Notre travail se consacre à l’étude exhaustive de l’œuvre cinématographique et théorique du cinéaste coréen contemporain Jang Sun-woo. Celui-ci fut d’abord un critique et un théoricien du cinéma, son concept de « Cinéma ouvert » (1982) vise à introduire et à penser un « nouveau cinéma ». Jang Sun-woo souligne le besoin d’une critique, d’une invention formelle et aussi d’une théorie pour le cinéma coréen saisie dans la logique de son Histoire. En particulier, le cinéaste coréen s’y positionne pour réaliser un cinéma en vue de l’harmonie entre l’individu et la communauté.Le « Cinéma ouvert » est un concept qui fusionne le cinéma et le théâtre. Il est influencé, d’une part par le Madanggeuk, le théâtre moderne coréen composé de plusieurs unités plus ou moins indépendantes de la narration, et d’autre part, par la théorie du montage d’Eisenstein travaillant sur la dialectique entre la continuité et la discontinuité. Pour Jang Sun-woo, l’œuvre reste ouverte, c’est-à-dire non close sur elle-même, au sens où elle ne s’achève qu’au moment de la réception par le spectateur. Les films intègrent explicitement l’expérience du spectateur, proposent le dialogue avec celui-ci et créent des initiatives en matière d’interpellation. Pour ce faire, ils emploient la répétition, la métamorphose, l’analogie, l’allégorie, l’abstraction et certaines formes d’hybridation. Notre monographie observe l’évolution de l’œuvre de Jang Sun-woo dans son ensemble (critiques, films, publications), en approfondissant les questions essentielles et spécifiques que celle-ci soulève : comment les notions de Minjung (peuple), de masse, de spectateur évoluent-elles ? L’esthétique de l’ouverture peut-elle permettre d’émanciper le spectateur et à quel type de changement aspire-t-elle ? Enfin, quel rituel Jang Sun-woo organise-t-il en vue de réaliser l’Utopie ? / This thesis devotes itself to the analysis of the film and the theoretical work of Korean contemporary director Jang Sun-woo. He was initially a critic and a film theorist, his concept of "Open Cinema" (1982) aims to introduce about "the new cinema" which accentuates the need of the critics, the formal invention and also a theory for the Korean cinema with the consideration about its historical context. In particular, Jang Sun-woo insists on making a movie with the harmony between the individual and the community.The "Open Cinema" is a concept that combines the aesthetic of the film and the theater. Firstly, it is influenced by the Madanggeuk, the modern Korean theater is composed with several acts more or less independent of the narrative. Secondly, it is inspired by Eisenstein’s theory of editing which is based on the dialectic form between the continuity and the discontinuity. For Jang Sun-woo, the film remains open in a sense that it finds its conclusion in the interpretation of the audience. In his idea, the film incorporates the experience of the audience and creates his interpellation. To realize that, Jang Sun-woo proposes several rhetorics of image like repetition, metamorphosis, analogy, allegory, abstraction, and certain forms of hybridization.Our monograph observes the evolution of Jang Sun-woo’s whole work (critics, films, publications) which raises the essential and specific questions: how the concepts of the Minjung (people), the mass and the audience were developed? Can the aesthetics of openness allow the audience to be emancipated and what kind of change it implies? Finally, what sort of ceremonial Jang Sun-woo organizes for performing Utopia?

This thesis investigates the historically composed political and economic contexts that contributed to the late 1990s commercial renaissance of Korean national cinema and that have sustained the popularity of Korean films among local and regional audiences ever since. Unlike existing approaches to the topic, which emphasise the textual characteristics of national film production, this thesis considers relations between film production, distribution, exhibition, and ancillary markets, as well as Korean cinema’s engagement with international cinemas such as Hollywood, Hong Kong, China and Japan. I argue that following the relaxation of restrictive film policy towards the importation and distribution of foreign films between 1986 and 1988, the subsequent failure of the domestic film industry to compete against international competition precipitated a remarkable shift in consensus regarding the industry’s structure and functions. Due to the loss of distribution rights to foreign films and the rapid decline in ticket sales for Korean films, the continued economic viability of local film companies was under enormous threat by the early 1990s. The government reacted by permitting conglomerates to seize control of the industry and pursue vertical and horizontal integration. During the rest of the decade, Korean cinema was transformed from an art cinema to a commercial entertainment cinema. The 1997/98 economic crisis led to the exit of conglomerate finance, but streamlined film companies were able to withstand the monetary meltdown, continue the domestic revitalisation, and, since the late 1990s, build media empires based on the expansion of Korean cinema throughout the Asian region.