Black Comedy 'Cobweb' for Movie Buffs

When ‘Star Wars’ became a huge success in the United States, ushering in the era of science fiction and blockbuster films, South Korea was under the control of a dictatorial regime that exerted tight control over the film industry. **In the 1970s, Korean studios had to submit their scripts to the authorities for approval before they could start filming.** Released in theaters in 2023 and available on Netflix this Christmas season, Spiderweb is a black comedy about a Korean film director who tries to exercise his imagination and the industry figures who try to survive within the system during that time.**

Film director Kim Yeol (Song Kang-ho) became a director who primarily produced sensational melodramas after the success of his first film. Although he is mocked by reporters he meets at a soup restaurant as a cheap film director, he didn't want to make cheap films. **To avoid government censorship, he had to either make anti-communist films or cheap melodramas.**

**Kim Yeol is consumed by a desire to create a masterpiece that will captivate both critics and audiences with his film ‘Spiderweb.’** He is convinced that if he just reshoots the ending of his already-completed film, ‘Spiderweb,’ it will become the greatest work ever. However, the censoring authorities refuse to approve his revised script, and the production company CEO refuses to allow the reshoot due to cost and censorship concerns.** Furthermore, the film set is scheduled to be demolished for the next film's production.

**Cornered, Kim Yeol imprisons the government officials who came to censor the script and forcibly reshoots the film by chaining the studio doors shut.** However, he cannot relax for a moment due to the lukewarm attitudes of the actors and the tightening grip of the production company CEO and government censorship. Director Kim stumbles along, balancing precariously like a tightrope walker, towards the completion of his film.

**The film, which was released in 2023, received critical acclaim but failed to find success in Korean cinemas.** It was released around the Korean holiday of Chuseok, a time when many people go to the cinema, so films with clear genres and plenty of entertainment value are typically released. At first glance, this film does not have a clear genre and does not offer a lot of visual entertainment.

Nevertheless, it is an amusing black comedy film. **The film turns a situation that is anything but funny—the clash between a director's artistic desires and passion and the controlling hand of a dictatorial regime—into comedy.** At the same time, it satirizes the dictatorial regime that controlled film production and suppressed freedom at the time, and it serves as a tribute to the filmmakers of the past who produced films under difficult conditions.

The actors' performances are also quite entertaining. Song Kang-ho, who appeared in ‘Parasite,’ transforms into the very image of the ambitious director, Kim Yeol, and actresses such as Im Soo-jung and Jung Soo-jung recreate the unique pronunciation and acting style of Korean cinema in the 1970s.

If you are a film enthusiast and make it a point to see all the films released in theaters, you will undoubtedly find this film to be enjoyable. Notably, film censorship was a reality not only in Korea but also in many countries around the world in the last century. Even in the United States, from the 1930s to the 1960s, films were not considered to be protected under the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech. **Film fans who remember or are familiar with the era of film censorship can experience a bittersweet laugh throughout the film.**