Skip to content

Category Archives: Book reviews: Film

Kim Young-jin: Lee Chang-dong

21-Sep-07

Kim Young-jin: Lee Chang-dong

(Seoul Selection, 2007) Stern(5,g) I can imagine that there was a certain amount of discussion about the timing of this book. After a break of some years -- enforced by his stint as Roh Moo-hyun's first Minister for Culture and Tourism -- the well-regarded director Lee Chang-dong was active again. His new film, with two of the hottest stars in the Korean film industry, was nearing finalisation and was going to get international attention at Cannes. What to do? Wait until the release of Secret Sunshine, do some in-depth analysis and some interviews, digest the critical reaction to the film, and thus produce a book which is as up-to-date and comprehensive as possible? Or rush out a virtually ready-made book so that ...
Also filed in Lee Chang-dong | | Comments (0) »

Kim Hong-joon: Kim Ki-young

22-May-07

Kim Hong-joon: Kim Ki-young

(Seoul Selection, 2007) Stern(9,g) KOFIC's enterprise in bringing out this series is greatly to be welcomed. This current instalment is particularly welcome as English-language materials on Kim Ki-young are few and far between. (Chris Berry's web project, House of Kim Ki-young, seems to be out of action at the moment. There's Kim Kyung-hyun's essay comparing Housemaid with Happy End in South Korean Golden Age Melodrama, reworked in his book on Remasculinsation, plus Chris Berry's paper on Killer Butterfly in the Wallflower Press book on Japanese and Korean cinema. Apart from those materials I know of no readily accessible publications.) Even this book is a bit of a wasted opportunity, being in the main a republication of existing material (albeit work not readily available). ...
Also filed in Kim Ki-young | | Comments (1) »

Chung Sung-il: Im Kwon-taek

20-May-07

Chung Sung-il: Im Kwon-taek

(Seoul Selection, 2007) Stern(8,g) Together with its sister publication, the work on Kim Ki-young, this book is the fourth and fifth in KOFIC's series of monographs on individual Korean directors. It's also the first time that KOFIC has charged for them. The first three were available for free download from the KOFIC website: these are only available in hard copy from publishers Seoul Selection and elsewhere. Probably having them in hard copy makes it more likely that they're going to be read: a book is far more user-friendly than the pdf downloads. The somewhat poetic opening to the book, which, within six lines is talking about a "history of bloody tears" initially places the opening essay more in the category of the Dis ...
Also filed in Im Kwon-taek | | Comments (0) »

Lee Young-il and Choe Young-chol: The History of Korean Cinema

29-Apr-07
Jimdoondang Publishing Co, Seoul, 1988 Stern(3,g) I'm sure this book has a readership, but I'm not sure what it is. It is so badly written that it encourages skim-reading and thus is not particularly attractive for the general reader; while the index is so poor that its use as an academic reference tool is limited. As for how an English instructor at a Korean university came to consent to having his name credited as the translator of this text -- well, the mind boggles. The quality of English would not disgrace a twelve-year-old's history essay, but is not the sort of prose you would expect in a serious book that you pay good money for. I am used to having (what I ...
Also filed in | | Comments (0) »

Adrien Gombeaud and others: Kim Ki-duk

28-Dec-06

Adrien Gombeaud and others: Kim Ki-duk

(Dis Voir, 2006) Adrien Gombeaud / Anaïd Demir / Cédric Lagandré / Catherine Capdeville-Zeng / Daniele Rivière Stern(2,g) The best French organists are known for their improvisation skills. Suggest a theme, and they will start a journey from it, sometimes referring back to it but often exploring strange new vistas completely unrelated to it. The essays in this book strike me as something similar: fantasias and rhapsodies inspired by the theme of Kim Ki-duk's films rather than fugues or sonatas which examine the themes every which way. And definitely not etudes. The written content of this book is pretty sparse. It has 127 pages in total, of which the essays take up one half. The other half is taken up by stills from Kim's ...
Also filed in Kim Ki-duk | | Comments (0) »

Im Kwon-taek - The making of a Korean National Cinema

01-Dec-06
David James & Kyung-hun Kim: (Wayne State UP, 2001) Stern(8,g) A wide-ranging collection of essays which usefully documents Im's importance as a filmmaker, from his first attempt in the early 60s to his latest (at the time this book was published, Chunhyang was the most recent). Kim Kyung-hyun's lucid account of Im's career put in the context of the political environment -- the different stages of censorship and promotion -- shows Im's ability to reinvent himself when circumstances permitted or required. In the judgement of Yi Hyo-in (the author of chapter 7), Im is like a weather vane -- turning with the political wind whichever way it is blowing. By Im's own admission, his earlier output contained some "lousy" films. Kim's introductory chapter describes how ...
Also filed in Im Kwon-taek | | Comments (0) »

Fetishes, Phalluses, Freemasons. And Mini-skirts

13-Sep-06

Fetishes, Phalluses, Freemasons. And Mini-skirts

Kyung-Hyun Kim: The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema Duke University Press, 2004 Stern(3,g) This book is for a restricted academic readership only. I can empathise with the feeling of inadequacy, crisis and male lack which, according to Kim, plagues the majority of protagonists in Korean film (though there is a difference between me and them, namely that I don't want to have intimate relations with my mother): I am quite unequal to the task of appreciating this book to the full ((I think, but cannot be sure, that there is no element of sour grapes in this slightly negative review. Maybe I need to see a shrink to be sure)). I got the same feeling of inadequacy recently when I had to read a passage ...
Also filed in | Tagged | Comments (0) »

Korean Film - History, Resistance and Democratic Imagination

09-Jun-06
Eungjun Min, Jinsook Joo, Han Ju Kwak (Praeger, 2003) Stern(8,g) Proof that an academic book on film does not have to be unreadable; and apart from the first chapter this book is accessible to the general reader. The first chapter can, however, be safely ignored, as it seems simply to serve to establish that the authors are up to date on all the latest academic reading and therefore qualify for further funding. Chapters 2 and 3 give a highly readable history of the Korean film industry from its humble beginnings as a way of promoting novelty goods, through the Japanese occupation, to the underground and national cinema movements of the 70s and 80s. One interesting passage chronicles the questionable acts, verging on terrorism, carried ...
Also filed in | | Comments (0) »

Hyangjin Lee: Contemporary Korean Cinema

10-May-06
(Manchester UP, 2000) Stern(7,g) If you can cut through the occasionally inelegant prose this book is a very interesting study, particularly in its inclusion of North Korean films. Recommended. Links: Read a proper review of this over at the Korean Studies portal Buy Contemporary Korean Cinema: Culture, Identity and Politics at Amazon Related posts:Im Kwon-taek - The making of a Korean National Cinema David James & Kyung-hun Kim: (Wayne State UP, 2001) A...Anthony Leong: Korean Cinema - the new Hong Kong (Trafford, 2002) A lively book containing reviews of the most...South Korean Golden Age Melodrama: Gender, Genre, and National Cinema Nancy Abelmann, Kathleen McHugh (eds) (Wayne State UP, 2005) On... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Also filed in | | Comments (2) »

South Korean Golden Age Melodrama: Gender, Genre, and National Cinema

10-Apr-06
Nancy Abelmann, Kathleen McHugh (eds) (Wayne State UP, 2005) On my reading pile (31 March 2006). Will report once I've read it. Links: Beat me to it. Buy South Korean Golden Age Melodrama: Gender, Genre, and National Cinema at Amazon Related posts:Im Kwon-taek - The making of a Korean National Cinema David James & Kyung-hun Kim: (Wayne State UP, 2001) A...Hyangjin Lee: Contemporary Korean Cinema (Manchester UP, 2000) If you can cut through the occasionally...Anthony Leong: Korean Cinema - the new Hong Kong (Trafford, 2002) A lively book containing reviews of the most... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Also filed in | | Comments (0) »

Justin Bowyer (ed): The cinema of Japan and Korea

10-Apr-06
(Wallflower, 2004) Stern(7,g) A collection of articles from a wide variety of perspectives, some more approachable than others, but all of which encourage you to think beyond what's on the screen. Links: Buy The Cinema of Japan and Korea at Amazon Related posts:Hyangjin Lee: Contemporary Korean Cinema (Manchester UP, 2000) If you can cut through the occasionally...Anthony Leong: Korean Cinema - the new Hong Kong (Trafford, 2002) A lively book containing reviews of the most...South Korean Golden Age Melodrama: Gender, Genre, and National Cinema Nancy Abelmann, Kathleen McHugh (eds) (Wayne State UP, 2005) On... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Also filed in | | Comments (0) »

Anthony Leong: Korean Cinema - the new Hong Kong

10-Apr-06
(Trafford, 2002) Stern(8,g) A lively book containing reviews of the most readily accessible recent films. Links: Buy Korean Cinema: The New Hong Kong at Amazon Related posts:Hyangjin Lee: Contemporary Korean Cinema (Manchester UP, 2000) If you can cut through the occasionally...Kim Hong-joon: Kim Ki-young (Seoul Selection, 2007) KOFIC’s enterprise in bringing out this series...Justin Bowyer (ed): The cinema of Japan and Korea (Wallflower, 2004) A collection of articles from a wide variety... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Also filed in | | Comments (0) »

Kyung Hyun Kim: The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema (first attempt)

10-Apr-06
(Duke, 2004) [Not rated] An intimidatingly academic book. If you've read your Deleuze, Lacan and Zizek you won't have a problem. I'm currently stuck on page 23 and debating whether to struggle onwards. I'll report back if I make further progress. A shame, because it looks like it might be quite interesting if you can decode the academic language. Update (13 Sept 2006): I had another go at the book. It had one or two good moments, but rather a lot of Freud and others. A full review is here. Related posts:Hyangjin Lee: Contemporary Korean Cinema (Manchester UP, 2000) If you can cut through the occasionally...Lee Young-il and Choe Young-chol: The History of Korean Cinema Jimdoondang Publishing Co, Seoul, 1988 I’m sure this book ...
Also filed in | | Comments (0) »

Review: New Korean Cinema (Julian Stringer, Shin Chi-yun)

20-Sep-05

Review: New Korean Cinema (Julian Stringer, Shin Chi-yun)

(Edinburgh UP, 2005) Stern(8,g) A good selection of articles covering a wide variety of topics. Highly recommended, despite the over-academic language in one or two of the articles. This book's lively cover, a bracing green colour with a still from Take Care of My Cat, makes it sit well on the bookshelf next to the equally appealing visuals which adorn the cover of Anthony Leong's book, Korean Cinema: the New Hong Kong. The similarity in title might also lead you to suspect an element of duplication. But the intended audiences are different and a general reader with an interest in or enthusiasm for Korean film will find much to appreciate in both. While Leong's book is aimed more at the enthusiast, offering ...
Also filed in | Tagged | Comments (0) »