This course aims to explore twentieth century Korean culture through cinematic representations. By closely examining Korean films made from the 1940s to the contemporary, we will ask how Korean films have visualized competing forces that have shaped the cultural landscape of modern Korea: colonialism, nationalism, postcolonial conflicts, vanishing tradition, gender and sexual disparity, the national division, institutionalized violence, militarism, and labor. The course is divided into three parts. Part I focuses on the colonial origins of Korean cinema (1894-1945). In Part II we will watch and discuss films from "the Golden Age for South Korean Cinema," which arguably spanned between 1955 and 1969. Part III examines more recent films often classified as "the Korean New Wave" (1996- the present). Other than essays on films, literary and historical accounts are assigned either to examine the issue of adaptation or to examine Korean cinema in a broader cultural setting. *All films shown with English subtitles. Readings and discussions all in English as well. No prerequisites, no knowledge of Korean language or culture required.