To celebrate star-crossed lovers everywhere, Matthew Jackson starts a series of articles on Korean astronomy As we can tell from ancient monuments like the Dolmen stones and more recent buildings such as Cheomseongdae, astronomy was big in Korea. Why was this exactly? Reverence for nature was part of it, but it was in fact more … [Read More]
Month: February 2012 (page 3)
Rebellion in Pre-Modern Korea
Rebellion in Pre-Modern Korea: Regional Discrimination and the Musin Rebellion of 1728. Andrew Jackson talks at the London Senate House, Thursday 16 Feb at 5:30pm http://t.co/8CtqeUHR [Read More]
James Church reviews The Orphan Master’s Son
James Church reviews a new novel set in North Korea – The Orphan Master’s Son (http://t.co/pmm4ujv4) and raises many caveats at 38North.org http://t.co/7jByBVCN [Read More]
Dr James Kim of PUST – talks in London, Oxford and Cambridge
Dr. James Kim is a Korean-American businessman and the founder of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), the first privately funded university in the DPRK. With its international faculty, courses in English, computers, and internet connections for all its students, the one-year-old university represents a rare window onto the world for the North Korean … [Read More]
Introducing the P’yongyang project at SOAS
News of a lunchtime talk at SOAS this Thursday: Introducing the P’yongyang project Date: Thursday 16th February 2012 Time: 12:30 – 2:00 PM Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings Room: G2 The P’yongyang Project, founded in April 2009, is a non-profit academic project that pioneers a grassroots and humanistic approach to engaging the Democratic People’s Republic … [Read More]
Treeless Mountain on BBC4 TV
Kim So-yong’s rather lovely film Treeless Mountain screens on BBC4, Sunday night 12 Feb, 10:30pm. Highly recommended. http://t.co/WKd93ou5. Simple, moving. Easier to connect with than her In Between Days. [Read More]
The North Korean A-ha Accordionists
For those who haven’t seen it already: BBC News – North Korean A-ha accordionists ‘destined for stardom’ http://t.co/eIZOtyVL [Read More]
On rewatching some favourite films: An Affair and Secret Sunshine
Last week, I re-watched two of my all-time favourite Korean films. Or at least, I thought they were. Film number one: E J-yong’s An Affair (1998), which was in the first dozen of Korean films I ever saw. I caught it at the 2001 London Korean Film Festival (yes, there have been Korean Film Festivals … [Read More]
Sarah Chang plays Shostakovich at the Barbican
What a shame. Whenever Sarah Chang comes to London she seems to play Bruch. But this month, she’s playing Shostakovich 1 with Valery Gergiev and the LSO. Great programme. But it clashes with the E J-yong Q&A at the Apollo Piccadilly. Gergiev’s Pathétique, and the prospect of how he might approach the Sea Interludes, almost … [Read More]
Directory of World Cinema: South Korea launched
I see that @ColetteBalmain‘s Directory of World Cinema: South Korea is up for preorder on Amazon.co.uk (http://t.co/0LpRIp2s) No pressure then, Colette. [Read More]
The Vegetarian (채식주의자, 2010) review: a dark, haunting exploration of desire, mental illness and art
The Vegetarian is a brooding, unsettling drama that follows Yeong-hye, a woman whose refusal to eat meat spirals into profound mental and emotional transformation. Anchored by Chae Min-seo’s astounding performance, the film navigates themes of desire, family pressure and artistic obsession, delivering a slow-burning, psychologically intense story that adapts Han Kang’s prize-winning novel [Read More]
Blue Swallow (청연, 2005) review: a sympathetic treatment of a contested story
An epic film in every sense, Blue Swallow bravely tells the controversial story of pioneering Korean female aviator, Park Kyung-won. The narrative of necessity blends fact with fiction but, nonetheless, Blue Swallow boldly states that Park Kyung-won was a woman to be greatly admired, rather than vilified. [Read More]
New North Korean restaurant in Amsterdam – the first in Europe
Amsterdam’s latest attraction: a nine-course North Korean meal for €79 at the new Pyongyang Restaurant: http://t.co/6K7QvvWv. Visit their website for menu and videos of the accompanying entertainment. Update 7 September 2012: the restaurant has already closed. [Read More]
The Front Line (고지전, 2011) review: know what you’re fighting for
While it could be said that the characterisations in The Front Line would have benefitted from having more depth and being slightly less obvious, the film nonetheless remains a far more worthy cinematic offering than any war film about a horse, Oscar nomination or not. [Read More]
Dasepo Naughty Girls: two hours of colourful mayhem
The KCC’s E J-yong month is shaping up nicely. This coming Thursday is your chance to see Dasepo Naughty Girls, one of those films which is so difficult to categorise. It’s a completely different film from E J-yong’s earlier work such as last week’s subdued romance of An Affair and the Joseon dynasty costume drama … [Read More]
Dasepo Naughty Girls features choreography by Ahn Eun-mi
Watch out for choreography by the amazing Ahn Eun-mi in the song & dance numbers of Dasepo Naughty Girls at the KCC on Thursday http://t.co/IMWsHxGX [Read More]