Dansungsa () was one of Korea's earliest and most historic movie theaters. It was first established in 1907, during the

Korean Empire The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910. Dur ...

period, in what is now

Jongno Jongno or Jong-ro () is a trunk road and one of the oldest major east–west thoroughfares in Seoul, South Korea. Jongno connects Gwanghwamun Plaza to Dongdaemun. The area surrounding Jongno is a part of Downtown Seoul and one of the most ...

3-ga in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. It was once widely believed to be the oldest movie theater in Korea, but in recent years, that title is now thought to belong to Ae Kwan Theater, which was founded in

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

in 1895. The theater held a position of prominence in Korean society for many decades. However, by the 1980s, it saw declining popularity and increasing competition. After the rise of multiplex movie theaters in the 1990s, the theater made an attempt to convert into one itself. It reopened in 2008 as a multiplex, but failed to recoup on its investments and went bankrupt soon afterwards. In 2010, the building was converted into a regular office building that now sells jewelry. In 2019, a museum dedicated to the theater was opened in the building.

History

Dansungsa was first built as a single screen, two-story wooden building in 1907, during the

period. It was located in what is now the Jongno 3-ga area of Seoul. On October 27, 1919, the movie hosted its first premiere: a kino-drama considered the first ever Korean movie, ''

Righteous Revenge ''Righteous Revenge'' ( or ), sometimes ''Loyal Revenge'' or ''Screaming for Vengeance'', was a Korean kino-drama (a stageplay with a film backdrop). It was directed by and premiered on October 27, 1919, at the historic movie theater Dansungsa ...

''.

Na Woon-gyu Na Woon-gyu (; October 27, 1902 – August 9, 1937) was a Korean actor, screenwriter and director. He is widely considered the most important filmmaker in early Korean cinema, and possibly Korea's first true movie star. Since he often wrote, ...

's Korean folk movie, ''Arirang'', followed, premiering in the theatre in 1926. '' Chunhyanjeon'' became the theatre's third premier in 1935. Dansungsa held a position of prestige in the Korean cinema world for decades afterwards, and was considered a significant place for the first screenings of movies. Long lines and ticket scalpers were once common for the theater. In 1963, the South Korean government declared October 27, the same day that ''Righteous Revenge'' premiered at Dansungsa, to be Korea Film Day. The declaration celebrated both the Korean film industry and the movie theaters Dansungsa, , and , which were the only theatres showing Korean movies during the period of Japanese colonial rule. In 1993, the film ''

Seopyeonje ''Seopyeonje'' () is a 1993 South Korean musical drama film directed by Im Kwon-taek, based on the eponymous novel by Yi Chong-jun. It is the first South Korean film to draw over one million audiences and has had significant influence in reviving ...

'', the first South Korean film to draw over one million viewers, premiered in the theater.

Decline and closure

But by the 1990s, the rise of the

multiplex theater A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens or auditoriums within a single complex. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums a ...

led to a steep decline in revenues. The theater renovated from 2001 to 2005 into a multiplex with ten screens and a seating capacity of 1,802, but this did not halt the decline. In 2005 it reopened under a partnership with

Cinus Cino da Pistoia (1270 – 1336) was an Italian jurist and poet. He was the university teacher of Bartolus de Saxoferrato and a friend and intellectual influence on Dante Alighieri. Life Cino was born in Pistoia, Tuscany. His full name was ' ...

as Cinus Dansungsa. However, it failed to make a return on the renovation investment, and saw a record 11 billion won in losses in 2007. The company failed to pay back a 1.5 billion won ($1.3 million) loan to

Woori Bank Woori Bank () is a Korean multinational bank headquartered in Seoul. It is one of the four largest domestic banks in South Korea and has a strong presence in commercial banking and corporate finance in South Korea. Tracing its roots to the Daeh ...

in 2008, and went bankrupt. It was announced in 2008 that it would continue screening films until 2010, after which it would be converted into a regular office building. The building eventually converted in 2010. The building now sells jewelry. In 2019, it was announced that the Young An Hat Co., the owner of the building, would open a museum dedicated to Dansungsa in the building, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Korean film industry. The museum opened on October 23 of that year.

Gallery

References

{{Authority control Cinemas and movie theaters in Seoul Former cinemas 1907 establishments in Korea Buildings and structures in Jongno District 20th-century architecture in South Korea Historic buildings and structures in Seoul Companies of Korea under Japanese rule Keijō Cinemas and movie theaters in Korea under Japanese rule 2010 disestablishments in South Korea

History

Decline and closure

Gallery

See also

References