Answer: < Life (Saengmyeong)> (Lee Gang-cheon, 1958)

Korea’s first cinemascope movie is < Life(Saengmyeong) > directed by Lee Gang-cheon in 1958. Cinemascope may be dubbed as one of the greatest inventions in the history of cinema. While 35mm cameras used to be projected in the 1.33:1 ratio, cinemascope allowed the width of the screen to double, projecting the movie in a 2.35:1 ration. However, since cinemascope was an invention patented by 20th Century Fox of the U.S., no one else could use the name ‘cinemascope.’ So many production companies altered the name slightly when they used this technique (ex. sudoscope, buksamscope, etc.). This technique was developed in retaliation to the powerful influence of the television which was introduced in the ‘50s, as less and less people came to the theater for movies.
The first movie that used the cinemascope technique is < The Robe (1951)>. The movie presented scenes in a much more lively and realistic way and audiences would return to the theaters for the realism that they could not receive from the television sets. It was a dramatic turning point for the theaters as the number of audiences dropped drastically. Soon, other producing companies began opting for the cinemascope screening method as well and this became a watershed for the film industry.

And < Life(Saengmyeong) >, the first production of Sudo Film Company, was the first movie to introduce this technique to the industry. Because cinemascope was a patented technique of 20th Century Fox, they promoted the use of this new technique by calling in ‘sudoscope.’ However, unlike Hollywood, which met a dramatic transition point with the introduction of cinemascope, it was some time before another cinemascope movie was made in Korea after . First of all, the cinemascope technique requires that the film be condensed in width when it is taken and expanded again when it is projected, but the special lens for this type of shooting was owned only by Sudo Film Company. On top of that, perhaps the most crucial reason is because < Life(Saengmyeong) >, the first cinemascope movie, failed in the box office. This was because the company attempted to draw the audience’s attention by introducing a new dubbing machine in addition to using the cinemascope technique, but lacked the skills to properly use this machine.

However, in 1961, < Seong Chun-hyang ( Seong Chun-hyang ) >, a movie with a mixture of cinemascope and color techniques, and < The story of Chun-hyang (Chunhyangjeon )> entered a head-on competition with each other. This competition drew the people’s interest and attention and opened the era of cinemascope in earnest. Afterwards, by 1962, cinemascope had gradually replaced the place of prior film techniques. The reason behind this sudden growth of cinemascope after 1962 lies in the government’s interest in the film industry and the establishment of producer-centered policies. In this light, the first 3 years after the first introduction of the cinemascope technique, before it became widely spread, could be considered as a preparatory period that allowed the industry to prepare for the technical, industrial, and cultural background to produce cinemascope films.