic surface that reflects back a mixture of anti-heroism and pantomime. Beneath the many costumes and performance styles he adopts, audiences have come to see a human being with everyday problems and concerns. In a way reminiscent of the French pantomime clown Pierrot, Song’s characters reflect a depth of human feeling and compassion modulated by a comic undercurrent—the tension between these overlapping layers is precisely what holds his various personae together.