한국전쟁 참전병사와 느와르 영화

Abstract

Korean War Veterans and Film Noir This paper attempts to deal with Hollywoods’ representations of Korean War veterans in the context of film noir, which is the best frame to reveal their trauma, shock and exhaustion. These noir films show the veterans frustrated and alienated, and often drawn into criminality and violence. Futhermore, like their predecessors in World War II, they are considered potentially threatening to society. Indeed, as is shown in Anatomy of a Murder, Crime Against Joe, Man-Trap, and Strange Intruder, the veteran characters are prone to violence and mental dysfunctions. Even one character commits murder, which reflects society’s suspicion and dread towards veterans. In fact, the veterans’ feelings of loss and non-fulfillment are relevant to the post-war depression and the reorganization of American economy characterized by the increasing size of big corporations and the growth of their monopolies. The characters in Hatful of Rains are cognizant of shattering traditional values and of their being in a transitional period—“the age of the vacuum.” Under these circumstance, they yearn for Jeffersonian agrarian myth which ensures self-sufficiency, total independence and equalitarian society. Luke in Thunder Road expresses his strong desire to capture such mythical, idyllic times. Joe in Crime against Joe seeks to portray a woman with “warmth, humanity, wisdom, innocence” in his drawing, which epitomizes his thirsty for his ‘innocence lost’ before his war experience. Furthermore, the veterans are represented as non-heroic characters who are plunged into darkness and corruption. In particular, they are characterized by mental disturbances, fragility, and suffered from the trauma of war experience. As is in typical film noir, the returned soldiers are often emasculated and their marriage is sterile or on the verge of collapse. Nina and Laura in Man-Trap and Anatomy of a Murder seem to be out of control and present a psychic threat to their insecure husbands. These films also deal with the veterans’ helplessness in a mass and consumer society and they look stranded in nothingness. In addition, their economic future is bleak and gloomy. Social justice and law enforcement do not function properly, which accounts for their feelings of alienation and helplessness. Matt and Johnny wind up in a prison and in a mental institution respectively at the end of Man-Trap and Hatful of Rains. Indeed cynicism, pessimism and darkness pervade these films and their American dream is nothing more than an illusion.