The new kid on the block when it comes to Asian film is Terracotta. They launched themselves last November by securing the rights to Im Pil-sung’s horror film Hansel and Gretel (which screens at the KCC later this month – 28 May), and they’re making a splash at the Prince Charles this month with the Terracotta Far East Film Festival.
Two Korean films will be featured. We haven’t seen Han Suk-gyu in action for a while, but he’s back in Kwak Kyung-taek and Ahn Kwon-tae’s An eye for an Eye (눈에는 눈 이에는 이). The film opens the festival on 21 May.
Sung-chan (Han Suk-gyu) is a top detective of the special crime squad. He is notorious for punishing the opponent who hurts his pride. When Hyun-min impersonates as Sung-chan and robs a cash transport car under the daylight, and seizes $10 billion worth of smuggled gold right before the cop’s eyes, Sung-chan is outraged. He cannot let this criminal slip through. Sung-chan goes after Hyun-min like a wild beast going after its prey, but Hyun-min cunningly threads through the investigation, even leaving traces in the crime scenes on purpose to allure and provoke Sung-chan.
On the Saturday afternoon, 23 May, we will get Kim Ki-duk’s Dream (비몽), starring Jo Odagiri and Lee Na-young.
Jin wakes up from a nightmare of a traffic accident. It drives him to the very spot where a real accident took place. He follows the police to the suspect’s home and watches as Ran denies the hit-and-run accusation since she was asleep the entire night. Jin explains his dream to them and asks to be charged instead. The police dismiss him and arrest Ran. Jin is convinced that there’s an unexplainable connection between the two. They discover that when he dreams, she acts out his dream in her sleep.
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I don’t think Donna Karen is “arthouse/Asian Extreme” enough for Oldboy 😀