ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the role and reception of the auteur differs within countries of the Asian region. It focuses on Korean director Park Chan-wook and his vengeance trilogy' films, with reference to other Asian auteurs from China and Singapore. The arrival of Park as both auteur and as part of a movement' surfing the crest of the Korean Wave, heralded Korea's entry as a player in regional and global film cultures. Influenced by the film cultures of Hollywood and European cinema, and buoyed by the recent successes of the J-Horror directors, Park seized the momentum and encouraged by the healthy box office takings for his spy-thriller Joint Security Area, decided to make his mark on the international film scene. The emergence of a new generation of filmmakers in the 1990s began to toy with films that not only represented the new Singapore in challenging ways, but dared to create films that celebrated nostalgia.
