A Subjective Gokseong: My Own Interpretation

Watching Gokseong was frustrating.

I was scared, so I was frustrated too.

I originally never watch horror movies and even skip thrillers, so I didn’t want to watch it, but I did.

Even after watching it, I still didn’t understand it, so after going around various interpretation blogs, I finally understood the plot. Still, something lingering and unsettling remained, so I thought about it again and again.

Even while watching it, I kept wondering why it had to be Japanese.

Then, at that moment, it struck me: it didn’t necessarily have to be Japanese, but the reason the director included Japanese elements was to express what he wanted to convey. From then on, the plot itself didn’t really matter anymore; what mattered was thinking about the director’s intent. Anyway, I thought about what kind of mind the director had.

Watching Gokseong also made me frustrated.

I don’t usually watch horror films or thrillers, and even after watching this movie, I couldn’t understand it, so I looked up various interpretations.

I thought about why Japanese elements were included, and it seemed to be to express what the director wanted to convey.

From then on, separate from the movie’s plot or content, I felt that it was important to think about the director’s intention.

I thought deeply about what kind of mind the director had.

Gokseong is regarded as an important symbol in our country’s history.

On one hand, the demon symbolizing Japan is connected to the history of the Japanese colonial period, and because of Japan’s invasion and cruel actions, it is sometimes compared to a demon.

The Japanese colonial period in the early 1900s was an important time in our nation’s history, and Japan at that time was sometimes seen as a demon.

During this period, our country was invaded by Japan, and as evidence of this, there is a Catholic priest in the film who speaks Japanese.

This seems to reflect how Catholicism became widely popular under Japanese rule.

Therefore, Gokseong can be understood as containing elements that symbolize the Japanese colonial period.

The demon possesses villagers and commits brutal acts such as killing families, which can be understood as symbolizing Japan’s invasion and cruel behavior at that time.

This movie deals with an incident from the Joseon Dynasty in which a shaman collaborated with a demon and committed harm.

The shaman who performed appears to have helped the demon commit harm, and the many photos seen inside his trunk in the film suggest that they belonged to victims.

So it makes you think about why he helped.

In Gokseong, money is mentioned.

What does this money mean?

It probably means that the traitors who sold out Joseon received money for it.

Therefore, the shaman’s help seems to be about punishing the bad people who sold out Joseon.

There is a character in the film who appears ambiguously as either a good spirit or a person.

He plays the role of a symbolic figure representing our people’s national pride.

In particular, it reflects the historical background of the colonial period, when people were chased by a Japanese demon.

This is also a scene that symbolically shows the historical wounds of our people under colonial rule.

It also expresses the anger and shame toward traitors who betrayed the nation and, as soon as they are seen, are spewing blood and running as if being chased.

In this connection, the reason the protagonist’s job is a police officer is likely because he serves a symbolic role in protecting the spirit of the nation and realizing law and justice.

Since police maintain social safety and order and regulate crime, the character in the film takes on an important role symbolizing the safety and justice of our people.

This character setting serves as an important element throughout the film to symbolically express our nation’s history and spirit.

Police are civil servants who maintain the nation’s law and order and protect citizens.

They do not walk around with a staff; they carry out their work by following laws and principles.

The character symbolizes the government of the Republic of Korea, and his image is not strong but rather has a vulnerable side.

This can be interpreted as symbolizing how much damage our country suffered from Japan’s past invasion and oppression.

It can also be interpreted as showing what happens to our country because of Japan’s vaguely depicted invasion.

The fact that it does not reach a clear ending may be because we are still in the process of overcoming that ordeal.

This can be interpreted as suggesting that it is our task to look back on history and learn lessons for the future.

Police protect the people, but we all also need to protect the nation and its history together.