Director Park Hong-min discusses the shamanistic inspirations behind his debut film, A Fish. He explains his unconventional use of 3D to create a distorted reality, the symbolic role of mirrors and doppelgängers, and the influence of Jindo’s healing rituals. Park also details his collaborative approach to the film’s restrained, atmospheric sound design. [Read More]
Category: Event reports and reviews (page 14)
Brief festival film review: Eoh Woo Dong
Lee Chang-ho (이장호) Eoh Woo Dong (어우동, 1985, 110 mins). Review by Robert Cottingham. Eoh Woo Dong translates as “entertainer,” a rough approximation of the duties of 14th-century Korean courtesan Eoh Yoon Chang. After a lifetime “in service,” Eoh Yoon Chang retires to a faraway village. Meanwhile, her powerful father, ashamed of his daughter’s lifestyle, … [Read More]
Gig Review: Kyungso Park and Andy Sheppard in the Albert Hall’s Elgar Room
Recent collaborations between British and Korean musicians have not always been successful. A planned experiment between jazz trumpeter Guy Barker and Samulnori founder Kim Duk-soo never happened because the latter went awol when Barker came to visit. Instead, having already been booked for the 2008 Dano Festival in Trafalgar Square, Barker appeared briefly on stage … [Read More]
Brief Festival Film Review: Kai
Lee Sung-gang (이성강): Kai (카이, 2016, 96 mins) Review by Robert Cottingham Snow Queen Hattan casts a spell over the peaceful village where Kai lives, and covers everything in ice. The River Spirit who is the protector of the village gives the brave young Kai the only key to fighting off Hattan and asks him … [Read More]
Festival film review: Crush and Blush
Lee Kyoung-mi (이경미): Crush and Blush (미쓰 홍당무, 2008) Review by Robert Cottingham. Right near the beginning of Crush and Blush, the main character Mi-seok stands digging a deep hole in a schoolyard. I thought that it was a punishment used in South Korean schools, but if not it could be a visual metaphor for … [Read More]
Festival film review: The Truth Beneath
Lee Kyoung-mi (이경미): The Truth Beneath (비밀은 없다, 2016) Review by Robert Cottingham Lee Kyoung-mi got her start in films working with Park Chan-wook, and from watching this film it seems she has taken his lead when it comes to violent revenge. When a politician’s daughter goes missing the scandal threatens to upset his ambitions … [Read More]
LKFF report: the opening night and The Truth Beneath
The eleventh of the London Korean Film Festivals organised by the KCCUK opened on Thursday with a little sprinkling of stardust. Jung Woo-sung, who electrified the audience during the 2014 festival where he was the headline attraction, came to the opening night as just a regular guy wanting to watch a movie. But that didn’t … [Read More]
Park Chan-wook talks about Handmaiden, octopuses and more
Park Chan-wook discusses adapting Fingersmith to colonial Korea, adding racial and class barriers, collaborating with Jung Seo-kyung and filming intimate scenes. He reflects on lessons from Stoker, violence and symbolism, octopus imagery, working with his brother on Night Fishing, shamanistic themes, adaptation processes and making films for future Korean audiences. [Read More]
Jambinai at the Oslo Hackney – a second-hand mini-review
We didn’t manage to get to Jambinai at the Oslo Hackney as this year. Nor it seems did the Guardian or Resonate, who have been diligent reviewers of the other K-Music gigs. Jambinai were certainly one of the highlights of last year’s festival – and I would have loved to have got to see them … [Read More]
Gig review: Patients + Idiotape @ Rich Mix
Sometimes you enjoy an event but don’t know what to say about it. Rock music is not one of my own core competencies. I know when a band enthuses me, but if asked to describe the style or genre, or to compare the musicians with other, possibly Western, reference points I’m usually at a loss. … [Read More]
Film review: The Lovers and the Despot
The way you watch Ross Adam’s and Robert Cannan’s The Lovers and the Despot is likely to depend on whether you know the story or not. To those who are coming to it afresh, this is an extraordinary tale which is another example of the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction: one of South … [Read More]
Brief review: Park Chan-wook’s Handmaiden
I’ll leave others to do the detailed review of Park Chan-wook’s Handmaiden (아가씨), which screened at the London Film Festival this week and which will return later in the month at the London East Asia Film Festival. Suffice it to say that it’s gorgeous-looking, both in terms of costume and interiors, great story-telling and totally … [Read More]
Brief review: Train to Busan
What can you say about Train to Busan that hasn’t already been said? When everyone tells you it’s a fantastic thrill-ride you try to go into the screening with lowered expectations just in case everyone is delusional and you come away disappointed. No need to fear. It’s pretty much non-stop entertainment from start to finish, … [Read More]
Gig review: Youn Sun Nah + Ulf Wakenius @ Union Chapel
It’s been too long since Youn Sun Nah performed in London: five long years. Last time was a small, intimate venue – Pizza Express in Soho – and the time before was the Queen Elizabeth Hall – more generous in terms of space but one that made the performers work hard to create the atmosphere. … [Read More]
A look at some of the Korean artists featured at Start Art Fair 2016
No matter how much preparation you put into visiting an art fair – planning which stalls to visit, estimating how much time you are likely to spend at each – you will almost always end up spending your time differently from the way you originally intended: some stalls will engage you in conversation, telling you … [Read More]
Biennale visit: Korea’s contemporary vision of Utopia
At the heart of Korea’s contribution to London’s first design biennale is a digital rendering of Ahn Gyeong’s famous realisation of a visionary dream described by his patron, Prince Anpyeong, a son of King Sejong the Great. On the left of the image, in place of the calligraphic colophon provided by Prince Anpyeong himself is … [Read More]