Documentary film `Project Cheonan` released only for two days

The documentary film “Project Cheonan” by director Jeong Ji-yeong raises a question about the conclusion of the Cheonan naval ship incident by a civil-military joint investigation committee. The movie is based on the book “Ask Naval Ship Cheonan” by Baek Nak-cheong published by Changbi. Only 2,550 people watched the movie, which was played for 164 times from Thursday, the release day, through Friday. An average of 15.5 people watched the movie. As Megabox, a film distributor, stopped playing the movie from Saturday, the number of watchers was further cut in half from the figure.

Megabox said it decided to stop playing the movie after two days, not because the viewers were less than their expectations, but because the safety of the audience could be compromised by protesters of certain civic groups. Both supporters and protesters of the movie seem not satisfied with the statement by Megabox. Supporters found it hard to understand that the theater decided to stop playing even before trying to report to the police for protection. They suspect that the theater might have been pressured to stop playing the movie from some higher authorities. Those who oppose say that the theater unnecessarily caused a controversy by being dishonest in its excuse. They say the theater must have decided to stop playing the movie based on calculation on profitability.

Families of the victims had applied for an injunction against the running of the film before the movie was released, which was dismissed by the court based on the right to freedom of expression. The court decision left no doubt. But the ruling did not ban people’s protest against movies considered to be harmful to the society. However, acts more serious than protest could constitute threats that deserve being publicized by Megabox.

Megabox, CJ and Lotte Cinema are the three major movie distributors in Korea. Though the movie “Project Cheonan” triggered controversy in the society before it was released, two major distributors, CJ and Lotte Cinema, gave up showing the movie for profitability reasons. It seems that Megabox made a faulty calculation. It would be unreasonable, therefore, to think that a commercial distributor like Megabox selects a non-popular movie with less than 20 viewers per showing in spite of risks that may lead to unexpected accidents.

Editorial Writer Song Pyeong-in (pisong@donga.com)