“Which one did you think is the most beautiful?” It was one obvious conversation opener at the bar after the screening of E J-yong’s Actresses, in which six of Korea’s top actresses aged from their early 20s to their 60s, gather for a Vogue photoshoot in a film which its director calls “part reality show, … [Read More]
Category: Event reports and reviews (page 34)
On Pyongyang University of Science and Technology
My time in Korea as a British English teacher was all spent in South Korea (or Republic of Korea). In the South, North Korea is a land no one talks about (although many still have family in) which became divided from the South as a result of the 1950-3 war. I decided to attend the … [Read More]
Kim Jong-il’s Pulgasari: political metaphor or just a bad monster movie?
LKL reports from the Asian Movie Meetup at the Roxy in Borough High Street on 16 January: Pulgasari (1985). Director: Shin Sang-ok; Producer: Kim Jong-il. The snowy peak of Mount Baekdu in the background and a winged Chollima horse in the foreground is the ident which announces the start of Pulgasari. The two icons of … [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]
London Korean Film Festival round-up and Ryu Seung-wan’s The Unjust
The 2011 London Korean Film Festival gave the London audience a chance to assess, and in my case reassess, the work of Ryu Seung-wan. Ryu has had several of his films released in the UK on DVD, but he is not as well-known to the viewing public as the likes of Park Chan-wook and Bong … [Read More]
London joins in global protest against DPRK rights abuses
Last Friday was a global day of protest against North Korean human rights abuses. 9 December 2012 was the 63rd anniversary of the adoption of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to which North Korea acceded in 1989. For many people in the West, the human rights abuses … [Read More]
Cube United – Saharial reports from the Brixton Academy K-pop concert
For those of you who follow Kpop in the UK, and maybe those who don’t, Monday 5th December was a rather momentous occasion. 4minute, G.NA and BEAST, three of the five acts Cube Entertainment manage, came to London’s Brixton Academy as United Cube in the first really big K-pop event held in London. After a … [Read More]
Backstage with BEAST – a K-pop novice enjoys the United Cube concert
The queue of excited teenagers and twenty-somethings was snaking down the side of the Brixton Academy, patiently waiting to get into the gloomy insides to see Cube Entertainment’s main acts in what was billed as the UK’s first K-pop showcase. It was still 90 minutes before curtain up, and somewhere among the crowd a reporter … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: NyLon – the KCCUK’s exchange show with New York
November’s exhibition at the KCCUK was a joint project with the Korean Cultural Service New York. Four artists, two from each city. Representing London were Shin Meekyoung, who had a huge solo show at the Haunch of Venison in March 2011, and Je Baak, who has recently been showing at HADA Contemporary and Asia House. … [Read More]
Exhibition Visit: Delayed Sojourn – London, home away from home
It was good to see the KCC so busy on a Saturday afternoon. The attraction was the Korean Artists Association’s one-week exhibition: Delayed Sojourn – London, home away from home. And while there was plenty to enjoy inside, it was an unusual exhibit in the window that was drawing people in: 48 small glass bowls, … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Blood, Sweat, Tears and Laughter – ‘Yellow Sea’ has it all
While on a visit to Korea, I once asked a wise, old-looking Korean how he would describe the spirit of the Korean people. My friend who was interpreting answered the question instead, to my initial annoyance, giving the answer ‘Fun’, which I found doubly disappointing given its apparent banality. Several years on, I am beginning … [Read More]
Mark Morris on Lee Man-hee and the flowering of Korean film in the 1960s
Everybody in Britain has heard of Samsung computers or Hyundai cars. However, another aspect of South Korea today is its successful export of films, music and TV dramas to neighbouring countries, known as ‘Korean Wave’ or ‘Hallyu’. In order to get a Western perspective on Korean cinema, I visited the Korean Cultural Centre in London … [Read More]
A mixed review for Lee Man-hee, the classic film director for LKFF 2011
Most years, the London Korean Film Festival aims to include some classic films, usually from the 1960s, within its schedule. This is a valuable feature for UK cinemagoers, some of whom may be of the impression that Korean film started with Shiri. This year Lee Man-hee was featured, with two films: A Day Off and … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: why Dachimawa Lee is thoroughly groovy, and why I’m becoming a fan of Ryu Seung-wan
I have to confess that when I heard that Ryu Seung-wan was to be the featured director on the London Korean Film Festival 2011, my reaction was lukewarm. Of the films I had already seen, the silliness of Arahan did not endear the film to me, while seeing Jeon Do-yeon and Lee Hye-hyoung severely thrashed … [Read More]
‘War of the Arrows’ – Causing Death and Saving Lives
The opening gala of the London Korean Film Festival was a more rambunctious affair than I remember even last year’s being, due in no small part to the sudden and unexpected entrance of SHINee (I was lucky enough to be two rows behind them, but many who had specially booked seats I gather were incandescent … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Suicide Forecast
LKL ponders on how a surprisingly charming film on the difficult subject of suicide could have useful lessons for financial sector remuneration strategy and sales practices. [Read More]