There are still seats available for Lee Yoon-ki’s My Dear Enemy (2008) this evening, which comes with LKL’s recommendation. And that’s not just because Cannes best actress winner Jeon Do-yeon is in it. My Dear Enemy (멋진 하루) Director: Lee Yoon-ki Running Time: 123 mins Screening Date: 7pm, 23 August, 2012 Theatre: Multi-Purpose Hall, KCCUK … [Read More]
Category: Events (page 240)
Lee Yoon-ki’s Love Talk captures the drifting, rootless nature of an immigrant community
Lee Yoon-ki is a director who divides opinion. He is known for his delicate, nuanced character portraits which delight many an art-house enthusiast but which for those who like things to happen in their movies are a big turnoff. Love Talk will appeal to those who are in between. Love Talk (2006) is Lee’s second … [Read More]
CNBlue comes to the indigO2
Not many commercial K-pop bands play their own instruments, but CN Blue is one of them. And in fact their story on Wikipedia has them debuting as an indie band. But they are now with the same conglomerate that runs Hyori and T-ara. CNBLUE at the indigO2 22 September 2012, 6pm The smash hit 4-piece … [Read More]
Fashion, food and music: Korea Shining Bright with Lie Sang Bong at the V&A
It’s not often that an honour guard in Joseon dynasty costume greets you as you enter a London public building. In fact the last time I can recall it happening was at the celebration of Korean food and fashion at the Banqueting House in 2009. And at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 30 July … [Read More]
Love Talk screens at the KCC
After all the hectic activity of the Olympic fortnight it’s time for something more restful. Lee Yoon-ki is a director that divides opinion, but on balance his delicate and restrained portraits have more admirers than detractors, as was evidenced by the packed house last week for This Charming Girl. Those who like something to happen … [Read More]
The second KCC-sponsored K-pop contest
Now you’ve had the training at the KTO-sponsored K-pop workshop, it’s time to enter the KCC’s K-pop contest, in conjunction with YG Entertainment. Details of how to enter are on the KCC website here. Apply by 24 August. [Read More]
A London 2012 Korean Olympic round-up
Here are some of the highlights and headlines from the past two weeks or so of Korean athletes at the London 2012 Olympics: 25 July North Korea’s Olympic women’s football team walked off the pitch for an hour at their opening London 2012 match tonight after organisers mistakenly introduced the players using South Korea’s flag. … [Read More]
Mask dance and K-pop covers at the Kingston Korean Festival
During the Olympics, the Korean Tourism Organisation has been sponsoring a K-pop vocal and dance workshop in Chelsea Town Hall. The results were on show today at the 15th annual Korean Festival organised by the Korean Residents Society. I think I managed to miss all the traditional performances this year – the otherwise informative programme … [Read More]
Im Kwon-taek visits London for the Olympics
As part of the VIP delegation visiting from Seoul to launch Korea’s bid for Olympic glory in London 2012, a surprise dignitary was legendary film director Im Kwon-taek. I first caught sight of him at the Korea Shining Bright event at the Victoria and Albert Museum on Monday night, 30 July. I wondered if I … [Read More]
Needles and a mouth organ at Team Korea House
Yes, there have been K-pop flashmobs, dancing robots, traditional music performances and comedy magic shows at Team Korea House. There has even been a live radio show broadcast from there, with presenters dressed in royal hanbok. Last Saturday (4 August) was the final performance by Dulsori before they head off to Germany. They opened with … [Read More]
Battle of the Divas: Shining K-Classics at the Festival Hall
Maestro Seigerstam eased himself onto the platform looking like a cross between Brahms and a benign troll, long white beard resting on a generous stomach, long white hair reaching down the back of his tailcoat. With a waggle of his baton, the woodwind started playing Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Overture and the Shining K-Classics concert … [Read More]
This year’s Kingston Korean Festival is on 11 August 2012
The annual Independence Day Kingston Korean Festival organised by the Korean Residents Society is on 11 August, 10am-7pm, on the Fairfield Recreation Ground near the centre of Kingston [Map], celebrating Korean culture with traditional food, music, dance and costumes. And the popular K-pop contest returns for its second year. The war veterans’ march-past normally begins … [Read More]
Concert notes: Be-Being’s Korean Masque Music Project at the QEH
Be-Being (비빙) was the first of the five musical events of the All Eyes on Korea festival on the South Bank and set the scene well for the remainder. It was an evening of fusion: contemporary music on traditional instruments, with some of the numbers accompanied by traditional mask dances from a variety of traditions. … [Read More]
Crossroads of Youth – a constantly-evolving performance of Korea’s earliest silent film
Crossroads of Youth is one of Korea’s earliest silent films, which would have at the time had narration by a byeonsa (the Korean equivalent of the Japanese benshi). The function of the byeonsa was to tell the story in the absence of diagetic dialogue (which in Western cinema was told through intertitles), in addition to … [Read More]
Concert notes: HJ Lim at the Wigmore
She strode onto the stage in her trademark silk trouser suit, casually tossed a handkerchief into the piano and launched immediately into the intensity of the first of Rachmaninov’s Etudes Tableaux Op 33. HJ Lim’s debut at the Wigmore had departed. As when a bus driver puts his foot on the accelerator before his passengers … [Read More]
Kim Soo-myun: no joy in the men’s gymnastics individual all-round finals
It was Tuesday evening before I could settle down to watch the men’s gymnastics finals – individual all round. It had already been a day of controversy for the Koreans in Badminton and there was disappointment yesterday with the fencing, so I hoped Kim Soo-myun would do well for his country. Not in the top … [Read More]