page_title: On the Art of the Cinema
section_title: Reception and influence
hierarchical_section_title: On the Art of the Cinema / Reception and influence
caption_attribution_description: English: Detail of a mural at the Pyongyang Art Studios in Pyongyang, North Korea, cropped.
context_page_description: On the Art of the Cinema is a 1973 treatise by the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. It is considered the most authoritative work on North Korean filmmaking.
  The book sets forth several original theories, which can be applied to the practices of filmmaking, the arts, and beyond. Of these the theory of literature as "humanics" and the "seed theory" are the most important ones. Humanics centers on the question of a good and worthy life. In art, it emphasizes truly independent individuals who are capable of transforming society. The seed theory has become essential to North Korean film theory. It seeks to direct all artistic creation through a single ideological foundation, or "seed". In an individual work, the seed is the synthesis of its subject matter and idea and the basis of its propaganda message. These ideas complement the themes of nationalistic form and socialist content of films. Many ideas presented in the book are justifications for the creation of propaganda supporting the Workers' Party of Korea's policies.
  On the Art of the Cinema had major political implications on Kim Jong-il's succession of Kim Il-sung.
context_section_description: While official biographies of Kim Jong-il describe On the Art of the Cinema as comprehensive, original and "supported by impeccable logic", Whitney Mallett calls it boring and repetitive. Anna Broinowski calls On the Art of the Cinema "turgid, whimsical and clunky". David-West, however, points out that the work shows "some understanding of the constructive elements of the literary text".
  The work is considered the most authoritative guide on filmmaking in North Korea. However, the real extent of its influence is doubted. According to Johannes Schönherr, the work offers little new to North Korean cinema, and many of the ideas presented are unoriginal and obvious, particularly to the specialist audience of professional filmmakers Kim is writing for. Films from before and after the publication of the treatise are remarkably similar, suggesting that it had little impact on North Korean film industry in practice. Many traits of contemporary North Korean cinema, such as repetitiveness, slow editing style, and old theatrical acting, go against the teachings of On the Art of the Cinema. Whatever change there was in North Korean cinema, can be attributed to political and economic pressures. Instead of contributing anything new, the work reformulates Kim Il-sung's ideas about the importance of film to art and as a propaganda tool. Rather than the theoretical breakthrough it is taught as, it is an account of Kim Jong-il's personal experiences in the film industry and an attempt to thwart the "sloppiness and thoughtlessness" he had encountered.
  Kim himself considered his treatise a failure. Films it had contributed to were enjoyed at home, but abroad they were ridiculed. North Korean cinema could not compete with the quality of foreign, and in particular South Korean, films. This directly prompted him to kidnap Shin Sang-ok, South Korea's most famous film director, in 1978. Shin and his wife, actress Choi Eun-hee, were kept in North Korea for eight years under cruel conditions. Nevertheless, Shin studied On the Art of the Cinema to please Kim with the kaijū film Pulgasari, which credits Kim as the executive producer. Kim was delighted with the film and allowed Shin and Choi to travel to Vienna, where they were supposed to negotiate a deal for a sequel. The couple used the opportunity to escape, and ended up in America.
  Politically, the treatise was a success. At the time of writing On the Art of the Cinema, Kim's father Kim Il-sung was systematically rallying support for the younger Kim to prepare for his succession. By authoring the work, Kim Jong-il gained social and political power. He secured his father's confidence, thus making succession possible. Kim Jong-il continued to write on the arts until the 1990s and published treatises On the Art of Opera (1974), On the Art of the Drama (1988), On the Art of Dance (1990), On the Art of Music (1991), On Fine Art (1991), On Architecture (1991), On Juche Literature (1992), and On Acrobatics.
  On the Art of the Cinema is mandatory reading for North Korean students of literature. North Korean filmmakers must also study the work, or even memorize it. On the Art of the Cinema also influenced South Korea's minjung-oriented People's Cinema (MR: minjung yŏnghwa) movement that was born out of the Gwangju Democratization Movement. The work's influence goes beyond Korea, too. Australian Anna Broinowski directed Aim High in Creation!, a movie about making a propaganda film abiding by Kim's instructions. Danish documentarist Mads Brügger in his The Red Chapel is shown continuously consulting the treatise for artistic guidance.
caption: A detail of a mural featuring a filmmaker holding onto a copy of On the Art of the Cinema. Although the book is considered the highest authority on cinema in North Korea, it is unclear whether it has actually changed filmmaking practices.
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