From the category archives:

Film reviews and comment

Where the Truth Lies: the Case of Itaewon Homicide

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by Saharial on 7 March, 2010

in Film reviews and comment

Saharial reviews one of 2009’s murder-mysteries:
The Case of Itaewon Homicide
Director: Hong Ki-seon
Writer: Lee Maeng-yu
Release Date: September 10, 2009
Cast: Jang Geun-suk, Jeong  Jin-yeong, Shin Seung-hwan, Oh Kwang-rok, Ko Chang-Seok

Synopsis
Based on real events that have been ‘dramatised and changed for dramatic purposes’ the story tells of an incident in 1997 when a student was found murdered in [...]

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Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club – the tweets

15 February 2010 DPRK
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It’s not often that Twitter is alive with Tweets about a documentary on BBC4, but Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club was special. Here are some of them.

LKL: Game for a laugh? Don’t forget Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club tonight, BBC4, 10pm http://bit.ly/bT9eZE #
LKL: Wow this documentary is bizarre!! #

Alex_Hoban: @lklinks you’re telling me…!

Alex_Hoban: EVERYONE WATCH BBC4 NOW, [...]

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LKL Weekly Tweets, 2010-02-15

15 February 2010 Celebs
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Game for a laugh? Don't forget Kim Jong-il's Comedy Club tonight, BBC4, 10pm http://bit.ly/bT9eZE #
Eternal Empire (1995) – a nice-looking costume drama about murder and court intrigue in the Yi dynasty soon after the death of Prince Sado. One of Darcy’s top 10 K-films of the 90s. Not one of mine, but well worth a [...]

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A pizza shovel for the Dear Leader: was he amused by “Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club”?

9 February 2010 DPRK
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Kim Jong-il’s Comedy Club is a Danish documentary which follows the two-week visit to North Korea by a Danish comedy double-act who had received permission to perform in Pyongyang’s National Theatre. The documentary is fascinating on many levels. First, the two comedians are ethnic Korean adoptees, born in South Korea but brought up in Denmark, [...]

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LKL’s top 10 K-films of the noughties

26 January 2010 2009 year-end posts
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Mark Russell over at Korea Pop Wars led the way with his fascinating list of films of the decade – in which the biggest shock was that there was no Park Chan-wook. GI Korea also has a list, which redresses the balance somewhat. So here is mine.
Over the years I’ve been reasonably diligent in giving [...]

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LKL Weekly Tweets, 2010-01-25

25 January 2010 Bae Doo-na
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Finally finished my top 10 K-films of the decade post. It took forever. 2003 was a good year! Post will be up on Tuesday. 12:57 PM Jan 22nd from web
Big article on Kimchi going global in the Washington Post http://bit.ly/89sKtf (HT: Marmot) 1:16 PM Jan 22nd from bit.ly
Trying to figure out why LKL is offline [...]

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Saharial reviews Beethoven Virus

20 January 2010 Film reviews and comment
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Story:
Ru Mi, a violinist for 17 years has had little or no luck playing in orchestras, they all seem to disband or fall apart. Now working as a copywriter, she comes up with an idea to make Sukwon, where she lives, a capital for classical music. Her luck has not changed though and the initial [...]

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Antique: A delicious slice of feel-good cinema

11 January 2010 Film reviews and comment
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Saharial samples the delights of Antique, described as “entertaining and fabulously fruity” by one reviewer

Story
Based closely on the 2002 Yaoi manga Antique Bakery (西洋 骨董 洋菓子店, Seiyō Kottō Yōgashiten, “Western Antique Cake-Shop”) by Fumi Yoshinaga, the Korean adaptation broke through the million mark of legitimate viewers three weeks after opening. It was invited to the [...]

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Mother reveals Bong’s perversity

24 November 2009 Autumn K-film 2009
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LKL reports from the screening of Mother at the Bong Joon-ho retrospective at the British Film Institute on 14 November, with Q&A chaired by Tony Rayns.

In a world obsessed with celebrity, youth and beauty, only a director of the stature of Bong Joon-ho could have got away with it. The big name star, Won Bin, [...]

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Breathless: can there be any escape from the cycle of violence?

17 November 2009 Autumn K-film 2009
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Breathless (똥파리) is Yang Ik-june’s debut feature, in which he is also lead actor, and the film has deservedly won numerous awards. As the film opens, a man is beating up his girlfriend in the street. To the rescue comes Sang-hoon, played by Yang, who subdues the offender only to turn to the woman and [...]

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Remembering Murder: from “Memories of Murder” to “Mother”

14 November 2009 Autumn K-film 2009
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Colette Balmain reviews Bong Joon-ho’s latest hit, and finds themes which echo his 2003 success

Bong Joon-ho’s Mother, the Korean Film Council’s submission to the 2010 Oscars – 82nd Annual Academy Awards – under the category “Best Foreign Language Film”, has much in common with his 2003 Memories of Murder: a film based upon the abortive [...]

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Aigoo! Yu Hyun-mok, master of Korean realism, is so depressing

12 November 2009 Autumn K-film 2009
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When asked to look back at his career, Yu Hyun-mok, one of the four greatest directors from the golden age of Korean film, said that he was proud of two achievements:

That he was always an innovator;
That he never filmed a melodramatic love story.

In the latter achievement lies the key to Yu, as the [...]

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Saharial reviews Thirst

12 October 2009 Autumn K-film 2009
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5th October 2009
Curzon Cinema, Soho, London
Being a big fan of Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy, I was definitely excited and keen to see Thirst (박쥐; Bakjwi) his newest release that won the Jury prize at Cannes this year. The story is of Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho), a priest who willingly undergoes a medical experiment to help [...]

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Park Chan-wook: uncut (almost)

11 October 2009 Autumn K-film 2009
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Saharial provides a warts and all direct transcript of the Park Chan-wook Q&A at the Curzon Soho preview of Thirst. At least, up until the point when an officious usherette told her to switch her recorder off…
The Q&A was only a half hour long, a real shame, and the staff at the Curzon were quick [...]

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Cute kisses and extreme marriages – different perspectives on Park Chan-wook

8 October 2009 Autumn K-film 2009
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After Monday’s focus on Thirst, Tuesday’s Mr Vengeance screening, together with a generous hour of Q&A with Director Park, offered the opportunity to focus on his earlier work. In fact, the first question at the Q&A asked about Park’s very first films (pre JSA). Did Park have any tips or lessons learned for a rookie [...]

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