Did anyone notice any Natural Wonders on the North Circular after Kim Jong-il’s death? The DPRK embassy in Germany did http://t.co/LvnlMBjB [Read More]
Month: January 2012 (page 2)
A look forward to the events of 2012
We had a pretty good year for Korea-related cultural events in 2011. So what can we expect in 2012? Here’s a taster of things that are in planning. And here’s hoping the plans come to fruition. Film We missed out on a planned Im Kwon-taek retrospective in 2011 owing to a clash of dates with … [Read More]
Tabloid story of the week
Tabloid story of the week: eight South Koreans arrested over alleged scheme to smuggle gold to Japan in their rectums: http://t.co/OB5hfpQn (via the Marmot) [Read More]
Peppermint Candy (박하사탕, 2000) review: a heartbreaking reverse-chronology epic
Lee Chang-dong’s reverse-chronology masterpiece links one man’s tragic downfall to twenty years of traumatic Korean history in a compelling film which shows how innocence, hopes and dreams can so easily be lost before the heart even realises what is happening. [Read More]
Petty Romance (쩨쩨한 로맨스, 2010) review: a genuinely funny and inventive adult-comic rom-com
A struggling artist and a fraudulent writer collaborate on an adult comic book. Live action and graphic novel imagery combine within this genuinely funny and warmly romantic tale to ensure that Petty Romance both touches the heart and tickles the funny bone throughout, though not necessarily in that order [Read More]
MinJung Baek at St Martin-in-the-Fields
I don’t often try to make it to a West End lunchtime recital from the fastnesses of Canary Wharf. But I’m going to make an exception this Friday to try to get to hear MinJung Baek. The programme is an exciting one, including a piano work by Korean composer Unsuk Chin, who had a whole … [Read More]
Sulki Yu with MinJung Baek at the LSE
Sulki Yu (violin) and MinJung Baek (piano) play Chausson, Schubert and Ysaÿe Thursday lunchtime 26 Jan at the LSE: http://t.co/jacwy3Za [Read More]
The Shin Sang-ok Pulgasari meet-up
Back home after a great movie meetup to see Pulgasari with @miniminimovies @HangulCelluloid and @cinemasia_nl. Well, the meetup was good anyway. Says HangulCelluloid: “I’ve got some rice to mould into a monster and I may drip blood on it later” [Read More]
Remember O Goddess (나를 잊지 말아요, 2011) review: lost in the city
Every now and then, a film comes along that from the very outset resolutely, and effortlessly, reminds you of the reasons you fell in love with Korean Cinema in the first place. Yoon-jung Lee’s short film Remember O Goddess (later remade as feature-length Remember You) is one such film… [Read More]
A class apart: why Im Sang-soo loses to Kim Ki-young in the battle of The Housemaids
What really intrigued me about Kim Ki-young’s original Housemaid (1960) was when I read that the female audience were so incensed by the seducing housemaid’s character, that they stood up in cinema auditoriums and shouted: “Kill the wench!” I can’t help but think that a female watching Im Sang-soo’s 2010 remake would remark: “nice house.” … [Read More]
Sakwa (사과, 2008) review: love, deception and the weight of regret
A relationship drama shaped by small lies that grow into emotional rupture; a constantly twisting plot detailing one woman’s shifting romances, and the intricacies of human deceit, betrayal, social pressure, anger and regret. Sakwa is an astounding film, and there’s no deception whatsoever in that statement… [Read More]
CNN’s 50 beautiful places to visit in Korea
CNN GO has some great ideas for 50 beautiful places to visit in Korea outside of Seoul. Nice pics too. http://t.co/YjTrdiFw [Read More]
Korean honeymoon couple rescued from cruise wreck
This Korean couple will remember their Italian honeymoon cruise for all the wrong reasons: http://t.co/TJAaB6xM [Read More]
Korean artists and designers at Canary Wharf
When thinking of Canary Wharf, you probably think of bankers and their bonuses, or maybe the underground shopping centre. But among all the commerce, there’s culture as well. There’s the annual jazz festival, the occasional concert at the Winter Gardens. And there are numerous window displays in the arcades which offer artists and designers the … [Read More]
Scars (흉터, 2011) review: trauma, identity, and the quiet struggle for selfhood
A dark, in-depth, nuanced dissection of the wounds that make us who we are and the resultant scars that prevent us from becoming the people we want to be, Scars grippingly details one woman’s journey of self-discovery and is guaranteed to leave viewers with thoughts of the scars that have affected their own lives. [Read More]
North Korean fashion, North Korean hagiography. Two recent articles worth reading
In the last couple of weeks we’ve had wall-to-wall coverage of succession issues in the DPRK, and there’s been far too much to read even half of it. Some organs which previously have had little coverage of the Korean peninsula have had to publish some platitudes just to show willing, while other publications have wheeled … [Read More]