BFI London Film Festival

A look back at some of the films of 2018

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by Philip Gowman on 4 January, 2019

in 2018 year-end posts | BFI London Film Festival | Film reviews and comment | London East Asia Film Festival | London Korean Film Festival

A wide variety of genres was presented to the London audience this year, from the return of the romantic melodrama (Be With You) to big budget fantasy (Along with the Gods). We also saw #MeToo beginning to have an impact, not just in the themes of movies such as Land of Seonghye and Testimony but […]

Recording: Screen talk with Lee Chang-dong at BFI London Film Festival 2018

by Philip Gowman 3 November 2018

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In case like me you couldn’t get tickets to the Screen Talk with Lee Chang-dong as part of the BFI London Film Festival, here’s the recording on the BFI YouTube channel. The interview took place on 20 October 2018, the day of an anti-Brexit demonstration in London – which is mentioned more than once in […]

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Korean films at the 2018 BFI London Film Fest

by Events Editor 4 September 2018

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An exciting selection of Korean movies is lined up for the BFI London Film Festival, of which the highlight is undoubtedly Burning. Finally: Lee Chang-dong will be in town! All details below are from the BFI LFF website. Become a member and get access to tickets from 6 September, a week earlier than general release. […]

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Festival film review: Becoming who I was

by Philip Gowman 8 November 2017

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Nine years ago Moon Chang-yong and Jeon Jin were in Ladakh, Kashmir – a mountainous region 100 miles or so northeast of where the Dalai Lama lives, and less than 50 miles from Tibet’s westernmost extremity. They were filming a documentary about practitioners of traditional medicine in the various regions of Asia. Their subject was […]

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Film review: Memoir of a Murderer

by Philip Gowman 12 October 2017

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Memoir of a Murderer asks us to step inside the mind of someone who is losing his memory, a sufferer of Alzheimer’s disease. The movie opens with a scene focusing on the face of a gaunt and aged-looking Sol Kyung-gu as single dad Kim Byung-soo. As we watch, his face begins to twitch. At first […]

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Film review double bill: Bamseom Pirates and Criminal Conspiracy

by Philip Gowman 8 October 2017

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This weekend gave us the opportunity to watch two very different documentaries which cast their critical eye over contemporary Korean society and recent political history. Part of the fascination of both of them for UK-based Korea-watchers is the way they resonate: they provide, in the one case, a laser-like dissection of an issue of which […]

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LEAFF, LKFF and the battle for our diaries

by Philip Gowman 4 October 2017

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The film festival season is upon us, and this requires some serious diary planning. Fortunately the BFI London Film Festival remains serenely distant from the ignominious tangle caused by the collision of LEAFF and LKFF. With four titles scheduled earlier in the month, including the movie that I’ve been most looking forward to all year […]

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Korean films at the 2017 BFI London Film Fest

by Events Editor 31 August 2017

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As far as I can see there are four Korean movies at the 2017 BFI London Film Festival: two very contrasting documentaries; the movie from festival favourite Hong Sang-soo that won Kim Min-hee the Silver Bear for best actress in Berlin this year; and an adaptation of a novel by Kim Young-ha by Won Shin-yeon, […]

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BFI Festival Film Review: Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing

by Philip Gowman 16 November 2016

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Na Hong-jin can sure put you through a mental wringer. Mysterious and very bloody murders, extremely nasty skin conditions: who or what is to blame? The choice seems to be between a mind-altering magic mushroom concoction and a strange Japanese guy who lives in the forest, fishing and living off the land. And what of […]

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Brief review: Park Chan-wook’s Handmaiden

by Philip Gowman 9 October 2016

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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 […]

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Korean films at the 2016 BFI London Film Festival

by Events Editor 3 September 2016

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If I were to draw up a list of feature films that I simply *had* to see this year, the following three would be on it. Thanks to the BFI selectors for securing them for the festival. There’s also a short film showing. Text below is from the BFI website. Tickets go on sale to […]

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Festival Film Reviews: the four Korean films at the BFI London Film Fest 2015

by Philip Gowman 17 October 2015

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It was a very pleasing selection of Korean films at the BFI London Film Festival this year. And for the first time that I can remember, I managed to get to all of them. Here are the verdicts. The Assassination 암살, Dir Choi Dong-hoon, 2015. With a fantastic ensemble cast, including Jeon Ji-hyun as […]

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Korean films at the 2015 BFI London Film Festival

by Events Editor 7 September 2015

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The programme for the BFI London Film Festival has been announced and as usual there’s a decent Korean representation. It’s great that Assassination is coming, though I was secretly hoping that it was going to open the London Korean Film Festival in November, giving the organisers an excuse to bring over Jeon Ji-hyun as star […]

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Seven ways in which Hill of Freedom is different from other Hong Sang-soo films

by Philip Gowman 11 October 2014

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… and some ways in which it isn’t. Hill of Freedom (자유의 언덕) is Hong Sang-soo’s 16th feature, and could not have been made by anyother director. The awkwardness of human interaction and conversation, the bonding over alcohol, the fragmentation of the narrative, the aim to rekindle lost love – all are common features of […]

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Korean films at the 2014 BFI London Film Festival

by Events Editor 3 September 2014

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There’s rather a good haul of Korean movies at the BFI London Film Festival this year, including a Hong Sang-soo which looks a little different from the usual, a treat for fans of the remarkable Bae Doona, a charming animation and a “tense, kinetic and darkly funny neo-noir”. Tickets go on sale on 18 September. […]

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The tweet that launched a podcast

by Philip Gowman 6 December 2013

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I was watching Nobody’s Daughter Haewon as part of the BFI London Film Festival this year, and was rather enjoying it. I’ve done a little review of it here. It was nice to see some familiar locations in the film. And then I saw something even more familiar: one of the characters in the film […]

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Festival Film Review: Nobody’s Daughter Haewon

by Philip Gowman 6 December 2013

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I often find myself falling asleep during Hong Sang Soo films. But my two most recent experiences – a second viewing of HaHaHa as part of the KCC’s Moon So-ri season – and Nobody’s Daughter Haewon at the ICA, coinciding with its screening at the 57th BFI London Film Festival, have been exceptions. Part of […]

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